Who We Are

• Co-Founder and Executive Director: William Monroe Palmer II, is an advocate for sentencing and reentry reforms.

• Once a 17-year-old high school juvenile dropout, in 1988 he was convicted as an adult and sentenced to natural life for kidnap robbery. In 2015-2020, In re William Palmer (1,2&3) created a landmark ruling enhancing SB260, Youth Offender law, establishing freedom for thousands of prisoners, having the right to bring constitutional excessive punishment to the courts and ultimately creating parole without punitive conditions. Since 2019, he has been appointed to the San Francisco Reentry Council on the Sentencing Commission; co-chair of the Legislation, Policies, and Practices Subcommittee; and has become a member of the Direct Services subcommittee as well as The Adachi Project.

• Co-Founder and CFO: Michelle Wood, advocates for the true meaning of Equal Opportunity for all of humanity.

• As a first generation Chinese-American woman, she knows firsthand how racism, domestic violence and being on the brink of financial crisis in life can affect a person and their loved ones. With a strong foundation in business operations and management, she has volunteered her time in support of non-profit groups focused on the unhoused, poverty prevention, disaster relief, minority inclusion, and juvenile advocacy. She is committed to building, sustaining and managing Life After Next.

William and Michelle’s life purpose creates a powerful team that will propel Life After Next forward.