About the Lab
The Health Equity and Criminal Justice Lab is a public health research, education, and policy organization focused on sustainable change that uplifts justice-impacted communities.
The Health Equity and Criminal Justice Lab is a California nonprofit corporation awaiting IRS designation as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization; HECJ expects IRS designation by late 2026. Federal EIN: 39-3900444. California Entity ID: B20250265090.
Our mission
Through a public health framework, we strive for sustainable and transformative change. Our work brings research, community engagement, and policy together to address the needs of justice-impacted populations.
Board of Directors
President
MPH
Nemesia Kelly is an associate professor in the Touro University California Public Health Program and chairs its Criminal Justice and Health concentration. Her work brings public health education and research into conversation with justice-system practice.
Treasurer-Secretary
JD, MPH
Kevin Williams is an associate professor of Public Health at Touro University California. His work connects law, public health, and criminal justice. He contributes to the Lab’s research and policy work, including research on California Racial Justice Act implementation.
Board Member
PsyD, MPH
Dr. Gayle Cummings is a public health educator and researcher who serves as a co-principal of the HECJ Lab. Her work includes community-engaged research, health equity, and the intersection of criminal justice and public health.
Extended biographies
Nemesia Kelly is a public health educator, researcher, and co-principal investigator whose work focuses on health equity and criminal justice. She earned her MPH from Touro University California and has chaired Touro’s Health Equity and Criminal Justice concentration. Her teaching and curriculum development connect public health with the health impacts of incarceration, wrongful conviction, reentry, and justice policy.
Kelly has led and collaborated on studies with exonerees, including research on health and well-being, coping, social support, and reentry. Her work has included participatory and community-engaged research with Exonerated Nation and other partners, as well as development of educational and field-placement opportunities for emerging public health professionals.
View Nemesia Kelly’s publications and presentations →Kevin Williams is an Associate Professor of Public Health at Touro University California, where he teaches Criminal Justice Law and Public Health Advocacy & Public Health Law. His work focuses on the intersection of law, public health, health equity, and the criminal legal system, with particular emphasis on how structural and legal systems shape community health outcomes. He earned a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston Law Center, an MPH from the University of Texas, and is a proud alum of UC Berkeley.
He brings more than three decades of leadership experience in public health, nonprofit management, legal advocacy, and community partnerships. He is a former Lecturer in the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and former Associate Director of the UC Berkeley Center for Public Health Practice. Before entering academia, he served as Executive Director of a community-based nonprofit, leading programs in youth development, violence prevention, behavioral health, and support for systems-involved populations. He maintains a federal legal practice supporting nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and small businesses, and founded a strategic capital and advisory firm for nonprofits and small businesses.
His current interests include implementation of the California Racial Justice Act, public health approaches to mass incarceration, correctional health, juvenile justice, reentry, health policy, constitutional law, social determinants of health, workforce development, and partnerships between healthcare systems and community organizations.
Gayle Cummings is a public health leader, educator, and researcher whose work includes health equity, wrongful conviction and exoneration, reentry, and the health effects of justice-system policies. She earned an MPH from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PsyD in organizational psychology from Touro University Worldwide.
Cummings has served in public health academic leadership and co-founded the Center for the Analysis of Multicultural Issues, a program planning and evaluation group working with underserved communities. Her research includes community-engaged studies with exonerees and Vallejo residents, participatory approaches to health and well-being, and long-term capacity-building and leadership initiatives.
View Gayle Cummings’s publications and presentations →