Staff

Clare Gilbert
Executive Director
Clare Gilbert is Executive Director of the Georgia Innocence Project. Clare is responsible for overseeing all aspects of GIP’s mission, including working with the board of directors and leading fifteen legal, operations, communications, development, and client services staff. Since she joined GIP as Executive Director in 2016, GIP has helped free and/or exonerate six clients who served a combined 176 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.
Tiffany Bush
Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney

As Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney, Tiffany Bush is responsible for working with pro bono lawyers and legal professionals to assist in the screening stage of GIP cases, in order to evaluate those cases and advance them toward exoneration or other resolution. 

Tiffany also works with the Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to identify cases with the highest chances of wrongful conviction and help advance cases through the CIU as appropriate. Prior to joining GIP, Tiffany worked as an associate at R. Gary Spencer, P.C., then as a prosecutor in the metro Atlanta area for nearly two years. Tiffany worked with state and local law enforcement, managing cases from the investigative stage through trial, and she successfully prosecuted numerous cases through pleas, trials, and alternative means of case resolution. Tiffany earned her Bachelor’s degree in Criminology from the University of Florida, before joining Teach for America and teaching kindergarten in Baltimore, Maryland. Tiffany went on to earn her law degree, as well as a Graduate Diploma of Comparative Law, from Louisiana State University in 2016. Tiffany is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and in her spare time, she enjoys coaching gymnastics, working out, traveling, reading, and eating delicious food.
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Isabel Corngold
Staff Attorney / Case Coordinator

As Staff Attorney/ Case Coordinator, Isabel ("Izzy") Corngold investigates and litigates innocence claims, and provides oversight and strategic direction for intake and screening-stage cases and staff. Izzy is also the co-chair of the innocence network’s secondary trauma working group.

Prior to joining GIP, Izzy worked at the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project for six years as a student intern and then backlog fellowship attorney. At MAIP she created and implemented systems which helped decrease the waitlist time by more than half. She also investigated and litigated innocence cases, several to exoneration or release from incarceration. During law school she interned with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Public Defenders Agency in Anchorage, Alaska. Izzy is a graduate of the George Washington Law School, and Reed College where she wrote her senior thesis on best practices for ear-witness identification procedures. In her spare time, Izzy enjoys cardio dance classes and comedy podcasts.
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Mike Coszalter
Program Manager

As Program Manager, Mike Coszalter manages GIP's intern and volunteer programs. He also helps provide support for GIP's freed clients and works to plan events that raise awareness about wrongful convictions in Georgia.

Prior to joining GIP, Mike served as the Executive Assistant at the Full Belly Project - a nonprofit dedicated to poverty alleviation and global development through simple, sustainable technology. Mike earned his bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington, where he honed his passion for social justice, human connection, and applied academics. Outside of the office, Mike is also an experienced dancer, hopeful artist, and proud parent of two adorable pups.
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Christina Cribbs
Senior Attorney

As a Senior Attorney, Christina Cribbs analyzes wrongful conviction claims and develops strategies to best explore and present those claims, often through the lens of litigation.

Christina’s first experience working at GIP was as a legal intern in 2008 and she later returned to GIP as a Staff Attorney under a two-year grant-funded position, which ended in 2015. Immediately before rejoining GIP in 2021, Christina worked for over four years as a public defender handling direct criminal appeals for indigent clients across the state of Georgia. She filed over 50 substantive briefs and argued before the Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals on multiple occasions. She was successful in winning a new trial for several clients, including one client that had been convicted of murder. Christina also has civil litigation experience working on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. She received both her undergraduate degree in criminal justice (2005) and law degree (2010) from Georgia State University. Christina and her husband are very involved in animal rescue and have fostered dozens of dogs over the last several years.
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EC Fajardo
Data & Records Specialist

As Data & Records Specialist,  EC is responsible for a wide variety of tasks pertaining to the management of client and donor records.

In addition to working for GIP, EC is also an experienced dancer, teacher, and choreographer.  He has been dancing for over 12 years and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Dance Studies from Appalachian State University, where he most recently taught as Faculty Adjunct alongside his wife, also an accomplished choreographer.  They are the proud parents of a young daughter, two dogs, and a cat.
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Ron Grosse
Investigator
As an investigator, Ron Grosse works with staff attorneys in reviewing and evaluating innocence claims. Ron is responsible for examining and assessing cases, locating and interviewing witnesses, identifying and collecting new evidence where available, and assisting in case strategy. 
Before joining GIP, Ron was a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for over twenty-eight years, assigned to the office in Columbia, South Carolina. Ron was a White Collar Crime investigator. Prior to the FBI, Ron spent seven years in the U.S. Army and is a graduate of the University of Maryland. Ron is married with three grown children and enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, and working out.
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Raylynn Hughes
Intake Manager

As Intake Manager, Raylynn Hughes is responsible for assessing and responding to requests for GIP’s assistance, and managing cases through our intake screening process.

