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Holding Sheriffs Accountable w/ Amaris Leon and Amber Walker

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Block & Build
Holding Sheriffs Accountable w/ Amaris Leon and Amber Walker
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We are joined in this episode by two leaders at Sheriff Accountability Action, an organization devoted to building power to curb the harms of the more than 3,000 sheriff’s offices across the country. My guests include Deputy Director Amber Walker and Director of Local Campaigns and Advocacy Amaris Leon. We’ll explore what work the organization is doing to reduce the harm of the carceral system and build a foundation for real safety.

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Episode Guests

Amaris Leon

Amaris Leon is the Director of Local Campaigns and Advocacy with Sheriff Accountability Action. She is a former foster care youth, a U.S. Supreme Court-barred lawyer, and national electoral strategist, specializing in constitutional office elections and decarceral policies.

Amber Walker

Amber Walker has served the Deputy Director for Sheriff Accountability Action for 4 years, a political organization working to reduce harms that sheriffs cause in communities across the country. She has worked 15+ years in the justice ecosystem focusing on the liberation and rest for Black and brown folks, from addressing the housing and economic crisis to her current work in reimagining public safety and accountability. She believes that true public safety is when all people have what they need to thrive and be healthy.

About the Host

Cayden Mak
Cayden Mak

Cayden Mak is the publisher at Convergence Magazine and the host of Block & Build: Roadmaps for the Left.

Prior to Convergence, Cayden spent nearly a decade in various roles at 18 Million Rising, including five years as Executive Director and two as Chief Technology Officer, developing the organization inside and out into the digital-first anchor of national progressive Asian American organizing. His other movement work has included organizing for community-designed affordable housing with the Save E. 12th Coalition, co-founding Youngist, a youth media collective, organizing graduate research assistants for a labor union, and helping coordinate tracks and network gatherings at the Allied Media Conference. He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Kairos Fellowship.