Renny Cushing, Executive Director, whose father, Robert Cushing, was murdered in 1988, is a lifelong social justice activist and a pioneer in the effort to bridge the death penalty abolition movement and the victims’ rights movement. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and several state legislatures and addressed hundreds of audiences in other venues in the U.S. and abroad regarding victim opposition to the death penalty. He serves on the board of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the steering committee of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. He is a former three-term member of the New Hampshire State House of Representatives.  Email: cushing@mvfhr.org

Kate Lowenstein, Co-Director, Program Director, whose father, Al Lowenstein, was murdered, is an attorney and social worker with extensive experience organizing and advocating for victims and murder victim family members. In 2004, Kate co-wrote amicus curiae briefs on behalf of victims’ family members in two high-profile cases that were before the U.S. Supreme Court: Schriro v. Summerlin and Roper v. Simmons. In her work with MVFHR, Kate contributes expert knowledge about victims’ rights issues and death penalty abolition work and keen sensitivity to the issues involved in working with victims and helping them to assert their rights and become effective spokespeople against the death penalty.  Email: lowenstein@mvfhr.org

Susannah Sheffer, Project Director and Staff Writer, has developed numerous written materials about victim opposition to the death penalty, including Dignity Denied: The Experience of Murder Victims’ Family Members Who Oppose the Death Penalty and Creating More Victims: How Executions Hurt the Families Left Behind, both of which were co-authored with Renny Cushing. She is the author of four books, and in her work with MVFHR she draws upon two decades of experience interviewing, writing, and editing.  Email: sheffer@mvfhr.org

Catherine Brady, Bookkeeper, has been crunching numbers since it was done with pencil and ledger paper. She took an eight-year break from numbers to engage in grassroots organizing and fundraising in the 1980s and early 90s with INFACT, leader of the Nestle and GE boycotts. Catherine has held positions ranging from part-time bookkeeper to Director of Finance and Administration with several progressive non-profits in the Boston area.