Board & Staff

Serena Liguori serves as executive director of New Hour for Women and Children—Long Island, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting women and children impacted by incarceration. New Hour provides direct-service programming in the Suffolk County jails and reentry support to women across the state returning to Long Island. Prior to leading New Hour, she was the executive director of Herstory Writers Workshop, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing marginalized voices into the public arena. Serena served as associate director of policy at the Correctional Association of New York’s Women in Prison Project, where she spearheaded legislative initiatives and policy advocacy addressing prison reform. She was the key organizer of a successful effort to create the Adoption and Safe Families Act Expanded Discretion Law, which works to secure parental rights for incarcerated parents as well as the Anti-Shackling Law, which prohibits the shackling of incarcerated mothers during labor. Serena is a survivor of isolated confinement, received her associate’s degree in the College Bound Program at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility and her bachelor’s degree from Adelphi University. Serena co-leads the Justice for Women COVID-19 Task Force along with WCJA, serves on the Suffolk County Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force and Governor Hochul’s NYS Domestic Violence Task Force. She is a recipient of the 2018 Citizens Against Recidivism award. She enjoys preparing her family’s favorite traditional Puerto Rican meals.