
Carla Crowder
Executive Director
Carla Crowder is the Executive Director of Alabama Appleseed, where she serves as the organization’s chief strategic officer and voice for its mission, vision, values, and programs.
A native Alabamian and graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, Carla brings more than 30 years of experience, both as a journalist and attorney, in public policy research, advocacy, and litigation. As a civil rights lawyer for the last decade, she has challenged mass incarceration and excessive punishment in Alabama and won release for six men originally sentenced to die in prison.
Carla leads Appleseed’s reform agenda centered at the intersection of poverty and the criminal justice system. She is a frequent speaker on the human rights crisis in Alabama prisons and has contributed to statewide and national publications on the topic.
Prior to joining Appleseed, she served as Program and Policy Director at The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham and was a staff attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative. Carla’s work as a newspaper reporter earned multiple awards including the Thurgood Marshall Award from the Death Penalty Information Center. She has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
A native of Florence, Alabama, Carla earned a B.A. in English and History from Huntingdon College in Montgomery. In 2009, she earned a J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law with a certificate in Public Interest Law.
Email Carla at carla.crowder@alabamaappleseed.org
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Another free man, safe from the chaos of Alabama’s violent prisons.
Alabama prisons, Carla Crowder, News
At age 70, Willie Ingram is free after spending four decades in prison for a $20 robbery
Alabama prisons, Carla Crowder, Habitual Felony Offender ActMegan Cheek
Communications and Development Director
Megan Cheek serves as the Communications and Development Director for Alabama Appleseed, where she implements and shares our work with partners, collaborators, donors, and everyday Alabamians in an effort to advance justice and equity for all.
Prior to joining Appleseed, Megan consulted in marketing, policies, procedures, fundraising, and more for local organizations and political campaigns. She served as Program Director and Deputy Director for Marketing and Communications for the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop and Executive Director of the Washington Youth Choir, both in Washington, D.C. Megan co-founded H.I.V.E. Alabama, an organization focused on educating communities on critical issues in an effort to bring about positive, thoughtful, and intentional change.
A native of Georgia, Megan graduated with a B.A. in Public Relations from the University of Georgia. She currently serves on the boards of Girls Rock Bham and the Homewood Library Foundation.
Email Megan at megan.cheek@alabamaappleseed.org
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Support Appleseed's Re-entry Work this Giving Tuesday
Alabama prisons, Habitual Felony Offender Act, Megan Cheek, News
Welcome Megan Cheek! Appleseed's New Communications and Development Associate Brings Years of Nonprofit Experience to Her Role
Megan Cheek, NewsLeah Nelson
Research Director
Leah Nelson serves as Research Director at Alabama Appleseed, where she coordinates and conducts original research into drivers of poverty and incarceration in Alabama. She is Appleseed’s principal expert on the collateral consequences of fines, fees, and other legal financial obligations and leads our effort to end revocation of drivers’ licenses for reasons unrelated to dangerous driving.
Leah brings expertise in civil asset forfeiture, drug policy and drivers of incarceration to Appleseed’s reform agenda.
Prior to joining Alabama Appleseed, Leah spent five years in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Middle District of Alabama Federal Defenders, supporting the appeals of death-sentenced individuals seeking new trials. Before that, she worked as a reporting fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Leah is a 2006 graduate of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and a 2002 graduate of the University of Connecticut.
Email Leah at leah.nelson@alabamaappleseed.org
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How an idea becomes a bill becomes a law: Looking back at the campaign to curb debt-based drivers license suspensions in Alabama
Leah NelsonElliot Spillers
Advocacy Director
Elliot Spillers is Advocacy Director at Alabama Appleseed, where he works with communities impacted by harmful policies in Alabama to create advocacy campaigns aimed at turning those solutions into realities. In this role, he also supports the Executive Director and team in building relationships with elected officials to change bad laws and policies.
Elliot brings over five years of experience in community organizing, project management, direct service, and public education. Prior to joining Appleseed, Elliot was a project manager at the Equal Justice Initiative, where he supported the organization’s efforts to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the U.S. through research about the nation’s histories of racial terror violence, and public memory work through EJI’s Community Remembrance Project, an effort to support advocates across the nation confront this history.
Email Elliot at elliot.spillers@alabamaappleseed.org
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Elaine Burdeshaw
Policy Associate
Elaine Burdeshaw serves as Alabama Appleseed’s Policy Associate. In this role she acts as a criminal justice reform lobbyist and helps to develop and implement campaign goals, monitor and develop support for legislation, and work closely with coalition and community partners.
