About Tamar
Tamar Kraft-Stolar is co-founder and co-director of the Women and Justice Project, a non-profit organization that centers the leadership of women directly impacted by incarceration in its work to end mass incarceration and criminalization, and uphold the dignity and worth of all women.
Prior to this, Tamar directed the Correctional Association of New York’s Women in Prison Project for 12 years where she led the Project’s efforts to monitor conditions inside women’s prisons, directed policy campaigns, drafted legislation, and managed coalition-building, organizing and leadership development efforts. Tamar has helped lead a number of successful campaigns, including for state laws banning the shackling of incarcerated women and protecting the parental rights of incarcerated mothers and fathers. She is author of Reproductive Injustice: the State of Reproductive Health Care for Women in New York State Prisons (2015), and co-author of From Protection to Punishment: Post-Conviction Barriers to Justice for Domestic Violence Survivor-Defendants in New York State (2011) and When “Free” Means Losing Your Mother: the Collision of Child Welfare and the Incarceration of Women in New York State (2006). Before this, Tamar coordinated the Correctional Association’s campaign to repeal New York’s mandatory minimum Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Tamar is honored to be a member of the 2011 pilot cohort for the NoVo Foundation’s Move to End Violence initiative to end violence against women and girls, and a recipient of the 2015 Susan B. Anthony Award from the National Organization for Women–New York City. Tamar graduated from Cornell University with a BA in History and a minor in Africana Studies.
The Women and Justice Project
The Women & Justice Project (WJP) centers the leadership of women directly impacted by incarceration in its work to end mass incarceration and criminalization, and uphold the dignity and worth of all women.
WJP believes we must shift from a society that uses incarceration as a response to social and economic issues, criminalizes and dehumanizes people of color and people from low-income communities, and prioritizes punishment, to one that addresses root causes of incarceration, values each person’s inherent dignity and right to reach her full potential, and addresses harm through a transformative approach that promotes healing, accountability and repair.
Through advocacy, organizing, culture change work and facilitating the leadership of women directly impacted by incarceration, WJP aims to catalyze our collective ability to transform the criminal justice system and create a just and loving world for women and all people.
