Khalil Abdar-Rashid is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS), Certified Supervisor of Peer Specialists (CSPS), Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor (CADC). He has an MBA and BA in Psychology and over 20 years of experience in the field. Khalil founded Missed Opts Inc. and has published  three books: ‘Black Boy Lost’ (2017), ‘Faith’s Journey’ (2019), and “Suffering in Silence”  (2021).

Dr. Leigey is a professor of Criminology at The College of New Jersey who has dedicated her career to researching correctional environments & experiences with a particular focus on people with life sentences. Dr. Leigey published 'The Forgotten Men: Serving a Life Without Parole Sentence' (2015) and 'Life Without Parole: Worse Than Death?' (2022)

Dr. Payne is a professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice and Africana Studies at the University of Delaware, street ethnographer who utilizes street participatory action research (street PAR), and local activist. Among Dr. Payne's publications are 'Murder Town, USA' (2023) and 'The People's Report'. 

Attorney Igwe began his career as an Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Philadelphia, prosecuting major felony cases (ex. rape, attempted murder, robbery, burglary, gun possession) and misdemeanor cases (ex. drug possession, DUI, theft). He then worked as an insurance defense attorney, never losing a jury trial and earning recognition in Verdict Search Magazine. Attorney Igwe is currently the managing partner of The Igwe Firm, a law firm dedicated to getting justice for those who have been injured or wrongfully accused, and a Lt. Colonel in the Delaware Army National Guard, where he serves as a Judge Advocate General (Military Lawyer).

Director Hamlett is DOC's resident expert on sentence modification processes (4217 reviews, as well as DOC's role in providing information for pardon and commutation petitions). She started with DOC in 2011 as a contracted treatment counselor in the Greentree South Behavior Modification Program at Sussex Correctional Institution and then onboarded as a correctional counselor. She then moved up to Senior Counselor and then became Master Counselor for the Sussex Community Correction Center's Work Release Program. She moved into a Counselor Supervisor position while at the Community Corrections Center and then returned to the Bureau of Prisons in January 2022 as the Director of Classification and Special Programs, which oversees the statewide classification system, its tools and processes, and a host of other responsibilities/assignments.

In 1980, Elmer Daniels was 18 years old and sentenced to life in prison by an all-white jury for a rape he did not commit. In 2017, Daniels’s attorney contacted the U.S. Department of Justice, asking for a review of Daniels's case, which resulted in the state offering to support Daniels's application for a pardon or a commutation; Daniels declined both offers, maintaining his innocence. Daniels also sought relief through the Delaware DOJ’s 'Actual Innocence Program', which rejected his claim of innocence. In the fall of 2018, attorneys for Daniels examined records and motioned for re-examination of the evidence, which was granted and ultimately resulted in Daniels's release at age 57, after 39 years of wrongful imprisonment.  

Sylvester Shockley

Kim Mason

Barbara White