David Kaczynski
Executive Director

David Kaczynski is executive director of New Yorkers For Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NYADP) and the brother of Theodore Kaczynski - the so-called Unabomber - who was arrested in 1996 after David and his wife Linda approached the FBI with their suspicions that Theodore might be involved in a series of bombings that caused three deaths and numerous injuries over 17 years. In 1998, David and Linda received a one million dollar reward from the Justice Department for their role in the Unabom investigation, which they subsequently dedicated – minus attorney’s fees and taxes - to the victims and their families.

After leading a successful statewide campaign to end New York’s flawed and ineffective capital punishment system, David has focused his organization’s work on promoting community initiatives that address the root causes of violence and that provide meaningful assistance to those directly affected.

Prior to joining NYADP, David was assistant director of the Equinox shelter for runaway and homeless youth in Albany, where he counseled and advocated for troubled, neglected and abused youth in the Capital District. Through his life and his work, David has sought solutions to human problems through understanding and compassion as opposed to violence and coercion. His story touches on the things we must learn and the balances we must achieve to keep our sense of humanity alive through adversity and crisis.

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Colleen Eren
Organizing Director

Colleen has been involved in abolition work since 16, and has been on the staff of NYADP since 2005, during which time she also served on Amnesty International's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty Steering Committee. She graduated Valedictorian from Hofstra University’s New College, and is currently a PhD candidate and Chancellor’s Fellow in Sociology at the Graduate Center, CUNY. She has taught undergraduate courses at Queens College, Hunter College, and Hofstra University.
 

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Marie Verzulli
Victim/ Survivor Liaison:

Marie is Vice-President of the Capital District Coalition for Crime Victims Rights. She also serves on the Restorative Justice Commission of the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, Murder Victims’ Families For Human Rights Board Member, Center for Community Justice Board Member, and is on the advisory committee of the downstate parole reform and prison re-entry project. Marie is the founder and director of Family and Friends of Homicide Victims.

Because the needs of victims and survivors are many, Marie’s work focuses on filling the gaps in services and on empowering victims to advocate for programs that address the root causes of crime and violence.

In January ’08, Marie and her mother participated in a victim-offender dialogue with her sister Cathy’s killer. Marie, who dedicates her work to Cathy’s memory, believes that ethical, non-violent solutions represent our best hope of reducing violent crime.

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Barbara Smith:
Community Organizer

Barbara Smith has been committed to achieving racial, economic, and social justice through her work as an activist, author, teacher, and publisher since the 1960s. Barbara has played a central role in building the Black feminist movement and the field of Black women's studies in the United States. She was elected to the Albany Common Council in 2005 and is currently serving her second term.
 

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Photo credit: Drea Leanza