Free Movement

Peggy West-Schroder is the Executive Director for FREE. Directly and Indirectly Impacted, Peggy has been affected adversely by mass incarceration since birth, having been born while her mother was incarcerated in Taycheedah Correctional Facility (TCF). Raised in Foster Care and later adopted into a loving family, Peggy graduated from Milwaukee Area Technical College and has worked for the past 30 years in Human Services in addition to 14 years as an elected member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors (2002 – 2018) at which she made history as the first Hispanic Person ever elected to the board.

Today Peggy is working to assure that incarcerated women across the State of WI are treated with dignity, that they feel supported, and are provided trauma-informed care. Her goal is to change the process by which babies are born within DOC, righting the wrongs faced by her mother and many other women. Peggy and her husband Tommy live in Milwaukee and are the proud parents of 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

Ray Mendoza is a Marine Corps veteran that has been involved in community youth work since the mid 1990’s. As a Peer Facilitator Trainer as well as a elementary and middle school speaker to prevent youth gang membership and violence. After serving 17 years of a 20 year federal sentence, he came home to work as a violence interrupter and mentor to Milwaukee’s street population. Trained and certified as a national Credible Messenger through PCITI and a trained Circle of Support Facilitator and Trainer

LaToya Greer brings her strength, pride, and wisdom to her work as a FREE Organizer. She moved to Madison in May of 2016 to begin what she calls her “Divine Journey.” Her greatest passion is to use her own experience with incarceration to bring healing and love to those who have been impacted by trauma, stress, and the let-down of life. She believes it takes a village of like-minded individuals to make change – and so she organizes in her community and around her neighborhood to bring peace and unity among her peers.

LaToya’s work focuses on uplifting and restoring those who have been harmed by the unjust carceral system. To do so, she couples her love and care for people with the expertise she has gained from trainings in leadership, organizing, and community partnerships. She uses circles to create spaces for healing and trust that allow survivors to see they are not alone. In her work with fellow directly-impacted individuals, she embodies the mantra “Those who have been hurt the worst are often the kindest.”

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Ivory Roberts is the Program Resource Development Coordinator for FREE. She was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both of her parents have been previously incarcerated, as well as some of her immediate family. She recognizes the disparities and inequalities in the Justice System towards Black People and wants to use any power she has to change this.

Ivory graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. She will graduate from Syracuse University College of Law in May 2023 with her Juris Doctorate.

Cheri Branham, Operations Fellow, has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work, and is also a Doula, Peer Support Specialist, Narcan Administration Trainer, Grant Writer, and has been a justice reform advocate for many years. After giving birth while incarcerated in 2014 due to a crimeless revocation and a lack of treatment options, Cheri dedicated her life to improving conditions for incarcerated pregnant individuals and expanding services to allow family reunification. She believes no one should have to go through birth while incarcerated alone. Cheri has experience working with many different non-profits giving her a unique set of skills that allows her to provide one-on-one support, as well as project monitoring and development at a larger capacity. Cheri has experience public speaking where she shares her story with the hopes of bringing awareness to how pregnant incarcerated individuals are treated and the need for change in our carceral system. Cheri hopes Wisconsin will be able to offer a Prison Doula Project in the future, as well as providing more treatment and housing to keep mothers and babies together. When she is not working, she is spending time with her 4 children and family.

Molly is FREE’s Evaluation and Research Coordinator. She manages data collection and analysis in order to build out our activities; to understand FREE’s impact on individuals and systems; and to create internal systems for learning and improvement. She is also a PhD student doing a joint degree in Sociology and Human Ecology at UW-Madison. Her research focuses on why and how some people’s knowledge about the world and their lives counts (and others don’t) when it comes to designing policies, programs, and other inventions.