PJDC Welcomes Rhyzan Croomes and Em Steen!
8/20/24: This summer, we welcomed two new staff members at PJDC. Rhyzan Croomes (she/her) is PJDC’s first ever Director of Capacity Building and Training. Rhyzan comes to us from Loyola Law School, where she was the Supervising Attorney in the Juvenile Justice Clinic. She was also the Director of the Independent Forensic Gang Expert College at Loyola. She is a graduate of the Ambassadors for Racial Justice Program with the Gault Center and Georgetown Law School. In addition to leading PJDC’s training program, Rhyzan will be taking the lead on two recent grants that PJDC has been awarded – one from the Office of Youth and Community Restoration to do a series of trainings on various aspects of SYTF commitments, and the other a grant from the Crankstart Foundation, to provide training and technical assistance in San Joaquin and Riverside Counties, focused on decarceration and racial justice advocacy.
Emerson (Em) Steen (he/they pronouns) is our Administrative Manager. Em has a Masters in Public Policy from USC, with a concentration in financial management. Em Steen (he/they) is the Administrative Manager of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center. With five years of experience in process optimization and movement building, Em is an accomplished operations analyst and passionate leader committed to enhancing organizational efficiency. Before joining PJDC, Em held various administrative and managerial roles in non-profit organizations and local government in Los Angeles, where he honed his skills in fiscal management, program coordination, and strategic planning. Driven by a deep commitment to social justice and equity, Em’s professional journey reflects a true dedication to supporting transformative initiatives. Em earned their B.S. from UMass Amherst and MPA from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.