Announcing FEPPS’s Executive Director!

March 28, 2024

Dear FEPPS Friends and Supporters,

On behalf of FEPPS’s Board, we write to inform you of a leadership transition at the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound. Beginning April 1, 2024 FEPPS’s new Executive Director will be Alyssa Knight.

Alyssa may be familiar to some: she is one of the group of students who conceived of and founded the Village and FEPPS in WCCW over a decade ago. While at WCCW, Alyssa received her AA degree with FEPPS, and since her return to community, she enrolled in and graduated with a degree in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. Since July 2023, Alyssa has served as the interim co-ED of FEPPS where she has supervised staff, developed and augmented our AA classes (Physics is being offered in WCCW this quarter!), worked with funders from a range of large and small organizations, and represented FEPPS at several national conferences. In addition to her proven leadership, Alyssa has the support and respect of a broad range of key stakeholders. and her leadership and strengths are widely recognized. Alyssa marries experience and skills and is the leader FEPPS needs as it moves into its second decade.

In conducting the search, the Board appointed a committee composed of Board and community members who represented key stakeholders: a former FEPPS student, two FEPPS faculty, and our Board president and treasurer. The search committee conducted listening sessions with a range of constituents prior to crafting the job description and announcement of qualifications and criteria for the position. We were pleased to receive a large number of applications which included applicants: with lived experience (almost 40%), from out-of-state (over 40%), who identified as BIPOC (over 40%), and with experience in higher-education-in-prison programs. Applicants went through multiple rounds of interviews with our community, including the staff, Board, and students. Alyssa emerged as the strongest applicant to lead FEPPS as its next Executive Director, and we are delighted that she has accepted the Board’s offer starting April 1.

Alyssa steps into the position on the heels of Jennifer Bright who has capably and compassionately served as ED since 2018. Jennifer’s unflappability was essential as our students and organization navigated COVID, and FEPPS will remain in her debt for carrying us through these challenging years.

Thank you for your continued support of FEPPS and its commitment to educating and changing lives of incarcerated people inside and out of prison.                                                              

Priti Joshi                                  Laura Birx                   
Board President                     Board Treasurer
(until April 2024)  (President from May 2024)   

Board: Jeff Connor, Secretary | Amanda DuBois | Robin Jacobson | Starr Lake | Max Likin | Kelly Olson