Staff & Board of directors

​Adam grant
Executive director

Adam's (he/him) path to ABW has included over three decades of incarceration, including 27 straight years for a bank robbery he committed at the age of 22. He began his path of service serving as P.R. Director for N.A.A.C.P. at Saginaw Correctional Facility.  Over the years he worked within various other organizations in a variety of capacities, expanding educational programing, training group facilitators, providing mentoring and training, developing curriculum, and constructing the framework for a Peer Recovery Coaching program. To Adam, reentry and CJR are not merely a cause, they are personal. He knows that with a little assistance, guidance, and empathy current recidivism rates do not have to be a forgone conclusion. Further, he believes that what we feed grows, that good reentry makes for better public safety, and that if we invest in our Returning Citizens there will be A Brighter Way ahead for all of us.

Jeanne ross
deputy director

​Jeanne (she/her) received her Masters of Psychology degree from Eastern Michigan University and worked in mental health for nearly 30 years, including at Washtenaw Community Mental Health and Ypsilanti Regional Psychiatric Hospital. She then moved to the Corrections system and 12 years of her career were spent working in the Corrections Mental Health Program as an administrator who developed programs for mentally ill offenders. In 2006 Jeanne moved to Florida and became a chef at several resorts in the Palm Beach area. She eventually went back to her roots of working with people and became the Culinary Instructor at The Lord's Place, a local non-profit training the homeless and formerly incarcerated people to work in the food industry. She returned to Michigan in 2020 and became a board member of A Brighter Way earlier this year.
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​Al Newman
​Board President

Al comes from a career in the for-profit business world and is now highly involved in the non-profit community of Washtenaw County. Al was serial entrepreneur, his assistance was enlisted when the agency was founding to help grow the organization. Al works tirelessly for many non-profits in the Washtenaw County arena. He is an avid biker who has biked on every continent and is devoted to his family spending time daily with his grandchildren. 

Laurence O'Connell
Treasurer

Larry is Director of Operations at Mathematical Review.

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Ashley McCloskey
​secretary

Ashley is Associate Director of Development at the Stephen R. Ross School of Business.

Kim Thomas

Kim is a Professor with the University of Michigan Law Clinic with a specialty in criminal law with adults and children.

Bonnie Billups

Bonnie is Executive Director of Peace Neighborhood Center.
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​Kat Layton

Kat Layton (she/her) is a Service Coordinator for the Jail Diversion program at Washtenaw County Community Mental Health. Kat earned her B.S. from the University of Texas in Austin and her M.S.W. from the University of Michigan. Kat has spent her professional experience and engagement focusing on decarcerating the jails, while dismantling the unjust criminal legal system.
Prior to her work at CMH, Kat worked for Ingham County Public Defender's office and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit.
Kat and her wife and two rescue pups, live in Ypsilanti where they enjoy long walks in different parks in their neighborhood.