about the founder and Executive Director
Evie Litwok
Evie Litwok (she/her) is a witness to mass incarceration. As the Founder and Executive Director of Witness to Mass Incarceration (Witness), her experiences with the judicial and correctional systems serve as the inspiration behind Witness’ mission, which operates to place formerly incarcerated women and LGBTQ+ people at the forefront of the movement to end mass incarceration, restore safety, dignity and respect in correctional facilities and reduce barriers to successful reentry.
Traveling to prison on the real Con Air, Litwok was incarcerated in two Federal Women’s prisons. Her unapologetic voice as not only an open lesbian, but also an advocate made her a target for irreparable consequences. While in prison she wrote an article that brought unwanted
attention to the death of a fellow incarcerated woman due to lack of medical care. As a
result, she was shackled and put into solitary confinement
...
Litwok walked out of prison homeless and penniless, but her advocacy continued. She is a member of formerly incarcerated-led organizations who focus on ending mass incarceration, including The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls; Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Movement (FICPFM); and the National LGBT/HIV Criminal Justice Working Group, and the NYC Justice-Involved Coalition.
Litwok quickly became and is a respected speaker on the subject of mass incarceration. She introduces herself as a “Formerly Incarcerated Jewish Lesbian.” Her story has touched audiences at universities, colleges, community and LGBTQ+ centers, synagogues and other places of worship, and at the White House for their panel on LGBTQ Criminalization.
In 2019, Litwok was designated by the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York to be included as one of the Collective, a group of ten Jewish women social entrepreneurs. In 2015, she was chosen to be part of the inaugural cohort of JustLeadershipUSA.
Litwok has written numerous articles concerning mass incarceration, including a focus on solitary confinement, being an older person in prison, sexual harassment in prison, and surviving confinement, in addition to issues of aging and being queer in prison. These articles have been published in TheNation.com, The Forward.com and talkpoverty.org.
Litwok has an MA in Psychology from Temple University.