Deandra Bieneman
DIRECTOR of development
EMAIL: dbieneman@gn-ip.org
Deandra Bieneman excitedly joined the Great North Innocence Project in April 2022 as the Director of Development. Along with a deep passion for justice and helping people positively impact their communities, Deandra brings a decade of nonprofit experience in fundraising, donor relations, corporate engagement, community outreach, volunteer management, and program management.
Deandra is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and earned a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Prior to joining GNIP, Deandra held roles at Minnesota nonprofit organizations with missions that deeply resonated with her, including Open Arms of Minnesota, Twin Cities Food Justice, The Link, and Free Arts Minnesota.
Hayley Drozdowski-Poxleitner
DIRECTOR of Communications & Community Outreach
EMAIL: hdrozdowski-poxleitner@gn-ip.org
Hayley Poxleitner joined the Great North Innocence Project in April 2022 as the Director of Communications & Community Outreach. She is passionate about advancing human rights and improving the criminal legal system by leveraging strategic communications, meaningful stakeholder engagement, and policy advocacy.
Prior to joining GNIP, Hayley worked at the Women's Foundation of Minnesota as research & communications manager. Before that, she contributed to research and developed policy recommendations in partnership with Refugees International as a research fellow advocating for increased refugee participation in United Nations convenings, alternatives to immigrant detention in the United States, and the abolition of family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border. She is also co-author of an article published in the Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies examining social support interventions for refugees and new immigrants.
Hayley holds a master's degree in Human Rights from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Cultures & French from Michigan State University.
Sara H. Jones
Executive director
Email: sjones@gn-ip.org
Sara Jones received her law degree from the University of Minnesota, and her B.S. from Northwestern University. She began her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General under Hubert H. (“Skip”) Humphrey, III, practicing in the Solicitor General section. Following that, she practiced commercial litigation at Popham Haik and Nilan Johnson & Lewis.
Her commitment to public service evolved into a career shift to the nonprofit sector, including working in advancement at William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline) and the University of Minnesota Law School. Sara is a Past-President of Minnesota Women Lawyers and serves on its Advisory Board. She also is a member of the board of We Are All Criminals and served on the board of the Council on Crime and Justice.
The roots of Sara’s commitment to the cause of justice were planted by her father, C. Paul Jones, who served as Minnesota’s (first) State Public Defender for nearly 25 years and taught criminal and constitutional law at William Mitchell throughout his career. She grew up learning from him about justice, mercy, opportunity, and seeing the humanity in everyone. She gained the understanding that, for our justice system to work as it should, all participants (law enforcement, prosecutors, defenders, the courts, and lawmakers) have to work cooperatively and be equally committed to upholding the law, seeking justice, using best practices, and serving with integrity.
As Executive Director of the Great North Innocence Project, Sara leads the organization’s vision and strategy, financial management and fund development, events, community outreach and public relations, criminal justice policy initiatives, and staff supervision.
Baylea Kannmacher
staff attorney
Email: bkannmacher@gn-ip.org
Baylea Kannmacher joined GNIP in the fall of 2024, where she is dedicated to addressing wrongful convictions and advocating for individuals impacted by the criminal court system. Prior to this role, she served as an Assistant Public Defender in Minnesota for ten years, where she gained extensive experience in criminal defense, handling cases that ranged from misdemeanors to serious felonies. In addition to her courtroom expertise, Baylea has contributed to the development of other legal professionals by serving as a trainer at statewide advocacy school.
Baylea earned her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is committed to promoting wellness in the legal profession, recognizing the need for sustainability in such a demanding field. Baylea is driven by her desire to help individuals and communities affected by the criminal court system, with a keen understanding of how incarceration creates far-reaching consequences for both the incarcerated and their loved ones.
James (Jim) Mayer
Legal director
Email: jmayer@gn-ip.org
James (Jim) Mayer is the legal program director at GNIP where he screens, investigates, and litigates cases involving claims of actual innocence. He leads GNIP’s policy advocacy in North Dakota, and teaches courses on wrongful convictions and leads innocence clinics at North Dakota and Minnesota law schools.
Before joining the Great North Innocence Project, Jim spent more than a decade as a private practice litigator. During his time in private practice, he was involved in innocence work as a pro bono attorney, including death penalty cases in Louisiana. Jim was co-lead counsel in the post-conviction case of Michael Wearry, whose capital conviction was vacated by the United States Supreme Court in 2016.
He also played a key role in the creation and development of the Minnesota Conviction Review Unit, one of just a handful of state-wide conviction review units in the United States, part of a groundbreaking partnership between the Great North Innocence Project and the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
Anna McGinn
Staff Attorney
Email: amcginn@gn-ip.org
Anna joined GNIP in August 2022 as a Bank of America Fellow and transitioned to a fulltime Staff Attorney in June 2024. In her role, she investigates and litigates claims of actual innocence alongside GN-IP’s staff attorneys Jim Mayer and Andrew Markquart. She graduated from Notre Dame Law School in Spring 2022.
During law school, Anna served on the executive editorial board of her school’s Journal on Emerging Technologies. After training to become a registered family mediator in the state of Indiana, she practiced mediation at the Notre Dame Applied Mediation Clinic. Anna also worked in the expungement clinic at Notre Dame, where she completed expungement petitions on behalf of persons with criminal records for submission to local state courts.
Prior to attending law school, Anna served as an AmeriCorps member in the Minneapolis Public Schools’ truancy and credit retention and recovery program. She received her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College in 2018.
Hillary Richard
Esther lardent legal fellow
Email: hrichard@gn-ip.org
Hillary Richard joined the Great North Innocence Project as the inaugural Esther Lardent Legal Fellow in April 2025, working to reduce barriers for Minnesotans returning from prison through the Minnesota Collaborative Justice Project. She is a former Equal Justice Works Fellow, Saeks Public Interest Resident, Robina Public Interest Scholar, and the recipient of the 2021 University of Minnesota Law School Excellence in Public Service Award. Before law school, Hillary earned a bachelor's degree from Emerson College, a master's degree from NYU, served in AmeriCorps on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and worked for several years in various nonprofit sectors. She is a Legal Observer for the National Lawyers Guild and is grateful to be working in the reentry community!