Maplewood resident Christina Swarns is the Executive Director of the Innocence Project. The Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate and equitable systems of justice for everyone. The Innocence Project’s work is guided by science and grounded in antiracism.

Christina previously served as the President and Attorney-in-Charge of the Office of the Appellate Defender, Inc. and as the Litigation Director for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. and Director of their Criminal Justice Project. 

She began her legal career as a Staff Attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Division in New York, and served as a Supervising Assistant Federal Defender and Assistant Federal Defender at the Capital Habeas Unit of Philadelphia’s Federal Community Defender Office. Christina earned a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.A. from Howard University. 

Christina will be in conversation with Marie McGehee. Marie is a global communications leader and reputation strategist with extensive experience in high-profile Fortune 500 companies. Today she leads communications and corporate affairs at The Estée Lauder Companies, North America.

Free and open to the public. Township safety protocols will be followed. The Ideas Festival is made possible by the Essex County Division of Cultural Affairs, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts AND The Maplewood Library Foundation, the Friends of the Maplewood Library, and [words] Bookstore.