PJI Announces Appointment of Next Executive Director

The Board of Directors of the Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI) is thrilled to announce that Samantha Kennedy will succeed Mercedes Montagnes as Executive Director in April 2023.

“Mercedes Montagnes has been the ideal leader of The Promise of Justice Initiative over the past decade,” said PJI Board Chair Sara Totonchi. “Under her guidance, PJI has flourished as an organization, deepening our relationships with community members, growing our staff, strengthening our financial position, and, most importantly, winning countless battles on behalf of people impacted by the criminal legal system. Mercedes has ensured that the organization has remained true to its core values as it has grown, and she leaves PJI in the strongest position it has ever been in.

Totonchi continues, “I am deeply grateful to Mercedes for her accomplishments and for her dedication to justice, and I am equally excited about welcoming Samantha Kennedy as our new leader. Samantha has dedicated her career to fighting for people facing the harshest punishments our system delivers. She is a brilliant, innovative, and compassionate leader, and I look forward to working with her for many years to come.”

Samantha Kennedy

Samantha Kennedy has lived in New Orleans for almost two decades. She is an attorney, mitigation specialist, and a racial justice and human rights advocate committed to fighting for the rights and dignity of people impacted by the incarceration system and other oppressive governmental actions. She joins PJI as it celebrates its tenth year as a nonprofit organization working to create positive change for people in the criminal legal system.

“I am honored to accept the position of Executive Director of Promise Justice Initiative,” said Kennedy. “As the incoming executive director, I look forward to working with this impressive team and to building upon PJI’s core beliefs of being guided by a client-centered practice, pushing for a better criminal legal system, and abolishing the death penalty and excessive sentences for the people of Louisiana.”

About Samantha Kennedy

Samantha is a proven leader with expertise in capital defense, litigation strategy, and complex narrative construction. Throughout her career, Samantha has built high performing teams of practitioners and run investigative fieldwork throughout Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Sub Saharan Africa, and the United States. For the past five years, Samantha has focused on the death penalty and international conflict. As a thought leader, Samantha collaborates nationwide with capital defenders on policy and practice and has been faculty at dozens of trainings and intensive educational programs all over the world. 

In addition to casework and teaching, Samantha is the co-director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project’s Scharlette Holdman Mitigation Mentorship Program, a national effort to support mid-career capital defense experts.

Samantha has a personal and professional background of participating in organizing efforts for better electoral representation, legislation, and governmental practices. She is a fierce advocate who lends her skills and position to support neighbors and other community members to fight against racism and other indignities experienced by low-income or otherwise marginalized people. Samantha has worked and lived all over the world, from rural towns in Louisiana to parts of Tanzania, Ghana, Jordan, Mexico, among other places. She is very interested in how people come to be—their stories, gifts, and interests—and is committed to the sacrifice and joy of fighting alongside people for our common dignity and collective rights.

Samantha obtained a Bachelor of Art degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Carleton College and a juris doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.