Kara Janssen is an organizer for the ACLU of Arizona's Campaign for Smart Justice. Kara joined the campaign through the leadership development pipeline. Kara is a directly impacted person who served two prison sentences, totaling five years of imprisonment. Kara became an advocate, mentor, and organizer to empower others during her second term in prison. Kara became involved in recovery programs and openly shared her story of addiction. She believed that by sharing her story she could change her life and the lives of those around her. Upon release in November of 2018, she decided to continue her journey of self and community empowerment by joining the Smart Justice Campaign. She volunteered with the campaign for months, advocating at the state Capitol, and training other volunteers, before she was officially hired as a full-time organizer in September 2019. Kara looks forward to continuing the fight to empower directly impacted people, and decreasing the incarcerated population by 50 percent.