The Marshall Project: Shedding Light and Heat on Criminal (in)Justice
Description: The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and its criminal justice system is irretrievably broken. Neil Barsky will discuss the challenges of creating a new, prize-winning non-profit journalism organization to elevate the need for criminal justice reform in the national conscience, and whether (and if so, how) the Marshall Project can move the needle on justice reform.
Bio: Neil Barsky is the chairman and founder of the Marshall Project, a non-profit journalism enterprise that covers the American system of criminal justice with the goal of sparking a national conversation about reform. He has enjoyed a varied career in the fields of journalism, finance and film. He has been an award-winning newspaper reporter, working for the New York Daily News and the Wall Street Journal. Later, he embarked on a career in finance, and served as an equity research analyst in the areas of real estate, casinos and hotels for Morgan Stanley. Neil next went on to build two hedge fund businesses, Midtown Capital and Alson Capital Partners. He retired from the money management business in 2009. Neil directed and also produced the critically-acclaimed documentary film KOCH, which aired nationally on PBS’s POV series. He also recently taught economics at Oberlin College. Neil is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.