Raylynn joined GIP in December 2016, thanks to generous support from GIP's Georgia Gives Day donors. Before coming to GIP, Raylynn worked as a Librarian and Continuing Education Services Coordinator for DeKalb County Public Library, in Decatur, GA. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University and her Master of Librarianship from Emory University. Raylynn is fluent in Spanish. She picked up running as a sport when she previously worked as a manager at the Atlanta Track Club, and she still goes out for morning runs and weekend races.
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Ryan Ralston
Paralegal-Investigator
As an investigator, Ryan Ralston works with staff attorneys in screening cases and assessing claims of innocence. In addition, Ryan is responsible for coordinating requests for agency records, collecting and reviewing evidence, locating and interviewing witnesses, and collaborating on case strategy.
Prior to joining GIP, Ryan was a criminal investigator specializing in solving major felony cases and crimes against children. While active in law enforcement, Ryan was a recognized expert in search and seizure, criminal procedures, crime scene processing, and field training. He graduated from Mercer University’s Public Safety Leadership Institute and is a certified Physical Security Specialist who completed the Physical Security Training Program in Glynco, Georgia (Class 708). Before his law enforcement career, Ryan spent six years on active duty in the US Navy and is a plankowner of the USS Gonzalez (DDG-66). Ryan has done the most punk rock thing possible: marrying his high school sweetheart. They have three incredible children. In his spare time, Ryan writes short stories, reads anything he can get his hands on, obsesses over Red Sox baseball, gets tattooed, and enjoys spending time with his Australian Shepherd, Mabel James. His parents remain hopeful he will go to med school.
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Christian Stegall
Community Engagement Manager

As Community Engagement Manager, Christian Stegall manages GIP's volunteer program, speaker engagements, and assists with content creation for the organization. Christian also oversees the standardization of donor data in GIP's databases and assists with donor stewardship. 

Prior to joining GIP, Christian was the Kress Interpretive Fellow at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, NY where he was a 2x award-winning curator of his photography exhibition Through Our Eyes: Milestones and Memories of African Americans in Yonkers. Christian honed his museum skills at the Cooperstown Graduate Program where he earned a Master’s degree in Museum Studies in 2018. While there he interned for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Both institutions still use a lot of his work and his research can be seen in the August 2018 edition of the Public Historian. Christian is a proud Morehouse Man, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s degree in History in 2016. In his free time, Christian enjoys making his favorite comfort foods healthy, all things Atlanta sports, and jamming out to his favorite tunes.
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Destinee True
Intake Assistant

As Intake Assistant, Destinee True supports the Intake Manager with processing application-stage cases. Destinee is responsible for ensuring the proper processing, documentation, and filing of all correspondence between applicants and GIP. 

Before joining GIP, Destinee worked as a training records specialist at a local law enforcement agency. She received her Bachelor's degree in History from Ashford University and her MBA in Public Administration from Columbia Southern University. Destinee and her husband enjoy hiking and biking in their free time as well as trying out every local coffee shop in every city they visit.
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Olivia Vigiletti
Chatham Review Attorney
As Chatham Review Attorney, Olivia Vigiletti is responsible for strategically reviewing Chatham County’s history of wrongful convictions. She will work with Chatham County’s Conviction Integrity Unit to draw upon that analysis in assessing post-conviction innocence claims.
Prior to joining GIP, Olivia spent a decade in community work related to food access, housing, and addiction treatment in Ypsilanti and Detroit, Michigan. Believing that community engagement is the key to building better systems, she is eager to get to know Chatham County. Olivia graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School where she served as the Selections Editor of the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, student attorney at the Michigan Innocence Clinic, and worked in a variety of capacities on asylum and refugee law. Outside of work, you will most likely find Olivia cooking or tending to plants.
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Board of Directors