An Alabama native, Elaine grew up in Decatur and obtained a BS in Social Work from the University of North Alabama in Florence. She later received a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama. Prior to joining the Appleseed team and while attending graduate school, Elaine worked with a Florence-based non-profit aimed at serving students with behavioral, emotional, and academic needs in the Florence City School System. There, she saw up close how Alabama laws and policies can affect families and communities.
Elaine is equipped with a life-long knowledge of Alabama, as well as experience working and lobbying at the Alabama State House. She also has experience analyzing legislation and lobbying at the federal level with members of Congress.
In her time at Appleseed, Elaine has worked with Alabama lawmakers across the aisle to support and pass common sense solutions that make Alabama better and safer for all, including SB154, which addresses debt-based drivers license suspensions.
Email Elaine at elaine.burdeshaw@alabamaappleseed.org.
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Appleseed's 2023 legislative priorities: Evidence based priorities for a brighter way forward
Elaine Burdeshaw, Frederick SpightEddie Burkhalter
Researcher
Eddie Burkhalter is a researcher for Alabama Appleseed. In that role he investigates Alabama’s reliance on court fines and fees to fund government, predatory policing, and the state’s troubled prisons.
Eddie graduated from Jacksonville State University with a bachelor’s degree in integrated studies. He moved to Alabama from his home state of Georgia in 2001, and while studying at Jacksonville State University, Eddie took a job at a local weekly newspaper. A few years later he moved on to that company’s daily paper, The Anniston Star.
Eddie spent almost a decade at The Anniston Star, covering education, business, crime, politics and winning numerous Alabama Press Association awards for his coverage. In 2019 he began reporting for Alabama Political Reporter, where he covered state politics, prisons, COVID and Alabama connections to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and events leading up to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Additionally, Eddie contributed reporting on COVID-19 in prisons for the New York Times, which was part of the overall COVID coverage that won the newspaper the prestigious Pulitzer Prize public service award in 2022.
He was selected to participate in the Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism fellowship program in 2019, and mentors current fellows in the program. Eddle lives in Piedmont, Alabama.
Email Eddie at eddie.burkhalter@alabamaappleseed.org.
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The toll on Alabama families of uncontrolled violence in Alabama Department of Corrections’ prisons
Eddie Burkhalter

There was a gun in a maximum security prison. Incarcerated people say it was left to them to secure the area.
Eddie BurkhalterScott Fuqua
Staff Attorney
Scott Fuqua is an attorney who joined Alabama Appleseed to represent clients serving excessive prison sentences.
A 2009 graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, Scott brings over a decade of experience in both criminal and civil litigation to Alabama Appleseed. While working in private practice and at the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office, Scott developed a keen understanding of the systemic problems in our criminal justice system.
A native of Birmingham, Scott graduated from Auburn University where he was a member of the cross country and track & field teams. Scott has volunteered as a distance running coach and continues to run competitively on a recreational level.
Email Scott at scott.fuqua@alabamaappleseed.org
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Bruce Pearson was a light in a dark place during 27 years in prison. Now he’s shining on the outside.
Scott FuquaCallie Greer
Community Navigator
Callie Greer is a longtime community organizer based in Selma. She brings decades of experience advocating for low-wealth Alabamians, for Medicaid expansion, and against the death penalty. Callie’s recent work leading MAAVIS (Mothers Against All Violence in Selma) bridges the gap between survivors of violence and justice-involved people, embracing restorative justice practices to address violence and over-incarceration.
Callie was born in Montgomery, in the kitchen of a home on Day Street. She developed a gift for cooking at a young age, learning from her great-grandmother who lived through slavery. Callie has overcome numerous obstacles, including drug addiction and incarceration. She raised her son Mercury, who had a college basketball scholarship, then was killed by gun violence. At the trial, she refused to demand a harsh prison sentence for her son’s assailant, telling the judge, “I have forgiven him, and I ask that you have mercy on him.”
Callie has a brave history of advocating for Medicaid expansion in Alabama. Her daughter, Venus, died from breast cancer that went untreated because she was uninsured. Callie has testified before congressional committees, been featured in national magazines, and appeared on CBS Soul of a Nation. She is active in the Poor People’s Campaign and has been involved in advocacy efforts led by Greater Birmingham Ministries, Project Hope of Abolish the Death Penalty, Alabama Arise, and the Selma Center for Nonviolence. For several years, she assisted Appleseed Research Director Leah Nelson with projects exploring the impact of laws and policies on low-wealth Alabamians.
