Meet the Board

Shawn Barrera-Leaf, a Michigan native, came to criminal legal system advocacy through lived experience. In August 2017, her son was convicted of a sex offense – an event that irrevocably changed her family’s life and reshaped her understanding of justice in America. What once felt distant became deeply personal, and Shawn quickly recognized how profoundly inequitable and punitive the system can be for individuals, families, and communities impacted by sexual harm convictions.

 In seeking support, Shawn connected with Michigan Citizens for Justice, where she found a community of individuals and families navigating similar challenges. Through this work, she learned the importance of judgment-free spaces rooted in empathy, accountability, and support. These experiences reinforced her belief that meaningful community safety is achieved through education, prevention, and evidence-based policy – strengthened by collaboration with survivor-centered approaches and community stakeholders.

Shawn’s advocacy includes sustained engagement with legislators, policy leaders, and community partners at both the state and national levels. She has provided live and written testimony on issues ranging from pretrial incarceration and bail reform to opposition to the Michigan Sex Offense Registry. She is an active member of the Michigan ACLU Smart Justice Campaign and has contributed to public discourse through published writing and national media coverage, including CBS News reporting on the excessive financial burdens placed on incarcerated individuals and their families.

Shawn is the Executive Director of UV4SOR, an organization she helped build to elevate impacted voices, promote informed advocacy, and address the collateral consequences embedded in the criminal legal system for those convicted of sexual harm. Under her leadership, UV4SOR has grown into a nationally known collaborative platform supporting individuals and families across every stage of the system – from pretrial through incarceration and community reintegration -while fostering partnerships focused on public safety, accountability, and policy modernization.

In addition to her role with UV4SOR, Shawn serves as a Board Member of CURE-SORT, sits on the Steering Committee of the National Coalition Against Conviction Registries (NCACR), is a PARSOL Advisory Board Member, and is an active stakeholder in the Grand Traverse County Quick Response Team (QRT) Task Force. She is also a member of NARSOL, Women Against the Registry (WAR), and Michigan Citizens for Justice.

At the core of Shawn’s advocacy is a commitment to collaboration, education, and second chances. She believes lasting change happens when communities are informed, survivor-centered perspectives are integrated, families are not discarded, and policies reflect both accountability and compassion. Her work remains focused on advancing approaches that strengthen communities, enhance public safety, and uphold human dignity.

Sharon is a Colorado native, a small business owner, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. Until her son was arrested in 2019, she had no prior knowledge of the severe laws for sexual offenses, or of our country’s judicial and prison systems. In the process of learning what these charges meant for her son and family, she began seeking support from others who were dealing with similar circumstances. Her extensive research revealed not only the glaring need for reform of federal laws and prisons, but also the lack of resources dedicated to preventing sexual harm offenses. She then began finding avenues to assist others through support, education, and advocacy.

Her goals to help her son and other families who are impacted by the U.S. criminal justice system include offering compassionate care to assist them in navigating the complicated laws and the emotional journey through the federal prison system, along with supportive outreach to those incarcerated. Giving and receiving support through this unexpected life journey has revealed to her the very real damage to families caused by mass incarceration, lack of mental health care, and continuing punitive punishment in our prisons.

As a part of the UV4SOR team, Sharon advocates for reform of mandatory minimum laws and sentencing guidelines, and for judicial reform at the federal level, in the courts, and within the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Equally important to her is the goal of education to prevent sexual offenses before they occur. Working toward these goals gives her hope that, by speaking out, we can provide education, foster prevention, and bring awareness to change societal views of sexual offenses, judicial processes, and mass incarceration.

Kathy has held roles in nonprofit, para-church, and secular organizations, which allowed her to live in and experience the cultures and perspectives of different countries. These years instilled in her a deep love for people and a profound respect for worldviews different from her own. Throughout her work, Kathy has consistently been drawn to supporting individuals and groups who have endured painful experiences – ranging from political unrest, torture, and natural or man-made disasters to the grief and losses of everyday life.

Her desire to walk alongside others and honor their experiences has inspired her to pursue ongoing education in diverse settings. Along with professional training, she has served as a volunteer on state-level emergency response teams, providing assistance during local, regional, and statewide crises. She has also trained community organizations and international leaders on addressing critical emotional needs following small-scale, mass-casualty, and natural disasters.

Kathy’s life has been profoundly shaped by having a loved one in both the state and federal justice systems. This personal experience fuels her advocacy, which is grounded in current research and dedicated to advancing meaningful justice reforms while promoting compassionate understanding around the often-stigmatized issue of sexual offenses.

Rita is an Illinois/Indiana native who has been an advocate for the past five years. Rita was in shock when her son was arrested in 2019. Everything she thought she knew about the law and how the judicial system worked proved to be incorrect. Her world was turned upside down and still is.

Her mission is to help her son and others with support by trying to navigate through the federal criminal justice system. After hearing that her son was sentenced to 22 years, she decided to take a stand and do what is right. Rita is attempting to pave the way with UV4SOR by advocating for those with unjust sentences and registry restraints.

