Tanya Watkins (she/her) is a mother, writer, Black womanist, community organizer, and prison abolitionist originally from Chicago’s South Side. She studied writing at Columbia College Chicago and is a former South Suburban Chicago elected official. Tanya began as a leader with Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL) in 2010, a multi-issue, faith-based, social justice organization that helps residents build power in Chicago’s Southland. Since being with the organization, Tanya has been at the forefront of several campaigns to re-imagine community safety and transform the justice system, most recently leading SOUL as an anchor organization in the fight to end cash bail in Illinois. In 2023, after the election of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johson, Tanya was asked to serve as the Co-Chair of his Public Safety Transition Sub-Committee. Currently, Tanya is the executive director of both SOUL and SOUL in Action and is on the executive board of the BlackRoots Alliance.