Executive Director

Jesse is a community organizer, political operative, and victim’s rights advocate with a long history of recruiting, training, and mobilizing volunteers.

Jesse combines experience from the corporate world, the non-profit sector, and electoral campaigns to empower volunteers with the skills and confidence they need to make a positive change in their own world. If you care about improving our justice system, please contact Jesse to see how you can make a difference.

Director of Operations

Yael is driven by an interest in community wellness and the intersection of mental health services and the criminal legal system. She has nearly ten years of nonprofit experience working to transform justice and advance racial equity in New Orleans and nationally. Yael is a graduate of Binghamton University, and earned her J.D. and Certificate in Social Justice from Loyola University New Orleans.

Community Organizing Coordinator

Jocelyn Richard works as a strategic communications specialist and educator. She brings years of experience in education, nonprofit leadership, and community engagement. Jocelyn holds a Master of Arts in Communication. She believes storytelling, education, and community involvement are powerful ways to strengthen communities and inspire real change.

Director of Data Operations

Michael joins Court Watch NOLA as Director of Data Operations after nearly five years as the data analyst at the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office. There, he worked alongside criminal justice agencies across Orleans Parish to standardize how data are shared and reported across the system, helping found and lead a consortium dedicated to that work.

Earlier in his career, Michael spent several years in higher education as an institutional researcher, putting data to work in support of administrative decision-making. His eye for telling stories from numbers traces back further still, to his graduate training in social psychology — work that also gave him a lasting passion for teaching and mentorship.

If you are a student or recent graduate curious about how data can help tell — and improve — the story of the criminal justice system, send Michael a message.

mpyle@courtwatchnola.org