Board of directors

  • Karin Kissiah is a trial lawyer with twenty years’ experience trying cases before juries in Georgia, Virginia, and the Military Commissions at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. During her professional career, Ms. Kissiah has served as a public defender, a capital defender, and a substitute judge in Virginia’s 19th Judicial Circuit. Ms. Kissiah has defended hundreds of cases including serving as lead counsel in approximately twenty death penalty cases directing and coordinating capital defense teams including the utilization of distinguished experts. Her death penalty experience has shaped SVP’s model of a mitigation-forward approach to school discipline defense.

  • Amy Ihrig is a Georgia attorney who was born and raised in Savannah but attended law school in Virginia before moving back to her hometown in 2008 where she was licensed to practice law. She began her career as a Public Defender in the Eastern Judicial Circuit of Georgia and spent more than a decade of her professional life advocating for indigent clients. As a Public Defender, she specialized in post-conviction and mental health advocacy matters. In 2019, she founded a private law firm where her work concentrated in probate and adoption law. Gaining a new specialty in probate law, she was invited to serve in her current position inside the Chatham County Probate Court as Staff Attorney. She also serves as Judge Pro Tempore for the court.

  • Jan Vogelsang is a nationally renowned mitigation specialist with four decades of experience in forensic social work. She specializes in providing biopsychosocial assessments and expert testimony in complex cases, offering critical support to those facing high-stress legal situations, including criminal trials and other court proceedings. She has written The Witness Stand, a guide for clinical social workers, reflecting her deep understanding of the intersection between mental health and the legal system.

  • Karen Watson is a community activist in Sylvania, Georgia, known for her decades of work in addressing racial inequities in education and local government. Ms. Watson has advocated for representation and against discriminatory practices in the education system. Her mastery of the art of influencing policy in rural Georgia complements the Board’s subject-matter expertise and is the reason for SVP’s early success in the most underserved communities.

STaff

  • Executive Director Michael Schwartz is an attorney in Savannah. His practice focuses on defending individuals whose conduct has been misunderstood by people in positions of power. He defends against allegations ranging from possession of controlled substances to murder. He is a veteran of the Georgia Capital Defender and the United States Air Force JAG Corps.

     In 2021, recognizing a pattern in his clients’ lives, he began studying the effects of school suspension and expulsion. He incorporated Safety Valve Project, Inc., not fully recognizing that no other organization in the United States exists solely to help students access counsel before disciplinary tribunals. With the guidance of a board stocked with subject-matter experts, SVP has defined a mission and created a vision for how the organization can impact Georgia and beyond by slowing the flow of the school-to prison pipeline.

  • Will Collins is a former Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools System teacher who earned a law degree from Georgia State College of Law in 2024. He recently began a two-year fellowship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with a focus on costal management. Will previously worked in hurricane relief and restoration. Reflected in his previous hurricane relief work and in the public school system of Savannah, Will is committed to addressing poverty alleviation, equitable and forward-thinking city planning along the coast, and access to education.

    During Will’s time as a teacher, he established programming focused on social emotional learning for both students and faculty, hoping to generate student buy-in and interpersonal skills. Will’s concern for student wellbeing and the development of positive relationships with the education system continues with the Safety Valve Project.

    Will serves as the Project Manager for Law Student Internships.