Our Team

Kris Henderson - Co-Executive Director 

Kris Henderson is the Executive Director of Amistad Movement Power. They grew up in East Orange, New Jersey-- a majority Black, working class community. Their educational career began in East Orange's underfunded schools, continued at a private Christian School and led to boarding school in New England for high school. Their diverse educational experiences and the realization that a quality education is possible but often incredibly expensive, led them to work towards making sure we all have what we need. They are a movement lawyer, a co-founder of Amistad Law Project, Amistad Movement Power and the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration. They are on the steering committee of Free The Ballot! Incarcerated Voter Family Network and on the board of directors of Black Youth Project 100. They are a 2018 Law for Black Lives and Movement Law Lab Legal Innovators Fellow and a 2019 Soros Justice Fellow.

Nikki Grant - Co-Executive Director 

Nikki Grant is Amistad Movement Project's Movement Director and co-founder. She is the proud daughter of Jamaican immigrants and grew up in a tightly-knit, working class West Indian community in Orlando, Florida. As a young person, she witnessed poverty, racial segregation and inequitable schools in her community, as well as her father’s disabling chronic illness. She was inspired by the demonstration of care by primarily Black women neighbors and church family to work towards social equity through a Black feminist lens. Nikki is a movement lawyer, former Courtwatch Organizer for the Judge Accountability Table, and a founding member of the Coalition to Abolish Death by Incarceration. She is also a board member of the Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania, where she serves on the Community Organizing committee.  

Bee Ruiz - Civic Engagement Organizer

Bee Ruiz is the Civic Engagement Organizer at Amistad. They are a queer Puerto Rican North Philadelphia native and began organizing in 2017 with Youth United for Change, where they remained until 2024, organizing campaigns for Mental Health resources in Philly public schools and sanitation resources for the Kensington neighborhood. In 2019, Bee experienced homelessness, which only further fueled their passion for organizing. Furthermore, they were a 2019 Working Families Party Fellow to support Council Member Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O'Rourke's first race to fill the minority party seats, and later in 2020 supported State Representative Rick Krajewski's first-term election. Bee is a Community College of Philadelphia and Temple University Alumni with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Public Health. Pursuing their Master’s in Public Health Policy, they hope to support improving policy outcomes in the city through community organizing.

Jules Rodgers - Director of Communications 

Jules Rodgers is the Communications Director of Amistad Movement Power. They grew up in a conservative religious community in Texas that was not prepared to welcome a queer kid. Sent to conversion therapy as a teenager, Jules began writing as a form of survival. Their early writing focused on queer liberation in faith communities, with a memoir and bylines in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast and beyond. Jules’s drive to dismantle oppressive structures like white supremacy and the carceral system is fueled by their belief in the beauty and dignity of every human being. They believe wealth equality creates public safety and that we have the resources we need to build communities where everyone can thrive. 

Our Board of Directors 

Kempis Songster

Kempis 'Ghani' Songster came home in 2018 and has been a consistent organizer for people he was incarcerated alongside for over 30 years. He is Restorative Justice Program Manager for the Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project and a co-founding member of Right to Redemption, Ubuntu Philadelphia and the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration. He lives in Northeast Philadelphia.

Lorraine Haw 

Lorraine Haw (aka Mrs Dee Dee) is a fierce leader in the movement of family members fighting to free their loved ones from PA state prisons. Her son is incarcerated at SCI-Smithfield where he is serving a life without parole sentence. She is a member of the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration, FAMM and other criminal justice reform advocacy organizations and she lives in the Kensington section of Philly.

Steph Drain

Southwest Philly Native, cat dad, political organizer and social justice activist. Steph has spent his entire adult life working to organize and activate community members to increase voter turnout and engagement. Steph has worked on campaigns to reallocate police funds into "real" community resources, shutting down the oil refinery in South Philly and helping to ensure that everyone has the ability to vote, without fear of intimidation or persecution. Steph is committed to ensuring that poor and working class people have access to clean air and clean water. Additionally, he understands that sovereignty over means of production is key in any liberation fight for oppressed peoples. Steph started as a volunteer and is committed to feeding community members good ass, healthy food, grown in their backyards.

Crystal Lopez

Crystal Lopez is a true fighter for all incarcerated human beings. She has been fighting to free her loved one who has been wrongfully convicted and ripped from his family for over 25 years. She believes in redemption and completely revamping the criminal justice system to focus on rehabilitation. She is a long time member and leader in The Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration and she has specialized in creative online activism in support of second chances. She too believes in humanity and being a voice for those who aren't able to speak up. She is ready to continue to fight for her loved one and yours as well.

Marcie Marra 

Marcie Marra is a dynamic advocate for her brother Richie who is incarcerated at SCI-Chester. She is a member of the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration and lives in the Packer Park section of South Philadelphia where she serves as an elected Democratic Committee Person in the First Ward.