EXPERT WITNESS BIOGRAPHIES

Nkenge Toure

For 34 years Ms. Toure has been a community advocate for human rights issues that impact women and children. In 1978 she created Rape Awareness Week and, while living in Washington, D.C., Ms. Toure served on the Rape Protection Act Committee which successfully changed the District’s Rape Laws. In 1982 Ms. Toure co-founded The International Council of African Women with Loretta Ross. She is a former member of the National Black Women’s Health Project, serving as President of the D.C. Chapter from 1987-1994 and receiving numerous awards for her work. A feminist, teacher, organizer, and a former member of The Black Panther Party, Ms. Toure is committed to promoting the human rights of all people. She is also the creator and moderator for In Our Voices, a WPFT Pacifica Radio program on women and Sophie’s Parlor, a weekly radio program of music "by women and for everyone".

Tonya McClary

Tonya McClary is a criminal defense/civil rights lawyer and activist.  She is the National Criminal Justice Director for the American Friends Service Committee. She has served as Domestic Program Director at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty in Washington, D.C., as Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Committee, and on the NAACP’s National Prisoner’s Rights Subcommittee. She has a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has served as Amnesty International USA Ralph J. Bunche Human Rights Fellow. Ms. McClary joined the national staff of the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund as the Director of Research. She is a frequent guest lecturer at various universities and colleges in the United States, serving as an expert in human rights abuse and restorative justice.

    Angela Winfrey-Bowman, a native of New Orleans, is a dedicated activist committed to relief aid for Hurricane Katrina. She has served as Tenant Relations Manager at the Housing Authority of New Orleans and as Community Development Associate with Great Expectations, which is an infant mortality reduction initiative. She is a core trainer for the People’s Institute’s Community Organizing Strategy Team. With COST, Ms. Winfrey has evolved a curriculum on “Moving From Victims to Victors” to address the internalization of racial oppression and is facilitating it through organizing circles and Organizing Beyond Katrina centers in New Orleans, Houston, and Atlanta. She is a facilitator for the Education Governance Reform Initiative and Managing Director of Junebug Production, a social justice theatrical company.