FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2025
Contact: media@vera.org

Vera Institute of Justice Names Two New Trustees to Board

NEW YORK – Today, the Vera Institute of Justice announced the appointment of two new board trustees who both bring invaluable experience, leadership, and a deep commitment to ending overcriminalization and mass incarceration and delivering true safety and justice for all.

The new trustees are Sandra (“Sandee”) Buchanan and Sean Hecker.

“Sean and Sandee bring years of experience in law, finance, and government, and it is an honor to welcome them to the Vera board as we enter a pivotal moment in the fight for criminal justice and immigration reform,” said Nicholas Turner, president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice. “I know that Sandee and Sean will be key to supporting Vera and the rest of our amazing board as partners to advance real solutions to transform the U.S. criminal justice and immigration systems until they are fair for all.”

“Since 1961, Vera has piloted, tested, and scaled the solutions that work to end mass incarceration, restore dignity to people behind bars, and build safe, thriving communities,” said Sandra (“Sandee”) Buchanan. “I am ready to jump in and work with Vera’s renowned experts, advocates, and policymakers to continue advancing the organization’s mission at this critical moment in our nation’s history.”

“I’m honored to join the Vera board, inspired by our shared commitment to building a more just and equitable criminal justice system,” said Sean Hecker. “Having spent much of my career focused on addressing the significant challenges of overcriminalization and mass incarceration, I look forward to contributing to Vera’s work to reduce the number of people behind bars, champion meaningful reform, and oppose policies that criminalize, stigmatize, and threaten the well-being of our communities.”

Sandra “Sandee” Buchanan is a Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer at GCM Grosvenor, Inc., an alternative asset management firm with $80 billion assets under management as of December 31, 2024. Prior to joining GCM in 2018, Sandee served as global head of human resources for corporate and investment banking at Bank of America, where she spent five years (2013–2018). Her prior experience includes leadership roles in human resources, talent management, and talent acquisition at Goldman Sachs (2006–2013) and JP Morgan Chase (1998–2006). Sandee received an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BBA in finance from Baruch College. Sandee is a corporate director of the internet services company Angi Inc. She also serves on the non-profit boards of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Harlem School of the Arts.

Sean Hecker is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and a founding partner of Hecker Fink LLP, with a practice focusing on white-collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, and complex civil trial work. Sean also maintains an active pro bono practice, which includes successfully securing a temporary restraining order that restored legal visitation rights at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after visits had been suspended in violation of the constitutional right to counsel. Previously, he was a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and a trial lawyer with the Federal Defenders of New York. Sean is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the immediate past president of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers, a director of the Office of the Appellate Defender (chair emeritus), a former director and board chair of the Federal Defenders of New York, and was a long-time member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel in the Southern District of New York. He is also a former chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Mass Incarceration Task Force and a former member of Vera’s Reform Leadership Council.

Full biographies for each member of Vera’s Board of Trustees can be found on Vera’s website.

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The Vera Institute of Justice is powered by hundreds of advocates, researchers, and policy experts working to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems until they’re fair for all. Founded in 1961 to advocate for alternatives to money bail in New York City, Vera is now a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change. We develop just, antiracist solutions so that money doesn’t determine freedom; fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention; and everyone is treated with dignity. Vera’s headquarters is in Brooklyn, New York, with offices in Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit vera.org.