Aaron T. Kinzel (YJF Executive Director)

Aaron T. Kinzel is a Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Michigan with teaching and research areas of expertise in education, corrections, and public policy.

Kinzel is a consultant that has worked nationally on criminal justice reform and completed contracts with numerous organizations, including the U.S. Department of Justice. He has worked with thousands of incarcerated/formerly incarcerated individuals and visited over a 100 correctional facilities in the US and Europe. Kinzel's childhood was surrounded by poverty and crime with many of his family having justice system involvement. He spent nearly a decade incarcerated as a teenager and has been home for about 13 years and is passionate about humanizing correctional populations.