Kevin Werner joined OJPC in May 2019 and is the primary staff member responsible for policy advocacy and lobbying initiatives.
Since being “ruined for life” by the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in 2000, Kevin has spent his career working in social justice-oriented organizations defending and advocating for individuals on the margins of society. Kevin fought for low-income tenants facing eviction in Detroit through the United Community Housing Coalition. He then served as a staff member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps: East directing volunteer communities in five New England cities from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Portland, Maine. Kevin’s community and grassroots organizing skills grew from years working for Citizens’ Campaigns Network as a canvass director for Clean Water Action, a national environmental citizen lobby organization, and Working America, a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Kevin has helped lead field canvass operations in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Austin, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Immediately before joining OJPC, Kevin lead Ohioans to Stop Executions from 2007-2019. His experience advocating ending the death penalty alongside death row exonerees, murder victims’ family members, and the families of people on death row ignites his passion to reform the criminal legal system. Kevin has been instrumental in efforts to ban the death penalty for individuals with severe mental illness. He remains active in the campaign to end capital punishment through his service as a member of the board of directors of Ohioans to Stop Executions.
Kevin earned a B.A. in Political Science from Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV. He grew up outside of Philadelphia and now lives in Worthington with his spouse, two children, their dog, and a cat. Kevin is the biggest Philadelphia sports fan west of the Schuylkill River. He coaches little league baseball, plays indoor and outdoor soccer, and makes things at the Columbus Idea Foundry in his free time.