Current Staff
Danalynn Recer
Danalynn, Founder and Executive Director, began
fighting the death penalty in Texas over a decade ago working initially
as an
investigator, and later as an attorney. In 1995, she moved to New
Orleans to work under Clive Stafford-Smith at the Louisiana Crisis
Assistance Center, nationally known for its aggressive and creative
capital trial representation. While there she directed the Jefferson
Parish Project, leading a consulting team that worked with the highest
volume indigent defenders in Louisiana to reduce the number of death
sentences there. Over the past fourteen years, she has participated in
the defense of over one hundred capital clients in Texas, Louisiana,
Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Kansas, California and Nevada.
In 2002, when Calvin Burdine was returned to Harris County for retrial,
Danalynn stepped in on a pro bono basis and founded GRACE in the
process. She holds a B.A., M.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas.
Elizabeth Akers
Beth joined GRACE in 2009 as a mitigation specialist. She worked as an adult probation officer and a social worker before training as a mitigation specialist. She received her BA in Criminal Justice from the University of North Texas, her masters in social work rom the University of Texas at Arlington, and training as a Defense Initiated Victim Outreach Specialist through Santa Clara University.
Kirsty Davis
Kirsty graduated from the University of Warwick with an LL.B.(Hons) in 2003, and then completed an LL.M. in Criminology and Criminal Justice at London School of Economics. She then attended BPP Law School where she qualifed as a barrister. Kirsty decided to stay on past her original internship and has joined GRACE as a foreign guest worker through the H1-B program.
Anneliese Koehler
Anneliese arrived in August 2009 as our new Jesuit Volunteer and will be with GRACE for one year. She obtained her BA in economics and history from Amherst College. A native Oregonian, this is Anneliese’s first time in Houston.
Mark Madeley
Mark works with GRACE as a part-time accountant.
Natasha Merle
Natasha joined GRACE in 2009 on a two-year grant through Equal Justice Works to head up our Retrial Resentencing Project. She obtained her BA in Spanish and Government at the University of Texas at Austin and her JD from New York University. She clerked for a federal judge in the Southern District of New York before returning home to Houston to join GRACE.
Rita Radostitz
Rita is a former capital habeas attorney who joined GRACE as the part-time Director of Communication.
Shantel Rodriguez
Shantel received her undergraduate education in cultural anthropology from University of Michigan Ann Arbor. She worked in various capacities as an advocate for the homeless and mentally ill. This sparked interest in law school and she received a JD from the City University of New York. She was drawn to mitigation investigation due to its end goal of humanizing capital defendants through story telling and legal advocacy. She wants to focus on working with Mexican nationals, both in the US and in Mexico and ultimately international detention issues in general.
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Gilly Ross
Gilly studied Sociology at Sussex University in England and came to Houston as a Reprieve volunteer in July 2005. She became increasingly interested in the sociology of punishment, leading her to pursue an internship at GRACE. She has previously worked at Dartington Social Research Unit as a social researcher. Gilly decided to stay on past her original internship and joined our staff as a mitigation specialist.
Matt Silverman
Matt is a mitigation specialist who has worked at GRACE since 2006. He graduated in 2001 from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in cultural anthropology and Spanish. Matt has experience working with Spanish-speaking clients and witnesses in both the US and Mexico.
Sally Sepulveda
Sally is the office manager and bookkeeper at GRACE. She has many years of experience in non-profit and legal administration.
Alex Steffler
Alex is GRACE's deputy director. He graduated with a BA in International Affairs from the George Washington University. Before joining GRACE in July 2009 he spent several years establishing and operating community health projects in rural Latin America.
Alana Woldan
Alana
is an attorney with the Retrial Resentencing Project who began at GRACE in October 2008. Before coming to GRACE she practiced as a solicitor in Australia. She spent a year with GRACE as a Reprieve intern and proved herself indispensable during the trial of Juan Quintero Perez.
Associate Attorneys:
Matt Byrne
Matthew Rubenstein
Elizabeth Detweiler
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