Dr. Alexandria Pech received her PhD in May 2022 from the University of Arizona in Family Studies and Human Development. As a directly-impacted researcher, actionist, and leader, Dr. Pech’s research is accountable to children, youth, and families impacted by the criminal legal system (i.e., parental and familial incarceration). More specifically, her dissertation focused on how adolescent Girls of Color develop their intersectional identities in the context of familial incarceration. Dr. Pech currently collaborates with various community-based organizations including, We Got Us Now; Essie Justice Group; and Developing Despite Distance on various projects such as facilitating advocacy programs, drafting legislation, grant writing, and report writing. Alexandria co-authored a 5-year impact report for We Got Us Now, in which she examined 50 years of legislation related to the War on Drugs and its impact on children with incarcerated parents. As an Essie Justice Group sister, Dr. Pech facilitated a 9-week healing to advocacy program for women with incarcerated loved ones, provided public comment to the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors to close Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles and graduated from Essie’s campaign school, which equips women with incarcerated loves ones to lead campaign tactics in policy fights that end the separation of families. As a trained developmental scientist, Dr. Pech co-wrote a grant for Developing Despite Distance, a non-profit in Detroit, Michigan that focuses on promoting positive youth development for adolescent boys with incarcerated parents. As a Reframing Justice Leader, Dr. Pech was a legislative advocate who spoke with Arizona House and Senate leaders on the issue of sentencing reform laws and the impact of incarceration on children, youth, and families.