Meet the Team

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.

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, the Homewood Library Foundation, and Red Mountain Community School.

Email Megan at megan.cheek@alabamaappleseed.org

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

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

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

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

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.

Mary is an Alabama native who was born in raised in Dothan and moved to Birmingham for school. She recently graduated from Samford University as a University Fellow where she studied International Relations and Arabic. She also served as the most recent Senior Class President of Samford.

Mary’s academic interest is rooted in immigration rights and politics in developing nations, and she has presented her own research regarding undocumented immigrants’ access to healthcare at the Alabama Academy of Science in 2022.

She started work at Appleseed as an intern in the summer of 2023 and joined us in the fall of that same year as our legal assistant. In addition to working at Appleseed, Mary has been selected as a Fulbright grantee to teach English abroad in 2025.

Email Mary at admin@alabamaappleseed.org.

Ingrid Patrick serves as the Re-entry Assistant for Alabama Appleseed. In her role, she aids our clients on their re-entry journey through service connections and documentation.

She relocated from Mississippi to Alabama after Hurricane Katrina in hopes of escaping the harsh weather from the Gulf Coast. It wasn’t until she moved that she learned that the tornadoes in Alabama were brutal and of the social and economic disparities in Birmingham. These early experiences fueled her desire to make a difference in the lives of those facing adversity in vulnerable populations.

She graduated from The University of Montevallo with a B.S. in Social Work. Her passion for social work stems from her belief that everyone deserves to be empowered in their times of need. Before joining Alabama Appleseed, Ingrid worked with therapeutic offices in Bessemer teaching anger management and life skills classes.

Email Ingrid at ingrid.patrick@alabamaappleseed.org.