Our Team
CPP is comprised of ‘experts’ so to speak, who have employed diverse tactics in different parts of the City and have gained comprehensive knowledge of what has been proven to be of benefit to the process as well as tactics and Initiatives that have proved, frivolous or unfruitful. The members of the CPP will act merely as Consultants and will serve in a capacity of advisor to the local organizations and general population. They will serve as facilitators in the initial gatherings, but will fall into a supportive role as indigenous leadership emerges, and will encourage residents to spearhead all efforts as well become voices in their communities to help quell the fears of retaliation and reprisal.
Ray Kelly is a lifelong resident of West Baltimore and a seasoned community organizer; He is internationally recognized for working for social and restorative justice, better community and police relations, and legislative reform with the residents of Central West Baltimore (Pennsylvania Ave). He also serves as Chair of the executive committee at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Baltimore’s Sandtown neighborhood, where he was baptized in 1973.
A father of four, Ray is recognized for his faith-based, non-violent advocacy for peace and equality. Ray brought the Pax Christi International Peace Award to the United States for the first time in 25 years as Executive Director of the No Boundaries Coalition in 2018. Additionally, he was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Faith in Baltimore Award in 2020. He has been a leader in community advocacy for West Baltimore for decades and a driving force behind the West Baltimore Community Commission on Police Conduct. Their report, “Over-Policed, Yet Underserved: The People’s Findings Regarding Police Misconduct in West Baltimore,” was referenced multiple times in the DOJ’s findings and was presented to a United Nations Special Repertoire. Ray also facilitated the “People’s Decree Summit,” where over 100 residents worked with the Department of Justice to formalize their demands on how the BPD should be reformed; many of those recommendations are reflected in Baltimore’s consent decree. His latest report, ‘the Long Game, DEFUND, DIVEST, REFORM AND ABOLISH, the residents perspective of the current debate on Where we should Invest our public safety dollars”, continues to influence a new era of public safety in Baltimore City and can be read in its entirety HERE!
Ray was a National Justice Policy Network fellow in 2015 with the Raben Group and received the Strategic Action Award from the Open Society Institute-Baltimore in 2018. In 2017, Ray was appointed to the Civilian Oversight Task Force (COTF), mandated to make recommendations on accountability mechanisms by the consent decree, and subsequently became its Chair. He now serves as a member of Baltimore’s Administrative Charging Committee. He was recently appointed and commissioned by Governor Wes Moore to serve on the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission for a 3-year term.
Donna is a native of Baltimore and a mother of two children. She has always worked as an advocate around the issues that have directly impacted her life and community since she was a teenager through volunteering, as a parent in support of public schools, as a minister through her church and as a community member and leader. Using her nearly 20 years of experience working with not-for-profit organizations, she started her own organization to affect change in the city of Baltimore through the lens of her experience of living and working in some of the city’s most distressed communities. As an advocate and organizer, Donna fully committed her time and efforts to focus on social justice issues to include youth incarceration, support and outreach for re-entering citizens, violence against women, prison reform, affordable housing, urban renewal, public safety, systemic racism and health disparities.
Donna has worked as an advocate in support of women who were/are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, which led to her working with incarcerated women and men. This work led to activism and social engagement to affect public policy and legislation to address issues for victims as well as violators. Exposure to the prison system led her to partner with organizations and attorneys to address rights of prisoners as well as prison reform. Donna has also worked within Maryland detention centers and prison complexes through pre-release programs to foster the transition from incarceration. Donna’s most impassioned work was born out of her engagement with incarcerated youth, charged as adults, which sparked her advocacy for juvenile justice. She has also worked as a Chaplain within the Baltimore Police Department to strengthen relationship between police officers and communities. Also, in collaboration with a group of faith leaders, Donna advocates for minority inclusion in health care treatment and research using the nuances of Precision Medicine.
As a result of working as a community partner and member of CJSJ, Donna joined the No Boundaries Coalition in 2015 to further support the work of police reform. Donna also represented the Empowerment Temple as a minister and organizational leader in the collaboration with Campaign for Justice, Safety and Jobs (CJSJ). Donna has continued to support the public safety initiatives of the Coalition and has been personally and professionally committed influencing the work to assure the desired outcomes of the Consent Decree. Donna also currently serves as Co-Chair of the Domestic Violence Committee of the Baltimore City Women's Commission.
Christen N. Kelly
Youth and Engagement Coordinator
christen.nicole@cpproject.org
Christen is a graduate of Duval High School in Prince George's County, Maryland. Once finished high school she spent some time at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, majoring in psychology. With the short time she did spend at the university, Christen realized that she wanted to focus more on helping the community more frequently and be more hands-on. Christen looks forward to working with the youth in the community, she hopes to help them realize that they can actually make something of themselves, and they do have people in the community who will support them, listen to what they have to say, and that want to help them reach their highest potential no matter what their goals may be.
“The B.Y.O program has given me a chance to voice my thoughts and opinions on the community. B.Y.O. has also shown me that many people are fighting for the same thing as me. I feel like I can do more here at home, being hands-on, instead of sitting around wondering when things will change for my generation and wondering what will happen to those generations who come after us.” ~ Christen
Christen was the voice for Beyond Youth Organizing during Baltimore’s youth diversion assessment in 2019, during youth justice action month, and co-facilitated Baltimore’s youth policy workshops for policies 1202 and 1207. After three years of working in different capacities with B.Y.O., Christen is now the full-time Youth and Engagement Coordinator for C.P.P.. She will be directly supervising and helping the new B.Y.O advocates with upcoming engagements, policies, programs, and the curriculum for Beyond Youth Organizing. While B.Y.O Christen hopes to show Baltimore City that the children they are raising will have a bright and successful future ahead of them, working with Beyond Youth Organizing will be the first step..