David Sarnat
Board Chair
David Sarnat is a community activist and professional consultant with deep roots within Atlanta’s philanthropic circles. He is currently the president of the Jewish Community Legacy Project, and served for 21 years as the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. David has a background in social work and joined the Georgia Innocence Project’s Board in July of 2017.
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Kenny Baer
Past Board Chair
With 20 years experience in the wealth management / financial planning fields, Kenny is Managing Partner at Baer Wealth Management. His work has been published in Investment Advisor Magazine, Nerd Wallet, Ignite/Fund Fire, and Chattahoochee Plantation Living. He has previously hosted the weekly financial talk show The Baer Facts on Atlanta's Newstalk 1160 am, had a regularly scheduled segment on The Voice of the Arts 1690 am and has been a featured guest on Atlanta Business Today. In 2017, he published the e-book "One Shot." Kenny relishes spending time with his wife Molly and two adorable small children, golfing with his father and brother, playing tennis, and enjoying life to the fullest. Kenny loves the University of Georgia Football and can recite the score of most every game. He is a board member of the Children’s Restoration Network and was drawn to Georgia Innocence Project after learning the story of Devonia Inman through the Breakdown podcast. Kenny co-chaired GIP's Finance Committee in 2019-2020 and became GIP's Board Chair in June 2020.
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Laury Bagen
Board Member
Laury received both his undergraduate BS in Social Welfare and his Master of Counseling degrees at Georgia State University. From there he went on to enjoy three quite different careers. First, as a social worker in the Jewish Community Center Movement he worked with both adults and teens in various positions. Secondly, he ran the wire chopping division and was later Human Resources Director for a large, scrap metal recycling plant. His final career was as an independent home remodeling contractor. These experiences allowed him to use his love of community, ability to work with people and creativity in various ways. Laury has always been an active community volunteer. Since retiring, his favorite activities have been serving as a volunteer companion for a gentleman during the last years, 98 to 102, of his life. He also teaches and mentors middle school students in a carpentry and life skills class. Laury spends several hours a week involved in a school feeding program and helping deliver food to a food pantry. He serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of Georgia State University, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.
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Jeffrey Brickman
Board Member
Jeffrey was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. After attending college and law school at the University of Florida he obtained a Masters in Litigation at the Emory School of Law. The "first" part of his career was spent as a prosecutor first as an Assistant District Attorney in DeKalb County and then as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. In 2004 then Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Jeffrey to serve as the District Attorney of DeKalb County. It was there that Jeffrey met Clarence Harrison whom he assisted in becoming Georgia Innocence Project's first exoneree and with whom he has developed a wonderful relationship. The "second" part of Jeffrey's career began in 2005 when he went into private practice and where he continues to specialize in state and federal criminal defense. Jeffrey and his wife Susan live in Dunwoody where they raised the greatest child of all time, Joseph. In his spare time Jeffrey continues to improve his tennis game which he hopes will result in an invitation to Wimbledon. He also spends a great deal of time honing his cooking skills and working in his garden.
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Kenneth Brown
Board Member
Kenneth is the Chief People Officer for Public Broadcasting Atlanta, in Atlanta, GA which is the home of the NPR and PBS broadcast stations WABE 90.1FM and ATL-PBA. Kenneth oversees workforce planning & employment, recruiting, compensation & benefits, payroll, employee relations, risk management & facilities, media & business technology among others and is part of the senior leadership team at PBA. ** Kenneth is a member of SHRM (Society for Human Resources Management), SHRM-Atlanta, PMBA (Public Media Business Association) where he serves on the PMBA Board and was most recently Chair of the Professional Development Committee. He also serves on the Board of Integrity Transformations Community Development Corporation (ITCDC). ** Kenneth holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master’s in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University. Centered by family, he and his wife Cynthia are the proud parents of Kristopher and Kyle.
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Matt Holbrook
Secretary
Bio coming soon
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Judith Johnson
Board Member
With 40 years of experience in the Federal Government, Judith has held positions of responsibility and progressive leadership in her career as a communications professional in the fields of transportation, education, and employee relations. Through the years, she has garnered numerous honors recognizing her talents in team building, project management, professional development, and diversity initiatives. Judith comes to the Executive Board through the work of her brother, Calvin C. Johnson, Jr., exoneree, as well as past Chair and Board Member of the Georgia Innocence Project. Judith brings a unique perspective to the Georgia Innocence Project as a family member of an exoneree. In 2021, Judith retired from the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she served as the national Marketing Manager in Atlanta for the Federal Highway Administration Resource Center. Judith directed project initiatives advising the center’s technical teams in strategic marketing, communications planning, customer relations, and technology deployment. She began her career in the U.S. DOT as a writer in policy and planning development, and in a series of successive positions adopted new innovations and initiated improvements in the agency’s communications policies and guidance. She served as the Team Leader for Communications and Technology Team in the FHWA Southern Resource Center in Atlanta; the Management Team Leader for the FHWA Marketing and Visual Communications Division in Washington, DC; and the Chief for the Publishing Section in the FHWA Publishing and Visual Communications Branch in Washington, DC. Judith is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She lives in Decatur with her husband Eric. In retirement, Judith and Eric will enjoy travel, along with many gatherings with friends and family. It is an honor for Judith, along with her sister Tara, nephews, and Calvin’s daughter Brianna to continue his legacy in support of the wrongly convicted. As a member of the Board, Judith looks forward to representing the voice of the exonerees and their families.
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Julie Seaman
Past Board Chair
Julie is an Associate Professor at Emory School of Law, where she teaches courses and seminars in evidence, constitutional law, and freedom of speech. Her research interests include neuroscience and law, scientific evidence, hate speech, and sex discrimination. In particular, she focuses on the implications of findings in cognitive psychology, biology, and neuroscience to various legal theories and doctrines. Julie received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania (summa cum laude) and her JD from Harvard (magna cum laude), where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She currently serves on the board of the Georgia Innocence Project and the advisory board of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Law and Justice.
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Alan Essig
Treasurer
Alan Essig is currently a policy consultant working with non-profits, foundations, advocacy organizations, and political campaigns. Alan previously served as Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Executive Director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Deputy Policy Director in Georgia Office of the Governor, and Director of the Georgia State Senate Research Office. Alan received an MPA from Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the State University of New York at Albany and a BA in History from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
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Emeritus Board Members

David Balser

Emmet J. Bondurant

James C. Bonner, Jr.

Bobby Lee Cook

Charles K. Edmondson, Jr.

September Guy, Co-Founder

Greg Hampikian, Ph.D.

John R. Martin

Jill G. Polster, Co-Founder

Robert Sheft