STAFF

​Adam grant
Executive director

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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

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​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.

Laquan Hill
Mentor Coordinator

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Laquan (Q) grew up in the Detroit area. As a youth he moved around a lot and struggled as family dynamics changed. Frustrated and not knowing how to express it otherwise, he found himself fighting a lot, but he was a talented athlete and playing football provided focus. After H.S, he joined the Marines. While stationed in California his anger issues resurfaced and he found himself in a fight that resulted in his first incarceration, leaving the Marines, and returning to Michigan. He worked several jobs but lacked the focus/pturpose football and the marines had previously provided. Struggling, and without direction, he impulsively participated in an armed robbery with several acquaintances where someone was shot and seriously injured. At 25 he was sentenced to the Michigan Department of Corrections and served 16 years. In prison, like many, he struggled to find himself. Eventually he became involved with self help programs and found himself involved with Houses of Healing and honestly dealing with the trauma of his past. This is where he met Adam Grant. Adam wouldn't give up on him and wouldn’t let Q give up on himself either. Through countless conversations and internalizing the lessons learned in the classes he participated in, he found the focus and purpose that football and the Marines previously provided. He wanted to be there for others, to be a part of a community that valued one another, and is about who he really is not any role he is asked to fill. Through facilitating groups and classes he learned who he was and all he had to offer. Often referring to themselves as “Grant Hill” he and Adam became best friends, and stayed in contact after Adam's release. They continued to plan for the future and when Q was released from prison earlier this year he immediately stopped into ABW. Much like Houses of Healing helped to reveal who he was and his purpose, his exposure to ABW has inspired him to be the best version of himself he can be, and he looks forward to working with the ABW community in a number of capacities, but none more exciting to him than being a mentor to others.​

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

​Al Newman
​Board President

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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

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Larry is Director of Operations at Mathematical Review.

Ashley McCloskey
​secretary

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

Kim Thomas

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

Bonnie Billups

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Bonnie is Executive Director of Peace Neighborhood Center.

​Kat Layton

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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.

Cynthia Harrison 

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Cynthia is a life-long member of the Ann Arbor Community and has a BS from EMU. Cynthia is currently a Program Manager at The Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living and is also running for the Ann Arbor City Council in Ward One. Cynthia is a long standing mental health advocate and passionate about social justice issues. She believes in creating a flourishing healthy community where everyone feels safe and included and is a progressive advocate for accessible, affordable housing.

​Cynthia raised her family in Ann Arbor where she grew up, it is there that she enjoys taking nature walks with her son. In her spare time Cynthia spends time with her family, and her grandpuppy, a sweet pitbull boxer mix. She loves to travel, is active outdoors at local parks, and enjoys kayaking and biking and attending U of M football games in the fall with her spouse..​