Our Leadership Team
Aramis Ayala (Executive Director)
Aramis Ayala is an award-winning civil rights advocate, cancer survivor, and legal studies professor who has dedicated her life to the pursuit of justice. She has witnessed the far-reaching, multigenerational effects of systemic inequality and began her commitment to criminal justice reform early in life—a commitment that deepened when she relocated from Saginaw, Michigan to Florida in 2001. This marked the beginning of her work with communities left behind by the system. Having seen the consequences of structural inequality over her nearly two decades of public service, Ayala has refused to stay silent in the face of inhumanity, injustice, and systemic racism. In 2022, Ayala was named Champion of Justice by Harbor House of Central Florida for her work in the fight against domestic violence. She also received the NAACP Civil Rights Champion of Justice Award in 2017 for her leadership in the movement to abolish the death penalty.
Prior to joining FJP, Ayala served as an Assistant Professor for the University of Central Florida’s Legal Studies Department, and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Florida A&M University College of Law. She also served as General Counsel for the Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM) – a national movement led by directly impacted people advocating against the harms of mass incarceration and systemic racial and economic disparities in the United States – during that time.
Ayala made history as the first Black woman to receive a major party nomination for State Attorney General in Florida’s history, winning the Florida Democratic Party’s nomination in 2022. Six years earlier, she also made history as Florida’s first Black State Attorney when she was elected State Attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, where she served from 2016 to 2021. During her tenure, Ayala oversaw a $30 million budget and managed operations across two counties, five offices, and more than 400 employees—including victim advocates, sworn investigators, and 180 prosecutors. A former public defender, Ayala served in the Office of the Public Defender for Orange County, Florida, from 2004 to 2012.
Ayala has consistently made local and national headlines for her courage and proven leadership during her years in public service. Her insights have been featured in leading national news outlets including CNN, NBC News, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and Politico. She is also a former legal analyst for Court TV and FOX 35 News in Orlando, Florida.
Ayala previously served as Regional Director for the National Bar Association and Chair of its Pro Bono and Public Service Committee. Ayala is also past president of several local and state bar associations and a former Chairperson for the Citizens Police Review Board for the City of Orlando. Ayala earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida, and a J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, cooking, and traveling.
Preston Shipp (Chief Legal and Advocacy Officer)
Preston Shipp serves as Fair and Just Prosecution’s Director of Advocacy and Policy. In this role, he drives national advocacy efforts, shapes policy strategies, and collaborates with forward-thinking leaders to implement transformative initiatives aimed at reforming the criminal legal system, reducing mass incarceration, and strengthening public safety. Preston previously served as the Associate Policy Director for the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY), where he partnered with lawmakers, advocates, and directly-impacted individuals on legislative campaigns to end life without parole and other extreme sentences for children. Before becoming an advocate for criminal justice reform, Preston was an appellate prosecutor in the Tennessee Attorney General’s office. While serving as a religious volunteer and teaching college classes in Tennessee prisons, he became good friends with many people who were caged, one of whom he had actually prosecuted. These relationships caused Preston to wake up to the many injustices that are present in the American system of mass criminalization and punishment. Preston left his career as a prosecutor in 2008. Since then, he has taught in universities and churches, lectured at conferences, and written about the urgent need for criminal justice reform, a shift in how we regard both people who suffer harm and those who cause it, and a new vision of justice that seeks healing, transformation, and reconciliation. Preston recently published his first book, “Confessions of a Former Prosecutor: Abandoning Vengeance and Embracing True Justice.” He lives in Nashville with his wife Sherisse and their three children, Lila Joy, Ruby Faith, and Levi.