National Association of Attorneys General competitors

Gerald Chertavian is dedicated to closing the Opportunity Divide that exists in our nation. Determined to make his vision a reality, Gerald combined his entrepreneurial skills and his passion for working with urban young adults to found Year Up in 2000.Gerald's commitment to working with urban youth spans more than 25 years. He has actively participated in the Big Brother mentoring program since 1985 and was recognized as one of New York's outstanding Big Brothers in 1989. He is the recipient of the 2003 Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Manhattan Institute and the 2005 Freedom House Archie R. Williams, Jr. Technology Award. In 2006, Gerald was elected as a Fellow with the Ashoka Global Fellowship of social entrepreneurs, and in 2008, he was appointed by Massachusetts' Governor Deval Patrick to serve on the MA State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. In 2013, he was appointed by Governor Patrick to serve as Chairman of the Roxbury Community College Board of Trustees.Gerald began his career on Wall Street as an officer of the Chemical Banking Corporation. Following graduate school he co-founded Conduit Communications and fostered its growth to more than $18M in annual revenues and more than 130 employees in London, Amsterdam, New York and Boston. Following the sale of Conduit to i-Cube in 1999, Gerald turned his full attention to opportunities for others.Gerald earned a B.A. in Economics, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School. He has received honorary doctorates from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology and Mount Ida College. He is on the Board of Advisors for the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative and a member of the World Economic Forum's Youth Unemployment Council. Gerald is a former Board member of The Boston Foundation and an Emeritus Trustee of Bowdoin College. His 2012 book, A Year Up, is a New York Times best seller.

James McSpiritt is a Chief Executive Officer - Archdiocesan Housing at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York/The and is based in New York City, New York. He has worked as General Counsel at Phipps Neighborhoods and Chief, Economic Development Division at NYC Law Department. James attended 美國普林斯頓大學 between 1978 and 1982 and UCLA School of Law between 1983 and 1986.

April has extensive experience working at both the national and local level on justice reform efforts. She has worked on the national level with both the American Bar Association in Washington, D.C. and Legal Action Center in New York, NY advocating for alternative sentencing and reentry reform. She also has an intimate understanding of the challenges facing disadvantaged communities, because she represented individuals within the criminal justice system and juvenile justice system as a public defender for the last eight years. As a community-oriented public defender, she had the unique experience of representing clients and also working on policy reform and systems change efforts in both Washington, D.C. and Memphis, TN. Most recently, she worked as the Special Assistant in the Juvenile Defender Unit at the Law Office of the Shelby County Public Defender where she was responsible for implementing Department of Justice reforms and helping to build the first ever holistic and team-based juvenile defense practice in Shelby County that employed both social workers and attorneys.April has conducted trainings with and provided technical assistance to the following national and federal organizations: American Bar Association, National Center for State Courts, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, National Juvenile Defender Center, D.C. Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, and D.C. Office of Returning Citizens Affairs. She has also served as a guest lecturer at George Washington University Law School, Howard University School of Law, and the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law.