Social justice advocate, artist, and 1963 Goucher graduate Claudia Robins Whitman received the 2018 Goucher College Award for Excellence in Public Service for her passionate and life-long work in criminal justice reform and her achievements in creating support systems for incarcerated individuals and their families. Whitman, who is the founder and CEO of the National Capital Crime Assistance Network (NCCAN), has spent decades working to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. Over the years, she has partnered with organizations such as Equal Justice USA, the Innocence Project, and Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE), and has contributed to numerous books and articles about the death penalty and help for the wrongly incarcerated.

In February of 2017, after successfully obtaining a release from judgment for her client Bernard Young, her work was featured in this profile by the Durango Herald. In it, she states “There’s just so many people innocent in prison, and it’s frustrating… But then when you get a success like this and see the joy in their hearts, you get more out of it than you ever put in.”

Integral members of our NNCAN team, Zeno (top) and Zollo (bottom) bring their unconditional love to us daily, helping us to bring levity to our serious work.

Suzanne Strazza moved west from New Jersey right out of college and after years of adventuring, has made Montezuma County, Colorado her home for the last 26 years. She has worked with several non-profits whose focuses range from environmental advocacy to distributing pet food to families in need. When a mutual friend connected her with Claudia Whitman and Laird Gunnar Carlson, she knew she had found a place for her energy and heart. Helping the wrongfully convicted allows her to contribute outside of her community and experience. Bringing someone home to their loved ones is an honor. Suzanne lives in a canyon in the desert with her dog, Elvis the Wonder Corgi.