We are Sisters Unchained

Sisters Unchained is a refuge space for girls, young women and non-binary youth directly impacted by incarceration. 

As an intergenerational sisterhood rooted in abolition, our mission is to foster autonomy, love, and growth in our relationships with ourselves and our communities.

Theory of Change:

Sisters Unchained ensures youth and adults impacted by incarceration are equipped for their future and are sustaining communities of care. 

This will shift power from harmful systems while nurturing healing practices and abolitionist legacies that start with the self.

We are living our vision of a liberated future where those impacted by cycles of carceral harm manifest generational healing.

Sisters Unchained launched our first summer program in 2015 after a pilot project called Coding for Justice, created by incarcerated mothers, had a powerful impact on participating girls. As the program evolved, a group of visionary young affected by incarceration women Ayana Aubourg, Vanessa Ly and Meron Teklehaimanot took leadership of the pilot project, created their own curriculum, and built a six-week summer intensive for young women and girls in Boston. Our first summer cohort consisted of three daughters with incarcerated parents. At the end of this founding summer, we renamed ourselves Sisters Unchained.

Sisters Unchained addresses parental incarceration and the violence of family separation by breaking the isolation between young women with incarcerated parents. We build community and power by focusing on radical education, alternative forms of healing, organizing, and art. In doing so, we create a community of radical love and sisterhood to support each other along our paths towards healing and justice.

  • Vanessa Ly is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sisters Unchained, a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting young women and girls impacted by parental incarceration. Established in 2015 (with 501c3 status in 2020) Sisters Unchained provides a refuge space where impacted young women and girls - ~98% of whom are of color – can focus on loving and improving themselves and their communities in the way they see fit. Vanessa immigrated to Boston from Peru in 1982 at the age of four and from a young age issues impacting women of color have been particularly important to her. Vanessa is intentional and passionate about creating safe spaces that facilitate healing, personal growth, and leadership development for Sisters Unchained participants.

    In addition to holding a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and an Associate’s degree in Biotechnology: Forensic DNA Science from Massachusetts Bay Community College, Vanessa also completed a 200 Yoga Teacher Training, holds an End of Life Doula Certificate, and is a self-taught documentary filmmaker. Her first short film, “Eternally Misunderstood,” shares the stories of nine young women with incarcerated loved ones. The film has been screened at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston College, and Harvard University.

    In every creative endeavor, Vanessa aims to embody the language closest to her heart: storytelling, which she sees as a medium of self-healing.

  • Ayana was born and raised in Cambridge, MA. Her educational background includes International Relations with a concentration in Human Rights from Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts. Ayana is passionate about supporting the personal transformation, community preservation, and radical dreams of communities directly affected by the criminal legal system. She also serves as a Board member for Freedom to Thrive, and Justice 4 Housing to extend her skill sets in support of organizations led by Black and Brown women.

  • Shanita Jefferson is the Program Manager at Sisters Unchained, an organization dedicated to supporting young women and non-binary youth affected by parental incarceration. Shanita specializes in administrative support for organizations and institutions serving diverse communities. Shanita understands the importance of providing care, support and opportunities for women and girls in the most underserved communities of Boston. As a woman directly affected by parental incarceration, her mission is to support women and girls as they heal from generational trauma. Shanita enjoys all things art: music, dance, photography, theater and storytelling. She currently resides in Roxbury, MA and is the proud mother of an amazing nine year old daughter.

  • Hawa’s upbringing at the intersection of French, American, and Cameroonian culture have informed her interests. At Dartmouth College ('26), Hawa is a Black Francophone Literature & History double major with Economics Modified Public Policy and a minor in International Studies. She is fascinated by the study of postcolonialism concerning African socio-economic development.

    Hawa’s experience in grassroots organizing with the Black Lives Matter movement, environmental justice, and mutual aid network drew her to Sisters Unchained, joining the summer of 2021 cohort. During the program, she expanded her knowledge of Black liberation by creating art and studying abolition to center the stories of those directly harmed by police and prison.

  • Having been a dedicated participant in Sisters Unchained for two years, she understands firsthand the impact of the program’s workshops and is committed to sharing that experience with others. With her enthusiasm, warmth, and creative flair, she plays a key role in making Sisters Unchained a welcoming space for all. She enjoys hobbies such as knitting and sports!

  • Gabby Jansky is a Senior in high school at Lynn Tech. She was born and raised in Lynn, and has been living in Boston for 6 years. Beyond the classroom, she actively participates in Sisters Unchained. Gabby stayed involved with Sisters Unchained because she believes the program helped her build bonds with other young people and gave her an open and free place to talk about anything she’s going through. Outside of work and school, Gabby loves to hang out with her animals including her two bearded dragons and kitten. Professionally, Gabby aspires to pursue EMT training after graduating high school.

  • Vixen Spencer is currently pursuing their HiSet at NotreDame Education Center. They were born and raised in South Boston. Beyond their studies, they actively participate in Sisters Unchained. Vixen stayed involved with Sisters Unchained because it helped them understand the people around them who were affected by the incarceration system, including their dad’s family and people of color, and they also felt a sense of sisterhood in the program. Outside of work, Vixen likes to skate and spend their time playing video games like Sims. Vixen’s ultimate goal is to be an advocate for animal and human rights.

Marketing and Development Team

Tracie Hines

Strategy Development/Grants

Kelly T Gaule

Principal Fundraising Strategist

Kathryn H. McDaniel

Grant Specialist

board of directors

  • Dey is an ARTIST & PROJECT DIRECTOR at Agiarte. She is a member of Papel Machete and Curator | Director of the book and now podcast, When We Fight, We Win! Dey is a bicultural worker, interdisciplinary artist, permaculturist, and educator, and has been a part of several of our most visible projects, including the Cantastoria, If All Lives Matter Cause We Are All Created Equal, Why Are Some Lives More Equal Than Others? in collaboration with Brooklyn-based quilter Sylvia Hernández, and the End the Debt! Decolonize! Liberate Puerto Rico! Scroll project. Issues of race, identity, language, and community are fundamental to her work. Dey is a Board Member of AgitArte and has designed and directed art workshops and projects with AgitArte since 2008. Among her many skills, Dey’s sharp design eye and knowledge of architecture and three dimensional objects are crucial to the caliber of AgitArte’s work. She received her Master of Architecture (MArch) from the University of Puerto Rico. Dey currently lives in Boston where she is a movement artist with Danza Orgánica, a social justice oriented contemporary dance theater company.

  • Dara grew up in Cambridge and is one of the founders of The Black Response, the organization that facilitated the development of HEART. Dara is humbled and inspired by all the community members, volunteers, and organizers who have tirelessly worked to make HEART a reality. She brings her experience as an educator, restorative and transformative justice practitioner, and community organizer to her role as Co-Director of Infrastructure, Political Development, and Strategic Partnerships. She honors her teachers and ancestors who have supported and shaped her into the human she is today. In addition to her community work, Dara loves to paint, take walks, read Afrofuturist literature, and grow food at Movement Family Farm, a collective land project she supports in New Hampshire.