Terah Lawyer‑Harper

Executive Director, Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs

Terah Lawyer-Harper is the Executive Director of CROP. In this role, she oversees the strategic vision and implementation of CROP’s $28.5 million investment from the State of California to launch the organization’s Ready 4 Life reentry workforce and housing program.

Terah brings extensive program development experience, reentry housing expertise and a passion for investing in people. She is the former associate director of Impact Justice’s groundbreaking reentry program, The Homecoming Project, a $3.5M housing innovation that matches eligible returning citizens with rooms for rent with compatible hosts. Over three years, she developed and led the program which has received national and state awards and provided nearly 70 formerly incarcerated individuals with sustainable housing in the Bay Area.

Terah’s lived experiences as a queer, woman of color who is formerly incarcerated informs her leadership style and approach to rehabilitation and reentry. During her 15 year incarceration from ages 18 to 33, she became a certified peer health educator and a drug and alcohol counselor, and earned two associate degrees. She developed the Offender Responsibility program which is still offered at Central California Women’s Facility. Terah also designed the program curriculum to launch a nonprofit, CORE (Criminal Offense Reform Establishment), which provides rehabilitative correspondent courses nationwide to people incarcerated in prison and has served 2,500 students since 2012. From 2012-2013, she was the elected chairperson of the Beyond Incarceration Panel and during her tenure 20 members gained certifications as Congressionally Recognized Youth Diversion Specialists.

After returning home in 2017, Terah dedicated her life to her community. She is a spokeswoman for the Drop the Life Without the Possibility of Parole campaign and has been featured in A New Way of Life testimonial series. Her work has been profiled in major media outlets such as NPR, CNN Great Big Story, The New York Times, The Atlantic and Mother Jones.

Terah is a member of ReWork the Bay’s cross-sectoral Equity at Work Council, where she is focused on advocating and promoting nonprofit work cultures that invest in the health, well-being and living wages of its employees. Terah is a graduate of San Francisco University and lives with her wife in Richmond.