4th Annual Root & Rebound Gala

Our Mission

Root & Rebound is dedicated to restoring full citizenship to every justice-involved person in America by dismantling the two-tiered system of justice. Our mission is to democratize the law by transferring power from the policy and legal communities to the people most impacted by our criminal justice system through public education, direct legal services, and policy advocacy.

Our Vision

We envision a world where people impacted by mass criminalization have full restoration of their rights, so that they can move forward with hope, dignity, and opportunity.

Root & Rebound's 4th Annual Benefit

We hope you will join on us on September 20th for a celebration of Root & Rebound's five years of action to increase access to justice-with a focus on our work on behalf of women. The event will feature an auction with more than 50 incredible items, live music, local food & drink, and an inspiring panel of women impacted by the system from across the state, representing Black, Latina, and Tribal communities. It will be a night to remember, to honor the resilience of women who are today working to advance justice.

About Our Featured Speakers

CASSANDRA LITTLE, Ph.D. is a formerly incarcerated woman who is passionate about empowering and encouraging incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women to operate beyond resiliency and believe that all things are possible.

ANA PANO is a social worker based in Fresno, Ca committed to helping currently and formerly incarcerated woman and mothers. She has a passion for community engagement and healing through music, dance, and poetry.

CARMEN GARCIA is a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a formerly incarcerated woman. Carmen believes that people should not be defined or judged by their worst mistake for the rest of their lives. She feels that the responsibility to lift each other up when we fall belongs to all of us. "Each One Teach One"

ABBY ABINANTI, Yurok Chief Judge is an enrolled Yurok Tribal member, she holds a Doctor of
Jurisprudence from the University of New Mexico School of Law, and was the first California tribal
woman to be admitted to the State Bar of California. She was a State Judicial Officer (Commissioner) for
the San Francisco Superior Court for over 17 years assigned to the Unified Family Court
(Family/Dependency/Delinquency). She retired from the Superior Court in September 2011 and on July
31, 2014 was reappointed as a part-time Commissioner for San Francisco assigned to Dependency, and
Duty Judge for that Court where she served until 2015. She has been a Yurok Tribal Court Judge since
1997 and was appointed Chief Tribal Court Judge in 2007, a position she held in conjunction with her
Superior Court assignment until 2015.