Who We Are
Just Making A Change for Families, better known as JMACforFamilies, is a non-profit organization working to dismantle the family policing system while investing in community support that keeps families together. We are a team of impacted people, social workers, advocates, and organizers working towards the ultimate goal of abolition.
JMACforFamilies works towards this goal through legislative advocacy, storytelling and narrative change, and programming for people who have been directly impacted by the family policing system. We also lead the Parent Legislative Action Network (PLAN), a statewide coalition of impacted parents and young people, advocates, attorneys, social workers, and academics collaborating to effect systemic change.
Joyce McMillan | Founder & Executive Director
Joyce McMillan is a thought leader, advocate, community organizer, educator, and the Founder and Executive Director of Just Making A Change for Families (JMACforFamilies).
Joyce’s mission is to remove systemic barriers in communities of color by bringing awareness to the racial disparities in systems where people of color are disproportionately affected. Her ultimate goal is to abolish systems of harm–especially the family policing system (or the so-called “child welfare system”)–while creating concrete community resources.
As the Founder of the Parent Legislative Action Network, Joyce leads a statewide coalition of impacted parents and young people, advocates, attorneys, social workers, and academics collaborating to effect systemic change in the family policing system. Joyce also currently serves on the board of the Women’s Prison Association and on the Advisory Committee for the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, where she holds a visiting fellowship. As a visiting fellow, Joyce explores ways to strengthen parent voices in child welfare and has led a series of public events where panelists discuss both problems and suggested solutions.
Previously, Joyce led family engagement and advocacy efforts at Sinergia Inc, an organization that works with and to support people with disabilities and their families. Prior to Sinergia, she was the Program Director at the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP), where she created a space for communities of color who have been traumatized by systemic injustices to learn about restorative practices.
Joyce has served as a member of the NYC County Committee and a Supreme Court Judicial Delegate. Joyce has also held fellowships with Law4Black Lives and the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.
Joyce has lectured and spoken at Columbia University, Harvard University, New York University, Hunter College, Montclair University, CUNY Law School, Cornell University, Harlem Hospital, New York City Affairs at the New School, Williams College, and many other institutions. She has also appeared in various media interviews with outlets such as Al Jazeera, The New York Times, ABC Channel 7, The Imprint, ProPublica, and Politico.
Ayami Hatanaka | Executive Assistant
Ayami Hatanaka (she/her) is a passionate advocate and dedicated researcher who seeks to center the expertise, voices, and knowledge of those who have directly experienced the violence of family policing. Her aims include collaboratively working towards abolishing systems of harm and contributing to building community support and resources. After receiving a BA in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Political Science from Williams College, she worked as an out-of-court advocate at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem in the Family Defense Practice, defending and advocating for parents facing allegations of neglect and/or abuse. Ayami has led strategy for organizing campaigns and organizations, as well as advocated for survivors of sexual violence and collaborated with sex worker communities in past research.
MJ (Maleeka Jihad) | H.E.A.L. Program Consultant
MJ (Maleeka Jihad) is the Executive Director of MJ Consulting, an agency focused on dismantling systemic racism in the family policing (child welfare) system through education, advocacy, and policy reform. MJ is a national expert on the negative impacts of (child welfare / foster care) system involvement. She provides trainings and consultations to professionals as it relates to race, culture, and justice within dependency & neglect court cases and service providers.
As an adjunct faculty professor with the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver, she teaches on race, privilege, social justice, therapy, leadership skills, as well as child and family law courses. Alongside her students, MJ is continuing her education by obtaining a PhD in Organizational Development with Social Justice Change, specializing in Somatic Leadership Coaching (at Fielding Graduate School). With foundation courses from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology International Psychology PhD Program.
Martha Wilson | H.E.A.L. Program Consultant
Martha is a dedicated Black Latina, mother of five, and a doctoral student specializing in Public Administration. She boasts over 8.5 years of multifaceted experience in child welfare, encompassing her past role as a case worker and her current position providing clinical consultation with the Office of Respondent Parent Counsel. Martha's commitment to addressing profound racial disparities affecting families of color fuels her unwavering dedication to advocacy in appeals cases, legislative discourse, and support for families via the Family Justice Initiative.
Martha wields her expertise in child welfare, mental health, and lived experiences to confront racism and unethical behaviors among caseworkers and Guardian Ad Litems within Colorado and the broader United States. Notably, Martha played a pivotal role as a founding member of the Boulder County Equity Council, coordinated Boulder Community Conversations About Race for two years, and presently serves on the Longmont Housing and Human Services Advisory Board.
Martha's professional background encompasses her former role as an enhanced mental health crisis clinician at North Range Behavioral Health, participation in the Boulder Police Department Oversight Panel, and contributions to the development of ordinances and bylaws. In addition to her clinical practice, she actively engages in community actions and participates in demonstrations and rallies, all while balancing her commitment to her interracial family. Martha consistently prioritizes what is meaningful and embraces the opportunity to champion important causes and is always game to get in ‘good trouble’.