Regina Campbell was born and raised in California’s Bay Area but has spent her adult life living and traveling around the United States and abroad, addressing the effects of structural racism in the environment and within communities of color in a variety of capacities. Trained as an Environmental Engineer at the University of Maryland, she worked to build connections and implement strategies to protect the environment and enforce environmental policy. It was in this capacity that her passion for environmental justice was fueled. After years of service in this capacity, Regina dedicated four years to service in Belize, developing educational systems for youth and creating economic opportunities for women throughout the country.
Since her return to the United States in 2014, Regina has consistently worked to break the cycle of illiteracy, poverty, and low expectations by helping families in low-income communities of New York rise above poverty through education and career programs. Her current role as project manager for the Rikers Public Memory Project, highlights her private industry, nonprofit, and government experience in planning, implementing, and monitoring programs while building collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders. Regina has a passion for social justice and works toward sustainable solutions to critical social problems.
Regina has been married to her high school sweetheart and best friend, Stephen Campbell, for 26 years and counting. They have two children and currently live in Connecticut.
Regina has led the Riker’s Public Memory Project (RPMP) for almost three years. RPMP uses oral histories to “bring Rikers” to those who may not understand its harsh and cruel reality, and engage New Yorkers in holding city officials accountable to closing Rikers and reinvesting in impacted communities. The project’s primary aims are to document the experiences of those who have been directly impacted by Rikers Island, offer directly impacted people a space for healing and solidarity, and educate others about Rikers and its impact. Her work relies on the ability to change the narrative about people incarcerated at Rikers. The next step is to activate the oral histories through archives and interactive exhibits, where directly impacted participants come together to contribute stories and experiences.
Post-Institute: Transformative Action Plans
Regina Campbell’s work focused on narrative change, touching on racial healing and relationship building. By going through CoHLI, she experienced other approaches and is now including a look through the lens of decolonizing wealth and philanthropy in changing the narrative of incarcerated individuals. She’s doing this by providing spaces for them to lean deeper into messages about the fundamental human rights of all people. More specifically, Regina’s focus is on the Rikers Public Memory Project (RPMP), which aims to change the narrative and mobilize action towards repair for people harmed by Rikers. This vision uses three components: remembering via RPMP’s oral history program, repairing by orchestrating community healing workshops, and redressing the history by justifying community reinvestment. Following the conclusion of her CoHLI experience, Regina is working on a Translocal Oral History Dialogue project that will host a panel which will reflect on individual stories of incarceration and avenues for healing and utilizes the TRHT pillars for transformation as a strategy for providing context on Riker’s history and harms and addresses its abuses.
