Guest Speakers

In 2017, Michelle was appointed Assistant Clerk Magistrate of the Suffolk Superior Court Criminal Division, where she conducts arraignments, bail hearings, initial probation surrender hearings and pre-trial conferences. Attorney Fentress is also an active member of her community, and serves as a Mentor for Youth Career Connect, a program that connects high school students interested in STEM careers to professionals in the field.

Jan Brogan is the author of The Combat Zone: Murder, Race and Boston’s Struggle for Justice (Bright Leaf Press/UMass). The work chronicles the 1976 murder of Harvard football player Andrew Puopolo in Boston’s old Combat Zone, the two trials that followed, with nearly opposite verdicts, and the impact on the city and on criminal justice.

David L. Garlock is a successful returning citizen, reentry professional, and criminal justice reform advocate. He is a writer, author, and poet who shares his story in many written forms. He is a frequent speaker at colleges and universities, criminal and social justice conferences, and community events. He appeared in the movie Just Mercy in 2020. 

Congressman Jake Auchincloss is serving his second term representing the Massachusetts Fourth. In addition to his work on the committees for Transportation & Infrastructure and the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and China, his areas of focus include healthcare, clean energy, gun violence, and building a strong middle class.

Asale Angel-Ajani is a writer, scholar and activist with expertise on Global Mass Incarceration, the African Diaspora, and the rights of women. Over the last two decades, she has worked with incarcerated men and women, as well as refugees and displaced people across the globe. She has been a research fellow at the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Institute and was the first American researcher to gain entry into Italy's Rebibbia Prison, where she wrote about African immigrants detained there. Her 2023 novel, A Country You Can Leave, follows the turbulent relationship of a Black, biracial teen and her ferocious Russian mother, struggling to survive in the California desert. 

Serge Georges, Jr. was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by Governor Charlie Baker on December 16, 2020. He had a diverse practice focused on commercial litigation and criminal defense in state and federal courts. Justice Georges’ teaching positions include adjunct professorships at Suffolk University Law School (2000 to present) and University of Massachusetts School of Law (2019 to present), where he teaches courses in Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Trial Advocacy.