Email Callie at callie.greer@alabamaappleseed.org
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Kathleen Henderson
Re-entry Case Manager
Kathleen Henderson serves as the Re-entry Case Manager for Alabama Appleseed. In this role she encourages and supports clients after their release from prison and connects them with community resources and services.
Prior to joining Appleseed, Kathleen worked for the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles as a case manager in a special program that connected returning citizens to the resources necessary to have a smooth reentry into a new life. She helped build a program of trust and resources while encouraging participants to dream bigger.
She also served as a Case Manager at the Adam Bishop Center in Walker County Alabama connecting children with mental health issues and their parents to the resources necessary to heal and grow on their journeys. Further, she worked with first-generation, low-income students to help further their education.
Having migrated from Michigan in 1990, Kathleen holds a B.A. in Psychology from Athens State University and will receive her M.S. in Psychology from the University of the Southwest in December of 2022.
Email Kathleen at kathleen.henderson@alabamaappleseed.org
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“It probably just says ‘Baby Boy.’” An Odyssey Through Reentry from Prison Without Access to a Birth Certificate
Kathleen Henderson
Appleseed Welcomes Experienced Case Manager, Kathleen Henderson, to Our Re-entry Team
Kathleen HendersonRonald McKeithen
Re-entry Coordinator and Advocate
Ronald McKeithen is a formerly incarcerated artist, advocate, and writer. He serves as Re-entry Coordinator and Advocate at Alabama Appleseed. Ronald’s work is focused on assisting Appleseed clients as they transition from incarceration to lives of freedom. Additionally, he speaks widely about the experiences of long-term incarceration in Alabama’s prisons and the need for criminal justice reform to address the injustices he has experienced first hand.
Ronald spent 37 years in Alabama’s prisons under the Habitual Felony Offender Act based on a robbery conviction at the age of 19. He used his time in prison to increase his education, become a barber, mentor others, and create meaningful connections with professors, journalists, and volunteers in the prisons. Ronald was freed in December 2020 after being represented by Appleseed. Since then, his artwork has been featured in three art shows. He lives in Birmingham, where he works at Appleseed and is active with the Offender Alumni Association.
More about Ronald, including artwork and writing, can be found on his website: RonaldMcKeithen.com.
Email Ronald at ronald.mckeithen@alabamaappleseed.org.
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Celebrating the freedom and birthday of another Appleseed client
Alabama prisons, Alex LaGanke, Habitual Felony Offender Act, News, Ronald McKeithen
“I'm experiencing a rebirth, a second chance at life, and every day has been a blessing.”
Alabama prisons, Habitual Felony Offender Act, News, Ronald McKeithenMeghan McLeroy
Equal Justice Works Fellow
Sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP and Southern Company
Meghan McLeroy is an Equal Justice Works Fellow at Alabama Appleseed whose work is sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP and Southern Company. Meghan’s fellowship focuses on vindicating the rights of older Black Alabamians incarcerated due to unreliable, racially motivated convictions or excessive sentences.
Meghan hails from Cullman, Alabama. She received her B.A. in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis. While at WashU, Meghan lived just a few miles from Florissant when the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, by police sparked renewed conversations about police brutality. This incident was pivotal in cementing Meghan’s commitment to racial justice and equity.
After college, Meghan worked in new play development as a playwright and dramaturg, where her creative projects aimed to elevate traditionally underrepresented voices.
This passion for diverse stories and storytelling led Meghan to law school. She earned her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in May 2023. At Alabama Law, Meghan continued to advocate for students from underrepresented backgrounds. She collaborated with law school administrators to create the Academic Success Fellows—a peer-to-peer tutoring program for first-year students. In its first year, this program cut the number of first-year students on academic probation by half.
Meghan also interned with Alabama Law’s Children’s Rights Clinic, served as an Articles Editor for the Alabama Law Review, and was a Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellow. In March 2023, her peers awarded her the Dean Thomas W. Christopher Award for her service to the Alabama Law community.
Email Meghan at meghan.mcleroy@alabamaappleseed.org.
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Latest News
- The toll on Alabama families of uncontrolled violence in Alabama Department of Corrections’ prisons September 21, 2023
- Fighting for parole for a son who is fighting for his life September 11, 2023
- There was a gun in a maximum security prison. Incarcerated people say it was left to them to secure the area. August 24, 2023
- Appleseed Welcomes Elliot Spillers as our Advocacy Director August 17, 2023
- Cruel and Unusual: Life without parole, with cancer August 4, 2023
Contact Us
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
400 South Union Street, Suite 245
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
2 Office Park Circle, Suite 10
Birmingham, AL 35223
Phone: (205) 963-7999
admin@alabamaappleseed.org