Grassroots Leadership is pleased to welcome Holly Kirby to our Austin staff.  Originally from Jacksonville, Arkansas, Holly graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in 2009 with a B.A. in Sociology and minor in Cultural Anthropology.  Currently she is pursuing a Masters of Science in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin with an emphasis on community and administrative leadership.

This spring Holly is conducting her final field placement at Grassroots Leadership where she will be assisting with the national Public Safety and Justice Campaign to block initiatives by for-profit prison corporations to privatize prisons, immigration detention centers, mental health and other services.  She will be gaining experience in community organizing, strategic partnerships, policy analysis and research, and advocacy.  Check out her first post for the Grassroots Leadership blog “Will ‘Smart Justice’ in Florida Mean Prison Privatization?”and stay tuned as she will also be a regular contributor to the blog!  She can be reached at hkirby@grassrootsleadership.org.  Welcome, Holly!