The WA Statewide Reentry Council is comprised of at least fifteen members from different communities and agencies across the state. They meet several times a year to discuss and support the needs of community members reentering their community after incarceration.
The council includes representatives from:
- The Department of Corrections
- The juvenile rehabilitation administration
- A statewide organization representing community and technical colleges
- A statewide organization representing law enforcement interests
- A statewide organization representing the interests of crime victims
- A statewide organization representing prosecutors
- A statewide organization representing public defenders
- A statewide or local organization representing businesses and employers
- Housing providers
- Faith-based organizations or communities
- At least two people with experience reentering the community after incarceration
- At least two community leaders
- At least one position with a background in tribal affairs
Council Staff and Members
Janel McFeat
McFeat started her social work career in Tacoma and served as the strategic planner/program manager for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s reentry program, creating a nationally recognized reentry program using evidence-based practices and a people-first human dignity model. She is a White House Champion for Change nominee and recipient of the Linda Gabriel Human Rights Award, among numerous other honors, for her leading work with formerly incarcerated young people, adults and their families.
As a Jamestown S’Klallam descendant, McFeat credits her great-grandmother for her most important lessons – the importance of relationships and the art of listening. These led her to become a Restorative Circle Practitioner.
Most recently, as the strategic planner/program manager for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s reentry program, McFeat built relationships and exposed the unfair treatment and disproportional incarceration rate for Native Americans. In addition, she developed the Welcome Home program, a nationally-recognized model that serves native and non-native incarcerated individuals. Her team’s work reduced recidivism by over 80% with their target population, earning the Welcome Home program the Champions of Justice Award for its humane work with those coming out of jail.
McFeat started her social work career in Tacoma, where she worked with youth coming out of Echo Glen Children’s Center and releasing to a group home in the heart of the Hilltop neighborhood. She moved into working with domestic violence victims at the Crystal Judson Center (Our Sisters House), later returned to her hometown of Poulsbo and followed her calling to her native roots to work for the Tribe and help those who were behind bars. McFeat received her B.A. in Social Work from Pacific Lutheran University and has 23 years of experience working with justice-impacted individuals. She consults nationally with groups on best practices to implement reentry human dignity models into their justice systems.
Lorraine Olson
Lorraine Olson recently graduated from The Evergreen State College’s MPA program. She delivered her Capstone project on a Policy Analysis of the Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) compared to HB 2793 and the Effects of Mass Incarceration, highlighting the over-incarceration of BIPOC communities.
Olson has a unique perspective due to being a justice-impacted individual because of flaws in the criminal justice system. In her senior undergrad year, she taught/co-learned in the Gateways for Incarcerated Youth program at the Green Hill School juvenile detention center in Chehalis. There, Olson decided to pursue a degree centered on mass incarceration to improve life for those affected. She also facilitated the Justice Involved Student Group, where she was a legislation and policy advisor and tracked Reentry Issues for the college.
While at Evergreen, she also worked as a Peer Navigator in the Reentry Scholars Project, building a research database and assisting Returning Citizens to begin their education journey, thereby reducing recidivism. Lorraine believes in the power of education to reduce recidivism and has seen it work for many. She earned her Paralegal certification in 2014 at Highline College, where she graduated Phi Theta Kappa. She has been a Contracts Analyst Manager for multi-million-dollar contracts in the software/hardware industry and is an effective negotiator. One of her foundational beliefs is that everyone deserves respect and that a helping hand can go a long way.
Hanan Al-Zubaidy
Hanan Al-Zubaidy is the Associate Director For Corrections Education at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. Hanan has served in Corrections education in various capacities, ranging from an Education Navigator, Director of Education at a minimum security facility in Washington, and recently, the Corrections Education Program Administrator. Hanan holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership and Policy from Portland State University. Hanan is a member of the Correctional Education Association’s Council of Directors of Correctional Education. Hanan is dedicated to the success of underrepresented students and their families.
Larry Jefferson
Larry Jefferson was appointed in April of 2021 by the Washington Supreme Court to become the new Director of Public Defense for the State of Washington. He has worked as a public defender in King and Thurston County since 1996. He is a graduate of The Evergreen State College and Seattle University’s School of Law. Larry is a Board member of the Campaign for Equal Justice and the Diversity and Inclusion Section of The Thurston County Bar Association. He is past President of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Thurston County Bar Association. In 2023, he was named the Loren Miller Bar Association’s recipient of the Excellence in Law Award, in 2022, he was named Luminary of the Year by the Seattle Clemency Project. In 2020, he received the Daniel Bigelow Award from the Thurston County Bar Association and was named Attorney of the Year. Larry is a devoted husband, father of two wonderful adult children, and a self-proclaimed mama’s boy. He enjoys transforming harm into justice, standing by his barbecue, and cheering for the Seahawks.
