We are Sisters Unchained

Sisters Unchained is a refuge space for girls, young women and non-binary youth directly impacted by incarceration. 

As an intergenerational sisterhood rooted in abolition, our mission is to foster autonomy, love, and growth in our relationships with ourselves and our communities.
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Theory of Change:

Sisters Unchained ensures youth and adults impacted by incarceration are equipped for their future and are sustaining communities of care. 

This will shift power from harmful systems while nurturing healing practices and abolitionist legacies that start with the self.

We are living our vision of a liberated future where those impacted by cycles of carceral harm manifest generational healing.

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Sisters Unchained launched our first summer program in 2015 after a pilot project called Coding for Justice, created by incarcerated mothers, had a powerful impact on participating girls. As the program evolved, a group of visionary young affected by incarceration women Ayana Aubourg, Vanessa Ly and Meron Teklehaimanot took leadership of the pilot project, created their own curriculum, and built a six-week summer intensive for young women and girls in Boston. Our first summer cohort consisted of three daughters with incarcerated parents. At the end of this founding summer, we renamed ourselves Sisters Unchained.

Sisters Unchained addresses parental incarceration and the violence of family separation by breaking the isolation between young women with incarcerated parents. We build community and power by focusing on radical education, alternative forms of healing, organizing, and art. In doing so, we create a community of radical love and sisterhood to support each other along our paths towards healing and justice.

  • Vanessa Ly is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sisters Unchained, a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting young women and girls impacted by parental incarceration. Established in 2015 (with 501c3 status in 2020) Sisters Unchained provides a refuge space where impacted young women and girls - ~98% of whom are of color – can focus on loving and improving themselves and their communities in the way they see fit. Vanessa immigrated to Boston from Peru in 1982 at the age of four and from a young age issues impacting women of color have been particularly important to her. Vanessa is intentional and passionate about creating safe spaces that facilitate healing, personal growth, and leadership development for Sisters Unchained participants.

    In addition to holding a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and an Associate’s degree in Biotechnology: Forensic DNA Science from Massachusetts Bay Community College, Vanessa also completed a 200 Yoga Teacher Training, holds an End of Life Doula Certificate, and is a self-taught documentary filmmaker. Her first short film, “Eternally Misunderstood,” shares the stories of nine young women with incarcerated loved ones. The film has been screened at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston College, and Harvard University.

    In every creative endeavor, Vanessa aims to embody the language closest to her heart: storytelling, which she sees as a medium of self-healing.

  • Kendra Lara is a proud first-generation Black Latina, abolitionist, mother, and visionary leader committed to liberation and justice. Rooted in a legacy of resilience and collective power, Kendra’s story is a testament to what is possible when communities come together to reimagine their futures.

    Born in the Bronx to a working-class immigrant mother, Kendra’s family relocated to Jamaica Plain, where she found her lifelong home and community. At 13, her curiosity about art and justice blossomed at organizations like Spontaneous Celebrations, where she learned the power of art-driven movements and grassroots organizing. Witnessing her community’s historic resistance against systemic injustices—from stopping a highway to fighting displacement—sparked her lifelong dedication to uplifting the voices of those at the margins.

    At just 15, Kendra co-founded Beantown Society, a “by-youth, for-youth” organization uniting young people across race and class to confront violence and systemic oppression. Her early leadership paved the way for her work as one of the youngest and few female StreetWorkers in Boston, where she provided trauma-informed support to youth most impacted by violence, incarceration, and poverty. Through this work, Kendra witnessed firsthand how systemic barriers criminalized and excluded young people—lessons that deepened her commitment to creating structural change.

    Kendra’s transformative leadership continued as the Director of Radical Philanthropy at the historic Resist Foundation, where she worked to reimagine philanthropy's role in movements. Under her leadership, Resist became a national model for redistributing power and resources to grassroots movements, prioritizing those most impacted by white supremacy and economic injustice. Her work has supported organizations nationwide in building cultures and structures that center on collective liberation, equity, and joy.

    As a Boston City Councilor, Kendra carried her commitment to justice into City Hall, where she championed policies prioritizing affordable housing, environmental justice, youth empowerment, and redistributing resources to communities often left out of political decision-making. She courageously led, securing millions in investments to expand opportunities for Boston's families, youth, and working-class residents.

    Kendra’s leadership is defined by her belief that a liberated future is possible. Whether organizing, facilitating structural change, or nurturing transformative visions, Kendra remains steadfast in bringing those at the margins to the center. Her life’s work is a call to action: to dream bigger, build boldly, and co-create a world where everyone can thrive.

    Kendra lives in Jamaica Plain with her son, Zaire. In her free time, she hikes, dances, and keeps up with the world on TikTok.

  • Born in Venezuela and living in Boston for over 15 years, Sól (pronouns: they/them) is a queer and nonbinary facilitator, abolitionist, transformative justice practitioner, and life coach. They have worked with young people and adults alike in developing more clear understandings of the world and systems around us while deepening our senses of power and creativity to transform them.

    Sól is a deep believer in the need for both personal and collective change and believes in a world where communities are resourced enough to make carceral systems and cultures obsolete.

    Sól is also a certified personal trainer, gardener, caretaker, and lover of life. They love to spend time dancing with their friends and exploring what being free in a moment can feel like.

  • Kathy Lebrón, a Boston native with Dominican roots, is a community and liberation architect. She is working to co-create “a world where many worlds fit.” 

    Kathy is the founder of The Radical Maestra and is committed to reimagining learning spaces rooted in joy, justice, and connection. Recently, Kathy founded Comadres Liberadas — a dance and storytelling healing collective for comadres seeking village support to raise better and more liberated humans. Kathy deeply believes in the power of joy, connection, creativity, and conscious parenting as vehicles for freedom, healing, and transformation. 

  • Gabby Jansky is a Senior in high school at Lynn Tech. She was born and raised in Lynn, and has been living in Boston for 6 years. Beyond the classroom, she actively participates in Sisters Unchained. Gabby stayed involved with Sisters Unchained because she believes the program helped her build bonds with other young people and gave her an open and free place to talk about anything she’s going through. Outside of work and school, Gabby loves to hang out with her animals including her two bearded dragons and kitten. Professionally, Gabby aspires to pursue EMT training after graduating high school.

board of directors

  • Dey is an ARTIST & PROJECT DIRECTOR at Agiarte. She is a member of Papel Machete and Curator | Director of the book and now podcast, When We Fight, We Win! Dey is a bicultural worker, interdisciplinary artist, permaculturist, and educator, and has been a part of several of our most visible projects, including the Cantastoria, If All Lives Matter Cause We Are All Created Equal, Why Are Some Lives More Equal Than Others? in collaboration with Brooklyn-based quilter Sylvia Hernández, and the End the Debt! Decolonize! Liberate Puerto Rico! Scroll project. Issues of race, identity, language, and community are fundamental to her work. Dey is a Board Member of AgitArte and has designed and directed art workshops and projects with AgitArte since 2008. Among her many skills, Dey’s sharp design eye and knowledge of architecture and three dimensional objects are crucial to the caliber of AgitArte’s work. She received her Master of Architecture (MArch) from the University of Puerto Rico. Dey currently lives in Boston where she is a movement artist with Danza Orgánica, a social justice oriented contemporary dance theater company.

  • Dara grew up in Cambridge and is one of the founders of The Black Response, the organization that facilitated the development of HEART. Dara is humbled and inspired by all the community members, volunteers, and organizers who have tirelessly worked to make HEART a reality. She brings her experience as an educator, restorative and transformative justice practitioner, and community organizer to her role as Co-Director of Infrastructure, Political Development, and Strategic Partnerships. She honors her teachers and ancestors who have supported and shaped her into the human she is today. In addition to her community work, Dara loves to paint, take walks, read Afrofuturist literature, and grow food at Movement Family Farm, a collective land project she supports in New Hampshire.