The Sentencing Advocacy Group of Evanston (SAGE) is made up of founder Betsy Wilson and a team of experienced mitigation specialists and skilled records specialists. Our professional backgrounds range from law, social work, and sociology to criminal justice, business, and non-profit management. We regularly serve as faculty on national mitigation and death-penalty trainings and act as mentors to newcomers in the field.
Because of our extensive training and experience working with marginalized populations in diverse settings, SAGE mitigation specialists are able to forge deep and meaningful relationships with our clients and their families. The entire SAGE team is thoroughly familiar with the organizations that generate records concerning our clients and can obtain records that seem irretrievable. Mitigation specialists and records specialists are well versed in the meticulous organization of all cases and, using cutting edge case-management software, can generate reports tailored to specific case needs at a moment’s notice.
Because of our extensive training and experience working with marginalized populations in diverse settings, SAGE mitigation specialists are able to forge deep and meaningful relationships with our clients and their families. The entire SAGE team is thoroughly familiar with the organizations that generate records concerning our clients and can obtain records that seem irretrievable. Mitigation specialists and records specialists are well versed in the meticulous organization of all cases and, using cutting edge case-management software, can generate reports tailored to specific case needs at a moment’s notice.
Betsy Wilson
Supervising Mitigation Specialist
She/her/hers
As an experienced death-penalty attorney and mitigation specialist, Betsy understands what a trial or appellate attorney needs to effectively and zealously represent the client and how to provide that work in a way that makes the attorney’s life easier.
Betsy has been dedicated to capital defense and mitigation for her entire legal career. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1998, she worked as a trial attorney at the New York Capital Defender Office representing clients in capital cases from arraignment through disposition. At the CDO and since joining SAGE in 2006, Betsy has developed expertise in developing mitigation issues such as child abuse, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, drug dependency, exposure to toxic substances and toxic environments, and gang membership.
Betsy writes and presents on death-penalty and mitigation issues regularly. Her most recent article, Accepting Miller's Invitation: Conducting a Capital-Style Mitigation Investigation in Juvenile-Life-Without-Parole Cases, appears in the April 2014 issue of NACDL’s The Champion. Betsy was vice chair of the executive committee of the National Alliance of Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists and the 2011 recipient of NASAMS’s President’s Award.
Betsy has been dedicated to capital defense and mitigation for her entire legal career. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1998, she worked as a trial attorney at the New York Capital Defender Office representing clients in capital cases from arraignment through disposition. At the CDO and since joining SAGE in 2006, Betsy has developed expertise in developing mitigation issues such as child abuse, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, drug dependency, exposure to toxic substances and toxic environments, and gang membership.
Betsy writes and presents on death-penalty and mitigation issues regularly. Her most recent article, Accepting Miller's Invitation: Conducting a Capital-Style Mitigation Investigation in Juvenile-Life-Without-Parole Cases, appears in the April 2014 issue of NACDL’s The Champion. Betsy was vice chair of the executive committee of the National Alliance of Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists and the 2011 recipient of NASAMS’s President’s Award.
Aleca Tesseris Sullivan
Chief Operating Officer
She/her/hers
Aleca has a dual role at SAGE, performing mitigation functions while also overseeing operations to ensure SAGE runs as efficiently and effectively as possible. She brings over 25 years of experience in economic development and community outreach to SAGE, crossing the private, nonprofit and government sectors. She has worked in management consulting for private firms both in the United States and abroad, spent several interesting years working for the National Park Service, completed a decade of very fulfilling work in education and community building and most recently worked as a founding member of the digital nonprofit Benevolent. Aleca earned her Masters Degree from Boston University in American Studies and her BA in economics from the University of Michigan.
Haley Volpintesta
Mitigation Specialist
She/her/hers
Haley worked with young people in the sex trade and criminal justice systems as a direct service provider and qualitative researcher for over 15 years, and joined SAGE in January of 2015. She is a mitigation specialist that fills her extra hours as a doctoral candidate at University of Illinois Chicago pursuing her PhD in Sociology with a focus on gender, sexuality, and the law. She earned her Bachelors in Gender and Women’s Studies from Knox College and her Masters in Human Rights from Columbia University.
Heather Heuman Sweeney
Mitigation Specialist
She/her/hers
Heather is a social worker and former Special Education teacher. In addition, Heather has had training in social-justice issues and is a racial-justice advocate and consultant. She received her Masters in Social Work from Jane Addams College of Social Work at University of Illinois Chicago and her Masters in Special Education from Northeastern Illinois University.
Rachel Meriwether
Mitigation Specialist
She/her/hers
Rachel began her capital mitigation training at the Clarence Darrow Death Penalty Defense College at DePaul University School of Law. Her training continued under the mentorship of SAGE and she opened her private practice, Meriwether Mitigation Group. After managing a nationwide caseload, Rachel moved to New Orleans to work with the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center as a Mitigation Specialist and Investigator. Rachel returned to the Chicago area and resumed her relationship with SAGE as a mitigation specialist and sentencing advocate. She recently became an adjunct instructor in DePaul University's Department of Sociology. She received her Masters Degree in Social Work from DePaul University.
Mary O'Brien
Records Specialist
She/her/hers
Mary O'Brien serves as a Records Specialist with SAGE. She previously worked as a Research Coordinator at Northwestern University and as an Account Supervisor with Leo Burnett Company. She is an active volunteer for Misericordia and has advocated for homeless individuals with Connections for the Homeless. Mary received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Wisconsin-Madison and is pursuing her Master of Arts in Elementary Education from National Louis University.
Lillian Huang Cummins
Mitigation Specialist
She/her/hers
Lillian is a clinical psychologist and writer who has worked and volunteered at the intersections of equity, culture, health, and education for over 20 years. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of California and has both research and clinical experience working with ethnically diverse and marginalized populations. Lillian received her Bachelors degree in Human Biology from Stanford University, her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and her MFA in Fiction from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
Sierra Bartlett
Mitigation Specialist
She/her/hers
Sierra began her career working as an investigator at the 10th Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office in Bartow, FL. She then completed her master’s degree at the London School of Economics in Criminal Justice Policy focusing on United States drug policy. Upon completion of her master's degree in 2016, Sierra joined the Northern Virginia Capital Defender’s Office as a mitigation specialist. Sierra joined SAGE as a mitigation specialist in January of 2019.
Elisabeth Pratt
Mitigation Assistant
She/her/hers
Elisabeth is a mitigation assistant and doctoral student studying clinical psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She begins her clinical training in fall of 2018. Elisabeth completed an internship program in juvenile probation at Ingham County where she continued to volunteer after her internship ended. She has also completed research at Michigan State University on Juvenile Risk Assessment, presenting her findings at the Society for Research on Adolescence conference in Austin, Texas, in March of 2014. She received her Bachelors degrees in both Psychology and Criminal Justice from Michigan State University.
Katherine Cardenas
Records Specialist
She/her/hers
Katherine is a Records Specialist with SAGE. Katherine has a background as a paralegal, and holds a degree in Paralegal Studies. She is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Criminology.