Jerry Goodstein
Jerry Goodstein is Professor Emeritus of Management with the Carson College of Business at Washington State University. Goodstein has conducted research and taught business ethics, leadership, and strategy at the undergraduate and graduate levels for over three decades. His work on second-chance hiring has been published in leading business journals and featured in several op-ed articles over the past three years. Since retiring from his full-time academic role in May 2020, Dr. Goodstein has focused on bringing together employers, criminal justice partners, and community-based organizations to develop innovative employment-based reentry programs. He founded Second Chance Employment Innovations in 2019 and created PREHP (Pre-release Employer Hiring Program), a program that offers employers the opportunity to partner with prisons and extend pre-release job offers to qualified individuals shortly before their release from incarceration.
Ty Reed
Ty Reed was born in Tennessee, spent time residing in Virginia and Georgia, and has lived in WA State for over 30 years. A graduate of University High School in Spokane, Ty has a bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Washington. Ty has seen the highs and lows of life. He has been a nationally awarded salesperson for a Fortune 50 company and has also experienced homelessness, addiction, and incarceration. After entering recovery in 2016, Ty started Recovery Career Services, a nonprofit that helps individuals overcoming criminal convictions find and keep employment. As part of that work, he is a speaker that educates business associations and employers about the importance of second chance hiring.
He currently works in management for Workforce Snohomish, a workforce development organization, and is excited to begin his first term with the WA Statewide Reentry Council.
Eric Richey
Eric Richey is the elected Whatcom County Prosecutor since 2018 after 25 years of handling criminal cases in the office. He has served on many boards and committees, including Brigid Collins Child Advocacy Center, Whatcom County Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services, and the Chuckanut Health Foundation. Eric was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and received degrees from Western Washington University and the University of Oregon School of Law. He is married, has two children and enjoys bikes and boats.
Penelope Sapp
Penelope Sapp was hired at the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Jail in 2002, where she worked in various jail assignments. She was promoted to sergeant in 2007 and assigned to operations sergeant and training sergeant. In 2014 she was promoted to lieutenant, and in 2021 she was promoted to Chief of Corrections. During her assignment as a lieutenant, Penelope focused on re-entry services, including Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), to help those incarcerated transition into the community more successfully. She continues to enhance those services in her role as Chief. In addition, Penelope was selected by Governor Inslee to be a Commissioner for the Washington State Criminal Justice Commission, assisting in the development of high standards and exceptional training for the law enforcement personnel that work in our state. Penelope is currently writing her dissertation for her Ph.D. in Philosophy of Public Policy Administration. When Penelope is not studying, she is giving back to the community in some capacity. She is one of the founding board members of the Kitsap Shop with a Cop program and event that invites over 120 underprivileged children to holiday shopping with law enforcement personnel. In addition, she is currently the secretary of the Kitsap Fair and Stampede Boards, the new non-profit created to plan the county fair.
Hilary Young
Hilary Young is vice president of advocacy and philanthropy for Pioneer Human Services, the oldest and largest reentry provider in Washington state. In this role, she leads public policy, advocacy, communications and fundraising efforts to effect positive change for people impacted by the criminal legal system. Before joining Pioneer in 2011, Hilary spent her career in the public sector advocating for a range of issues, including workforce development for marginalized individuals and healthcare reform. Committed to the fight to end discrimination against people with conviction histories, Hilary has served on the Seattle Fair Chance Housing Committee and the Seattle Reentry Workgroup and is a current member of the Statewide Reentry Taskforce and the Washington State Housing Justice Coalition. She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College.
Danielle Armbruster
Assistant Secretary of Reentry, Department of Corrections
Danielle Armbruster began her career with the Department of Corrections in September 1996 as a Clerk Typist 2 and was promoted through increasing levels of responsibility from accounting to the general manager of Correctional Industries at Stafford Creek Corrections Center. Armbruster also served as a board member of the National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA) and recently served as the NCIA’s Western Region chair. Armbruster is the 2012 recipient of the Secretary’s Leadership Award.
Felice Upton
Felice brings more than 20 years of leadership experience and implementation of trauma-informed care to her role at DCYF. Before she was appointed Assistant Secretary of Juvenile Rehabilitation, Felice was superintendent of Echo Glen Children’s Center. She also brings experience from the Department of Corrections, where she served various roles over 15 years, from Community Corrections Officer to Associate Superintendent of Programs for the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Felice is firmly committed to disrupting pathways to eventual adult incarceration and believes in service-oriented leadership and fostering a positive and supportive work environment. She currently serves on the Seattle University Department of Criminal Justice Advisory Board, is the board vice-chair for the University of Washington School of Social Work and Criminal Justice, and is an alumna of Just Lead Washington. Felice is also a University of Washington graduate, Husky fan, and proud mom.
Karen Lee
Karen Lee, a United States Army Veteran, is an alumna of both the United States Military Academy at West Point and the University of Washington School of Law. She is currently a member of the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and University of Washington Foundation boards, and she is a Corporate Director at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Northwest Natural Holdings, and Lease Crutcher Lewis. Her list of accomplishments is long and what is constant throughout her distinguished career is her commitment to serving others and making it possible for everyone to lead a life of dignity.