Her advocacy is balanced with being a professional business owner for the past 26 years. Her business interests range from grooming dogs to arts, craft and culinary experiences. Rita is a proud mother and grandmother. Her passion is to make a difference within her community and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Betty is a wife of 40 years, a mother of four and a retired LPN with fourteen years of professional experience and relationship building skills. She is compassionate, with exemplary communication skills. She currently enjoys teaching Pre-K to ages 2 years-5 year old children. Her most recent passion has been in advocacy where our justice system needs reform. Betty has developed a system of communication with those incarcerated, extending her empathy and financial help to them and to their families during a very difficult time.

After the incarceration of her son, she knew she had to learn to be more knowledgeable about our current justice system.  She was disappointed and overwhelmed with what she found so she began reaching out, only to find there was a lack of resources for those who incurred a charge such as her son. After three years of research and writing letters to elected representatives and leaders, she was blessed to find United Voices for Sex Offense Reform. Betty looks forward to collaborating with the board to work towards better laws concerning these cases.

Distinguished Board Member

Virginia, USA

Bonnie Burkhardt is a software engineer and President of her company, Blue Ridge Software Consulting.  She has a Top-Secret security clearance and over 35 years of experience intercepting and analyzing signals for the Department of Defense.  In addition to writing software, she has worked as a network protocol engineer, system administrator, and intelligence analyst.  Because of her job duties, she has had over 100 classes on interception and privacy laws, taught by the Department of Defense.

Ms. Burkhardt has used her knowledge of these laws to expand her business into providing expert witness support to attorneys.  With two cases, she wrote amicus briefs as a pro se litigant and submitted the briefs to the Appellate Court.  These briefs formed the basis for her book, “Manufacturing Criminals – Fourth Amendment Decay in the Electronic Age.”  She presented seminars at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers conference.

Ms. Burkhardt was born and raised in North Dakota and drove her dad’s combine during harvest season.  She has a BS in Applied Math and MS in Computer Science and Engineering.  She and her husband, Walter, moved to Virginia in 1989.  They have grown daughters who were born and raised in Virginia.  After becoming an empty nester, she became active in politics and advocating for Fourth Amendment rights.

Distinguished Board Member

Illinois, USA

Dr. Stephanie Jerstad is a professor of Criminology at Millersville University in PA.  Dr. Jerstad’s research focuses on corrections, barriers to re-entry, collateral consequences, and housing instability (i.e., homelessness, access to long-term care facilities).  Specifically, her research concentrates on macro- and micro-level policies with an emphasis on sexual offense policies.

Stephanie’s Ph.D. dissertation research at Southern Illinois University focused on the willingness of long-term care facilities to accept persons convicted of sexual offending into their care as residents.  The study examined state policy, state punitiveness, organizational characteristics, and attitudes and perceptions of long-term care facility administrators regarding policies that prevent them from admitting someone on the registry or with a prior sexual offense conviction.

Stephanie is very passionate when it comes to organizational policies and state laws which limit certain groups of people from accessing long-term care when everyone should have the right to receive long-term care, regardless of their criminal history, during their last days of life.

A forthcoming study is “A review of laws addressing access to long-term care facilities for people convicted of sex crimes: Prevention of harms in the context of public health goals”. (Jerstad, S., Levenson, Jill S.)

Distinguished Board Member

North Carolina, USA

Dwayne is the Program Director – Homeless and At-Risk Operations for Wake County, NC.  He is on the board of NCRSOL. Dwayne is leveraging his academic background and advocacy skills to make significant contributions in the field of criminal justice system reforms, with a specialization in post-conviction sexual offense policies. With years of experience as a registered lobbyist and public advocate, Dwayne is dedicated to ensuring that policies are fair, just, and effective for all citizens. His advocacy extends beyond registry reforms, encompassing issues such as LGBT rights, veterans’ health, and the ethical treatment of animals. Known for his transparent leadership and commitment to fostering meaningful change, Dwayne also serves as a dedicated Veterans Service Officer (VSO) within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Distinguished Board Member

Pennsylvania, USA

Joe Nicholson is a proud leadership partner of United Voices, contributing to the national mission of Sex Offense Reform through his bold and proven approach to Thought Reform and Transformative Justice. Based in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Joe is a former athlete turned system disrupter – guiding people and institutions toward healing, accountability, and deep-rooted transformation.

As the founder of The Pathfinder Initiative, Joe leads a national movement built on the belief that transformation begins in the heart – not the mind. “Genuine reform is born in how a person feels about themselves when they understand their value to all things.” Joe’s mission through The Pathfinder Initiative is not about reentry alone – it’s about rebirth. It’s about reconstructing the human soul in a world that often gives up on people too soon.

Through a trauma-responsive lens and spiritually grounded leadership, Joe creates spaces for those impacted by the justice system – especially those on the registry – to explore identity, process shame, and reclaim their humanity. His approach is not just conceptual – it’s strategic, therapeutic, and soul driven. Joe integrates metacognition and emotional regulation, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) awareness, peer-led curriculum grounded in lived experience and spiritual truth. “Reform is my daily operation. I’m not here to just talk about justice. I’m here to embody it and build tools that help others do the same.”