Voices From the Field: Interrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline

National Mission Institutions support children, youth, and families.

We invite you to join us on September 22, 2026, at 3 p.m. ET, as representatives of National Mission Institutions share how NMIs help interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.

Through support from United Women in Faith, these NMIs provide preemptive, supportive, and developmental practices that successfully assist children and youth for a brighter future, while also engaging in advocacy efforts to reduce reactive and punitive measures like school policing and other law enforcement interactions.

NMI staff will share the context of the communities they work with, the challenges they face, their hopes, and how communities can come together to take ownership of youth development, away from law enforcement. Our guests will also speak to the historical and ongoing relationships with United Women in Faith that support the impact NMIs have in their communities.

Speakers:

Dr. Pela Terry, Executive Director, Atlantic Street Center, Seattle, WA

Pela (pea-lah) S. Terry, Ed.D., is the CEO/executive director of the Atlantic Street Center (ASC) NMI in Seattle, WA. Her introduction to human services began in the Midwest, and in 2001 she moved to New York where she engaged in program development, revenue diversification, and expanded contract-based funding initiatives for arts, education, and health services. She later began pro-bono consulting and board development work for several start-up nonprofits.

Relocating to Seattle in 2021, Dr. Terry maintains her current role as a co-founding board director and executive committee officer of a nonprofit grass-roots organization in Queens, NY, and serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for HealthierHere in King County, WA — part of Washington State’s Accountable Communities of Health (ACH) system aiming to improve population health and equity.

Pela earned her doctorate degree in executive leadership at the Ralph J. Wilson, Jr. School of Education at St. John Fisher College (Rochester, NY) with a dissertation on pipeline development and succession planning for nonprofits. Dr. Terry has a strong commitment to promoting advocacy, self-empowerment, and quality of life for at-risk children, youth, and families.

Jacqueline Williams, Clinical Manager for Functional Family Therapy, Cornerstones of Care, Kansas City, MO

Jacqueline Williams, LPC, LCPC, LCAC, is the clinical manager for Functional Family Therapy in Missouri. She has been in the field for over 20 years and has worked in various mental health settings such as domestic violence shelters and addiction/recovery facilities. One of Jacqueline’s key focuses over the years has been working with culturally diverse populations with an emphasis on strengthening the relationship between mental health professionals and the African American community.

Jacqueline has been leading the Functional Family Therapy team for approximately nine years. When an adolescent in the home is facing a challenge, why not just “fix” the youth? Why family therapy? Here’s what we know: Families need family therapy during the adolescent years because teens develop and heal within the context of their home relationships. Functional Family Therapy shifts the focus from “fixing the teen” to equipping families with communication skills and behavioral management tools to heal relationships, reduce household stress, and prevent out-of-home placements, breaking unhealthy and often generational patterns and finding resilience and hope in the healing process.

The quarterly Voices from the Field events feature leaders sharing their work and life stories, daily challenges, hopes, and dreams. This conversation series highlights United Women in Faith’s initiatives supported by Mission Giving — initiatives that significantly improve the lives of women, children, and youth down the block and around the world.