Karen assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer at Plymouth Housing in 2022. Prior to this, Karen held the position of CEO at Pioneer Human Services and served as a cabinet member and agency director during Governor Christine Gregoire’s administration. With a four-year tenure in the U.S. Army, including an overseas tour, Karen also contributed as the Director of Gas Operations at Puget Sound Energy. Earlier in her legal career, she gained experience at K&L Gates. Karen is deeply committed to active involvement in our community and reentry.
Ayodele (Ayo) Idowu
Ayo Idowu has been a resident of Southwest Washington (Clark County) for over 13 years and has been a Prison Fellowship volunteer at a local state prison (Larch Correction Center) for over 11 years. Through this volunteer opportunity, Ayo has had the privilege to witness countless men reenter society with support from individuals and faith-based organizations, like the church he currently attends (Faith Center Church) and other organizations like Grace Ministries/XChange Recovery Ministries, to provide resources and assistance, for reentry and re-engagement into society. Ayo Idowu was appointed by the WA State Governor to be on the WA State Reentry Council in 2019 and was reappointed for another two years.
Ayo is passionate about seeing incarcerated lives changed through successful reentry, including encouragement, service and partnership with faith-based organizations. Ayo believes that representing Southwest Washington on the WA State Reentry Council would provide the opportunity to continue supporting reentry programs and education and partner with faith-based communities to provide WA State resources to assist the incarcerated to be successful outside the walls of prison. Ayo is interested in being supportive of individuals being released but also has equal concern for the community and the families and victims of these individuals, believing that representing the Washington Statewide Reentry Council’s purpose will help achieve that balance.
Winona Stevens
Winona Stevens is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Her commitment to serving Native Americans affected by incarceration led her to launch Native American Reentry Services. Her organization has two programs: Iron House Medicine and HEAL for Reentry.
To further support our brothers and sisters involved in the criminal justice system, Winona’s work includes being a trainer for White Bison’s Wellbriety Training Institute, a consultant for the American Probation & Parole Association’s Washington State Tribal Intergovernmental Reentry Workshop, consulting with WA State’s Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration on the implementation of their religious program policy, and has contracted with the WA State Department of Corrections, administering their Native American Religious Programs.
Additionally, Ms. Stevens serves on the following boards: Huy, the Washington Statewide Reentry Council (Governor appointed Tribal Affairs Representative), White Bison, and the University of Washington’s Native American Advisory Board.
Winona is currently a doctoral student at the University of Washington’s Educational Leadership Ed. D. program in partnership with Muckleshoot Tribal College. She received her master’s degree in social work at the University of Washington. She has held many positions which include Adjunct Professor at Northwest Indian College, White Bison Recovery Coach and New Directions Anger Management Group Facilitator.
Priya Rai
Priya is a mixed race, queer, chronically ill survivor who has been with API Chaya since 2012, and is currently the Executive Director. Through her leadership, API Chaya developed programs with incarcerated community members across WA state prisons; as well as increased community capacity to directly intervene in gender-based violence towards healing and accountability, outside of state systems. In this role Priya is particularly interested in developing strategic priorities, investing in whole family support for the people we serve, and ensuring API Chaya remains accountable to the immigrant communities and survivors at our core. She has been in the anti-violence anti-prison movements for more than 15 years. She is a former board member of the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence; Trikone NW; and is a founding member of Collective Justice. Priya has a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley; and a JD from the University of Washington School of Law.
Arlen W. Moses
Arlen W. Moses is a member of The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and is a descendant of the Colville Nation. His commitment to serving the Native American community reflects in his resume, employed in various fields for the Yakama Nation since 1995, volunteered in several public safety capacities, participated on various Tribal, State and National Committees and Commissions, and has worked as a consultant for the National Emergency Training Center, Emmitsburg, Maryland in Tribal Affairs.
Arlen started his career in Corrections, Rehabilitation, Reentry and Restorative Justice during the Retrocession of PL 83-280 in 2016 and has been working to improve the conditions and circumstances of his community, more specifically the Tribal youth and the elderly. Employed as the Youth Court Services Program Manager, he has the responsibility to uphold Law and redirect Tribal youth back into Tribal traditions, culture and beliefs.
Working to complete his education at Heritage University located on the Yakama Reservation, Arlen is earning a double major in both Criminal Justice and Psychology and intends on continuing his education in Law. Having a strong faith in traditions, culture and beliefs, he gives credit to his elders, who taught him about tamánwi- (the law). Arlen is reminded, “Virtue is the fabric within a culture that binds a community together and prior to civilization, jails and prisons, our people relied on community-based, social sanctions and knowledge to preserve fairness, be recognized, heard, address wrongdoing and promote over-all healing.”