Taylar Nuevelle (she/her) is the Founder and Executive Director of Who Speaks for Me?, a National Nonprofit she designed while incarcerated. The Trauma-to-Prison Pipeline™ is a concept Taylar is credited with creating. During her four and a half years in federal prison, Taylar spent her time assisting other incarcerated people with preparing internal grievances as well as pro se motions for post-conviction relief. WSFM was born from the stories of the women incarcerated with Taylar.
Taylar worked as a Benefits Specialist with University Legal Services when she returned from prison. However, while working there she experienced racism, classism, homophobia, and ableism. When she called attention to this oppression and microaggressions, Taylar was terminated by the Director of the Jail and Prison Advocacy Project (JPAP). Through her tenacity, Taylar made a meager living from work as a contract Paralegal. In 2020 Taylar’s hard work paid off and her dream–of using her lived experiences, intellect, and leadership skills–to work towards Building a Trauma Informed Justice System™ came true.
Today WSFM is a thriving nonprofit, and its reach is national in scope. Taylar is a queer, Black cis woman. She is a mother, writer, advocate, activist, and public speaker. Taylar holds a BA in English Literature and her writings have been published in The Washington Post, Talk Poverty, The Nation, the Vera Institute for Justice Blog and Ms. Magazine online.