Fundamentals of Pretrial Justice: One-Day Workshop (Fall 2022)

Wendy Blackwell Fortune has joined PJI as a Senior Associate, where she will lead PJI’s portfolio of interactive learning events. Prior to joining PJI, Wendy was the Director of the Practitioner’s Leadership Institute at the Center for Urban Families (CFUF), where she developed capacity-building relationships and collaborations with individuals and community. Previously, Wendy served as the Executive Director of the National Children’s Museum, where she began as the Director of Education. During her decade of service, she grew the education and programs departments, developed education initiatives, and shaped the Center for Learning and Innovation. Wendy championed community collaborations that produced replication-model child and caregiver learning together programs.

Wendy enjoys the intersection of family, literacy, and art and shared her passion at CFUF with the Family Reading Circle and other two-generation efforts. Wendy’s museum-school collaboration won a Promising Practice recognition from the Association of Children’s Museum for her work at Port Discovery Children’s Museum. She and her staff were honored with the Judith P. Hoyer Award for Outstanding Service to Children by the Prince Georges County Early Childhood Interagency. She is also an award-winning teacher. Wendy and her eighth grade students received the Daily Point of Light of the Nation from President George H. Bush at the U.S. White House.

Wendy is a mother of two who enjoys being a textile artist and leading programs with children in her spare time. She is a 2016 BaltimoreCorp Elevation Award winner for her ART POWER project where she offers art activities to children ages 5-12 in West Baltimore.

Shavonte is a Senior Associate at PJI, where she develops and implements the organization’s change work and curriculum. As a former foster youth and child of a formerly incarcerated parent, Shavonte has spent over a decade of her career using her legal expertise and life experiences to support her work in advancing systemic solutions to the distinct challenges and barriers that system-involved youth and families face. Her background includes working as a case manager for homeless youth and families as well as many years serving as a peer and professional advocate for current and former foster youth. Prior to coming to PJI, she served as the Georgia Assistant State Coordinator for the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University and a Juris Doctor degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco.