Spero is the Latin word for hope, a value that grounds our work.  

We fight to bring hope to our incarcerated clients, and are driven by our hope for a criminal legal system that prioritizes meaningful accountability, healing, and dignity for all.

We also find significance in the symbolism of the sparrow. In many cultures, these small birds are synonymous with strength, diligence, productivity, perseverance, teamwork, and joy. These virtues enable us to work collaboratively to achieve big results despite our relatively small size. 

Our Vision

We envision a criminal legal system that is grounded in facts instead of fear, respects human dignity, and produces just and equitable results.

Our Mission

Spero Justice Center’s mission is to eradicate unjust and extreme sentencing practices in Colorado, where almost 30 percent of the state prison population is serving life or virtual life sentences. We do this by representing individuals serving extreme sentences, fighting for decarcerative policies, and changing false, dehumanizing narratives about those who are incarcerated. 

Our Team

Kristen Nelson, Executive Director

  • Kristen has served as Executive Director of Spero Justice Center (then known as the Powell Project) since 2018. Before joining Spero, she served for almost 7 years as a Deputy State Public Defender on the Complex Litigation Team for the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender in Denver, where she represented indigent clients facing the death penalty. Previously, Kristen spent four years as a staff attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, where she spent the majority of her time representing indigent clients in various stages of appeal on Alabama’s death row. Kristen began her indigent defense career as a trial attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia following a clerkship with U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson in the Middle District of Alabama. Kristen received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, an M.Phil in Criminology from Cambridge University, and her law degree from Harvard Law School in 2004.

Dan Meyer, Litigation & Policy Director

  • Dan joined Spero in 2021, and directs Spero's strategic litigation and policy initiatives in addition to representing individual clients. During law school, he helped represent clients facing a range of extreme sentences, including the death penalty and juvenile life without parole, while interning with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, the Complex Crimes Unit of the Colorado State Public Defender, and the Southern Center for Human Rights. In addition, as a clinical student in the Impact Defense Initiative of Harvard Law School, he argued and helped litigate a challenge to a discriminatory charging practice in federal court in the District of Columbia. Dan graduated from Harvard Law School and received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Brown University.

Hannah Subega, Staff Attorney

  • Hannah joined Spero in 2023 following her graduation from Stanford Law School. During law school, Hannah trained exclusively in public defense and criminal justice, spending her first and second summers interning with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, respectively. She developed a passion for fighting extreme sentences through her training on the death penalty as well as her work with Stanford’s Three Strikes Project, which included representing a client serving a 175-year sentence for nonviolent crimes committed in his twenties. While a student with Stanford's Criminal Defense Clinic, Hannah received the Thelton E. Henderson Prize for outstanding performance in clinical practice. She received a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Cornell University in 2020.

Annick Jordan, Director of Advocacy

  • Annick joined Spero Justice Center as the Director of Advocacy in 2026, where she oversees the organization's direct representation. Before joining Spero, she worked as a Deputy Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California for 2 years. Annick began her indigent defense career as a trial and special litigation attorney at Orleans Public Defenders (OPD), where she worked for nearly 6 years. As a trial attorney at OPD she represented defendants in state court from arrest through trial and sentencing. In addition to writing appeals and drafting strategic pretrial litigation, as a special litigation attorney, Annick represented clients in post-conviction and re-sentencing matters. Annick received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, and her law degree from Stanford Law School in 2017.