The Board of Directors of Indiana Abolition coalition (IAC) is thrilled to announce that Stefanie Anderson has been named our new Executive Director. She begins her tenure at the helm of the organization today, September 1.

Following a thorough search process, the IAC board selected Stefanie for her extensive experience in the movement to end the death penalty, including leadership roles in state and national abolition organizations. 

Stefanie served as Executive Director of Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, which celebrated death penalty abolition in 2018. Stefanie then worked at Witness to Innocence, a national organization that empowers exonerated death row survivors to be the most powerful and effective voices in efforts to end the death penalty and reform the justice system. She served both as Director of Communications and as manager of the Accuracy & Justice Program, which brought exonerees together with prosecutors and police in workshops to educate about wrongful convictions. 

Stefanie grew up and went to college in Iowa, where there hasn’t been a death penalty since 1965. When she moved to Washington State after college, she found it odd to live in a state with an active death penalty — and she got involved in efforts to end it.
 
When asked about what she enjoys most about the work to end the death penalty, Stefanie spoke of finding joy in building coalitions among people who do not always arrive with the same politics, language, or lived experience. She is excited to bring her Midwestern roots to Indiana and to find a path to death penalty abolition here. 
 
We are thrilled to begin this new era of IAC with our first full-time staff. Please join us in welcoming Stefanie! Feel free to email info@indianaabolition.org with greetings, introductions, advice, or ideas for the organization!