WHO WE ARE

Mission Statement: The Last Prisoner Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to cannabis criminal justice reform. As the United States moves away from the criminalization of cannabis, giving rise to a major new industry, there remains the fundamental injustice inflicted upon those who have suffered criminal convictions and the consequences of those convictions.

Through legal intervention, public education and legislative advocacy, we work to redress the past and continuing harms of our country’s unjust and ineffective approach to drug policy.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Stephanie Shepard

Stephanie Shepard is the Acting Executive Director of Last Prisoner Project, where she leads the organization’s national work to free those incarcerated for cannabis offenses and to repair the lasting harms of cannabis criminalization. A powerful advocate for restorative justice, Stephanie brings both lived experience and deep empathy to her role, turning her own story of incarceration and resilience into a driving force for change.

In 2010, Stephanie was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and sentenced to ten years in federal prison as a first-time, nonviolent offender. She served nine years before her release in 2019, followed by five years of probation. Her conviction stemmed from a personal relationship that placed her in the crosshairs of the War on Drugs, an experience that revealed the devastating consequences of America’s punitive approach to cannabis. During her time inside, she came to understand both the personal toll of incarceration and the systemic injustices that continue to keep thousands of people behind bars for actions now legal across much of the country.

Stephanie channeled that experience into a life mission: to ensure that no one else suffers what she endured.