Our Founder
Jennifer Thompson founded Healing Justice based on her personal experience as a crime survivor whose case resulted in a DNA-based exoneration a decade after the original trial and conviction. Jennifer became a pioneer of restorative justice in these cases through building a friendship with the innocent man wrongly convicted in her case. They later co-authored the bestselling book, Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption and, in 2015, received the Special Courage Award from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime. Jennifer is a certified trauma healing provider and trained restorative justice practitioner and leads both circles and listen sessions around the country. She is also a certified trainer and has helped to train thousands of criminal justice professionals on providing victim services and protecting victims’ rights. Jennifer also provides peer support to other victims and survivors from sexual assault and exoneration cases, and is a nationally recognized and award-winning public speaker and advocate. Jennifer served as a Commissioner on the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission from 2013 to 2018 and, in 2016, received the special honor of being named North Carolinian of the Year. Jennifer has appeared in numerous print, radio, and television media around the world. She is a graduate of Elon University, where she received a degree in sport management and exercise physiology.