Board Members

Karen Wabler is a Certified Public Accountant and owns her own private practice. Karen provides accounting, tax and consulting services to small and medium-sized businesses and individual tax clients. She has provided accounting services to GFADP for ten years. A native of Georgia, Karen grew up on dairy farm in Oglethorpe County and attended the University of Georgia where she earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Karen believes in the power of salvation by grace through faith, and the sanctity of life. She resides in metropolitan Atlanta with her husband and two grown daughters. 

Mary Catherine has been working to end the death penalty in Georgia since 2008. She is currently the director of New Hope House, a prison ministry that offers support and hospitality to Georgia’s death row prisoners and their families.  At New Hope House she visits prisoners on death row, hosts death row families during visitation weekends and executions, and attends all capital trials in Georgia. She has also served as a Georgia representative at the Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty at the US Supreme Court since 2014.2006.

Ben Minor is a nonprofit professional with 10+ years experience working with organizations focusing on providing social services and advocating for marginalized communities in Metro Atlanta and across the Deep South. Ben currently serves as the as the Foundation Relations Manager at the Southern Center for Human Rights, and prior to joining SCHR, he served as both the Project One on One Director and the Development Director at Children’s Restoration Network. Ben's nonprofit experience includes program management, donor cultivation, grantwriting, volunteer coordination, and HR & Training. 

Ben graduated from Oglethorpe University in 2007 with B.A. Degrees in English and Philosophy, and he received Oglethorpe University's President’s Citizenship Award that year. In 2007, he was also selected as a Carter Academic-Service Entrepreneur Grant Recipient by The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation for his work with a grassroots organization to raise money for homeless programs by hosting concerts featuring local artists

Cynthia Holland is currently the Vision Area Chair for Making Disciples and Associate Lay Leader at Ben Hill United Methodist Church. She Joined Ben Hill in 1988 and has served in numerous ministries of the church.  She also serves as the Associate Director of Lay Servant Ministries for the Central North District and is on the board for Racial Justice and Healing for the North Georgia Conference.

Cynthia is a beacon of compassion and service, driven by an unyielding passion to advocate for those affected by mass incarceration. Her journey was shaped by a deep-seeded commitment to make a tangible difference in the lives of individuals caught in the complex web of the criminal justice system. Committed to  a desire to effect systemic change, Cynthia works with other non-profit organizations and advocacy groups focusing on criminal justice reform. She invests time in actively listening to the experiences and concerns of those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Her story became public when she was featured in the December 2019 issue of United Women in Faith’s Response magazine. This two-page article entitled “A Mother’s Pain” shed light on the over sentencing of people of color and the low income. She was featured on 11 Alive news in August of 2022 and November of 2023 highlighting her 13-year journey and the progress her daughter has made since her release. Cynthia and her daughter Michelle have been working together, sharing their story with those that have lost hope. They represented the United Women in Faith at the Free Her Conference held in San Juan Puerto Rico in October of 2023 where they were able to network with other organization across the United States. Their story was also made into a short film documentary in December 2023 to highlight the United Women in Faith’s School to Prison Pipeline campaign and get others involved.

She has worked with other organizations in the community such as EMI (End Mass Incarceration Network), The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, has attended Justice Day at the capitol for the past several years and mentored other mothers that are experiencing issues within the justice system.

She grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and relocated to Atlanta in 1980 as part of her job with the airline. She is semi-retired from Delta Airlines and is CEO of a sales and marketing business that caters to ethnic hair and beauty products. She has two adult daughters and three grandchildren.

Laura Tate Kagel is the Director of International Professional Education at the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law, where she runs the Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree program for foreign attorneys. She holds a J.D. from UGA and a Ph.D. in German from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has previously been involved in death penalty abolition work as a State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Amnesty International. This is her second time serving on the GFADP board. She also volunteers as a mentor for U-Lead, a non-profit organization dedicated to enabling college access to higher education for immigrant students and students from immigrant families.

Demetrius Minor is the National Manager for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. He educates and mobilizes conservatives around the systematic flaws with the death penalty. He is a preacher, advocate, relationship builder, and a writer who brings a strong track record of building bridges and winning campaigns. He has been the director of coalitions in Florida for Americans for Prosperity, where he worked in partnership with the NAACP, Urban League, and others to build bipartisan support and pass legislation. In addition, he comes to us with experience as a program director and co-host for political radio, TV, and podcasts; a White House intern during the Bush Administration; and a pastoral assistant. He and is wife currently serve in ministry at Tampa Life Church in Thonotosassa, FL. 

sam hunley

Sam began advocating against the death penalty after a close friend introduced him to the cause. Sam has experience in both the private and public sector, using data to develop and deploy communication strategies across the country. He hopes to use this experience to further GFADP's cause to end the death penalty in Georgia. Sam has a bachelors in Religion and Psychology from Furman University, and he obtained his PhD in Psychology from Emory University. Sam lives in the Gresham Park neighborhood of Atlanta with his wife and dog.

Coco guthrie-papy

Coco Guthrie-Papy is a community organizer, restorative justice practitioner, public policy expert, and born-and-and chosen southerner by way of Savannah, Georgia. She works as Deep Center’s Director of Public Policy and Communications, where she develops the organization's public policy and advocacy positions on education and criminal/juvenile legal reform, as well as working as the organization’s lobbyist.

She received her training as a restorative justice practitioner at the International Institute for Restorative Practices, and has been a Highlander Education Center Greensboro Justice Fellow, a PEN Prison Writing Fellow, a People for the American Way’s Front Line Leader Fellow, a Take a Breath fellow at The Action Lab and most recently, a fellow for Ignite the South. She has served on many southeastern regional boards such as Planned Parenthood Southeast, Georgia 9 to 5 and the City of Savannah Cultural Affairs Commission. She currently serves as a SWOP behind Bars prison mentor, a legal observer for the ACLU of Georgia, and has consulted on multiple electoral campaigns regarding policy development, communications strategy, and movement building in the Deep South. She currently serves on the boards of Access-Reproductive Care Southeast, and Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

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Karlan holik

Karlan is a retired educator and continues to use skills to share the importance of alternatives to the death penalty. Her personal dedication to that work comes out of family experiences and her faith. Karlan has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education from Barat College and a Master of Education from Valdosta State University. Since her retirement she has volunteered with various Justice causes, but is now concentrating her time with GFADP and serves on the Outreach and Coalition-Building Committee.  Karlan and her husband live in Macon. Both are members at Centenary UMC where they are actively involved in expanding justice, peace and acceptance.

Erik Wilkinson is a permanent deacon, ordained in 2017 to serve the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.  He is assigned to Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Atlanta.  In his secular work, Erik is a Vice President with the data analytics firm Spartan Technologies, having worked previously in the nonprofit sector in the areas of affordable housing, fundraising, and technical consulting.  Erik is a founding board member of the Atlanta Community Toolbank, a co-founder and former chair of Georgia Catholics Against the Death Penalty, and has been active in efforts to limit or repeal the death penalty for over 25 years.  This is his third time serving on the board of GFADP.

paige martin

Paige Martin is a career fundraiser and serves as a global director of development at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an international leader in conservation. She staffs the organization’s chief scientist, Katharine Hayhoe. Prior to her current role, Paige led the development team for TNC in Georgia and managed a comprehensive $36 million campaign. Paige joined TNC in 2014 after six years at Emory University, most recently as chief development officer for the neurosciences. In addition to her experience at Emory and five years in the corporate world (Fidelity Investments in Boston), Paige has led record-breaking development programs at The Asheville School, Duke University, and All Saints’ Episcopal Church. She holds a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree from Auburn University, both in communication. Paige serves on the Birds Georgia board as Immediate Past Chair. Through All Saints’ Episcopal Church, she is engaged in the multi-faith effort to End Mass Incarceration, the Faith & Justice Collective and the Freedom Writers program.