Team
Julia Farinas
President, Board of Directors
Julia Farinas, JD (she/hers) is a co-founder and the President of the Board of Directors for Reclaim Justice Movement. Julia has been a practicing attorney for ten years. She received her J.D. from Tulane Law School in 2010. Julia then spent three years as a public defender in New Orleans, where she represented over 300 defendants and provided holistic representation. After leaving New Orleans, Julia has represented approximately 50 victims of sexual assault as a Special Victims Counsel and over 35 Soldiers accused of crimes as a defense counsel in Washington, North Carolina, and Virginia. Julia is currently completing her Master's in Public Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill.
mika hernandez
Member, Board of Directors
mika hernandez is a queer, non binary community organizer and steward of herbal medicine who was born, raised, and still lives on unceded Lisjan Ohlone territory. They are a fourth generation Japanese American, third generation Mexican American, and fourth generation Korean American, as well as a descendent of many trans and queer ancestors. The skills and knowledges that inform mika’s organizing spring from years within various fronts of movement work, including ecological, reproductive, racial, and trans justice. Their current political and organizing homes are with the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective and APIENC, where they organize as part of a long lineage of abolitionists, community makers, and caregivers growing safety, joy, and liberation.
Maggie Baisley
Organizing Director
Maggie Baisley, PhD (she/hers) is a co-founder and organizing director of Reclaim Justice Movement. She is a clinical psychologist and worked across Army and Veteran Healthcare settings, including as a Military Sexual Trauma specialist. She has both experienced power-based violence and has contributed to traumatic violence. At 24, she was the responsible driver in a fatal car accident. She needed to reckon with concepts of accountability and punishment through a three-year long investigative process by the criminal and then military justice systems. As she developed a relationship with the family affected and received their support, she learned viscerally about the ways these third-party systems can interfere with genuine healing.
As a trauma-focused therapist, she worked with many individuals whose families had insufficient options to address harm and violence and at the same time, experienced the constant threat of violence from the criminal justice system. These experiences kickstarted her on a messy and winding journey to contribute to the growing demand for alternative systems of justice that transform the conditions that caused the harm. She is passionate about applying her skills as a psychologist to the project of ending power-based violence and growing life-affirming institutions.
Omni Cassidy
Advisory Board Member
Omni Cassidy, Ph.D., is an Advisory Board Member and leader for the apology workshop. She is a research psychologist and studies food, eating, and culture. She earned her Ph.D. in Medical and Clinical Psychology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, completed her clinical residency at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and is currently a research fellow at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Omni's research focuses on improving the food environment for communities of color through improving structural and institutional barriers to health and wellness. She enjoys meditating, eating, working out, watching Netflix, and reflecting on the deeper meaning of life.
Raquel Martin
Director of Coalition Building
Raquel Martin, PhD is the Director of Coalition Building and a licensed clinical psychologist that holds her PhD in Medical and Clinical Psychology. Dr. Martin completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Martin has published research regarding mental health disparities and health equity. Her research and clinical interests include child and adolescent mental health, trauma, and minority health disparities. Dr. Martin has experience conducting individual, family, and group therapy with a focus on racially based stressors, trauma informed care, and racial identity development. She is currently the clinical director for a residential treatment facility for children and teens in Nashville, TN. Dr. Martin is also an Adjunct Professor at Fisk University and Global University.
Rachel Wernicke
Advisory Board Member
Rachel Wernicke, PhD is a an Advisory Board Member and clinical psychologist, currently serving as an Associate Dean and Chief Mental Health Officer at George Mason University. She completed her doctorate in psychology at American University and her clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Rachel has practiced psychology in a variety of settings for more than 20 years. Her areas of clinical expertise include college student mental health, cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and mood disorders, suicide prevention, and trauma-related disorders. She is also an executive and leadership coach, and trained in the Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well-Being program at George Mason University.
As an Advisory Board member, Rachel’s interest in transformational justice is connected to her awareness of her responsibility to take specific action to dismantle oppressive systems rooted in white supremacy. In addition, Rachel serves as a facilitator for two educational programs focused on antiracism and inclusion at George Mason University, and serves on Mason’s Antiracism and Inclusive Excellence Taskforce.
Allison Medina
Advisory Board Member
Allison Medina (she/her) is an Advisory Board Member and also the current Director of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at The Women's Center. She is a licensed clinical social worker and a certified trauma therapist. She has worked for over 15 years in the domestic and sexual violence field. She believes in holistic and compassionate help to victims, survivors, and perpetrators. Trying to reduce harm rolls over into her personal life where she has been a vegetarian since she was 8 and vegan since she was 11. She has worked only in the nonprofit world and hopes to bring expertise around how to run a successful nonprofit.