Our Staff
EJP Directors
Rebecca Ginsburg (She/Her/Hers)
EJP’s current director is Rebecca Ginsburg, a University of Illinois faculty member. As a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley she taught in the college program at San Quentin State Prison and became convinced of the necessity of providing quality education programs to incarcerated individuals. After arriving at Illinois as an assistant professor in 2006, she began working with a group of fellow Illinois faculty, graduate students, and community members to found EJP. She has a Ph.D. in architectural history from Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Though not employed by EJP, she works full-time on its behalf.
Jamie Hines (She/Her/Hers)
Operations Director Jamie Hines has been with EJP since 2015. She joined as Operations Manager, and became Director of Operations (later Operations Director) in 2017, in recognition of the expansion of our campus office and its operations under her leadership. Jamie also teaches Public Speaking at Parkland College and has an MS in Communications Studies from Illinois State University.
Ashton Klekamp (Hoselton)(She/Her/Hers)
Policy and Research Director Ashton Klekamp (Hoselton) joined EJP in 2022 to provide strategic leadership in the development, execution, and evaluation of EJP’s policy initiatives and campaigns. Ashton formerly taught in California prisons with the Prison Education Project. She has a BA in Neuropsychology and Holistic Healing from Pitzer College and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
Lee Ragsdale (She/Her/Hers)
Reentry Resource Program (RRP) Director Lee Ragsdale began her work with EJP in 2010 as an instructor in the Language Partners Program. In 2017 she introduced RRP’s second guide for people facing deportation and in 2020 co-coordinated a reentry guide for those being released during the pandemic. Lee has a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and MAs in Spanish and English Linguistics from the University of Illinois.
Katie Fizdale (She/Her/Hers)
Katie Fizdale, Assistant to EJP Director, originally started with EJP in the fall of 2013 as their first full-time employee. She stepped away to raise her young child; in the interim, she served on EJP’s Advisory Council. In 2021, she rejoined the staff, collaborating with Rebecca in an assistant role. She works on a variety of projects, including advocating for and supervising hourly hires as well as organizing events and working closely with EJP alumni. Katie also makes schedule arrangements for Rebecca. She has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and worked for a number of years as an art advisor in Chicago.
Shaelyn Smith
(She/Her)
Academic Director
Christine Ferree
Prison-to-Gown Director Chrissy Ferree joined EJP in 2024 to usher in a new pilot program which provides support to system-impacted students on UIUC’s campus. Chrissy is the former program director of the Illinois Innocence Project, an organization that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people. She earned a BA in English and is completing an MA in Political Science from the University of Illinois Springfield.
Other Staff
Brian Dolinar
EJP Writer
Joshua Schriftman
RRP Writing and Research Coordinator
Christy Cannon
RRP Guide Production Coordinator
Chad Rand
RRP Outreach and Distributor Coordinator
The EJP director is guided by an Advisory Council that assists in setting policy and strategic planning. The chair of the Advisory Council is Helen Neville and its members are:
Charlotte Bauer
Assistant Dean, Graduate College, University of Illinois
Carla Hunter
Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Illinois
Greg Jahiel
Social Worker, READY School, Champaign
Melissa Keeble
Chair of the Advisory Council, Chaplain, Carle Hospital,
Stephanie Thurston
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Religion
Edmund Buck
Program Specialist, Reading Between the Lines
Gus Wood
Adi Kuchibhotla
Chris Harrison
Soo Ah Kwon
