Meet the Team

Eddie Burkhalter is a researcher for Alabama Appleseed. In that role he investigates Alabama’s reliance on court fines and fees to fund government, predatory policing, and the state’s troubled prisons.

Eddie graduated from Jacksonville State University with a bachelor’s degree in integrated studies. He moved to Alabama from his home state of Georgia in 2001, and while studying at Jacksonville State University, Eddie took a job at a local weekly newspaper. A few years later he moved on to that company’s daily paper, The Anniston Star.

Eddie spent almost a decade at The Anniston Star, covering education, business, crime, politics and winning numerous Alabama Press Association awards for his coverage. In 2019 he began reporting for Alabama Political Reporter, where he covered state politics, prisons, COVID and Alabama connections to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and events leading up to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Additionally, Eddie contributed reporting on COVID-19 in prisons for the New York Times, which was part of the overall COVID coverage that won the newspaper the prestigious Pulitzer Prize public service award in 2022.

He was selected to participate in the Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism fellowship program in 2019, and mentors current fellows in the program. Eddle lives in Piedmont, Alabama.

Email Eddie at eddie.burkhalter@alabamaappleseed.org.

Carla Crowder is the Executive Director of Alabama Appleseed, where she serves as the organization’s chief strategic officer and voice for its mission, vision, values, and programs.

A native Alabamian and graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, Carla brings more than 30 years of experience, both as a journalist and attorney, in public policy research, advocacy, and litigation. She has represented dozens of incarcerated Alabamians in post-conviction and parole proceedings, won release for people wrongfully convicted and excessively sentenced, and established a reentry program to ensure they succeed.

Carla leads Appleseed’s reform agenda centered at the intersection of poverty and the criminal justice system. She is a frequent speaker on the human rights crisis in Alabama prisons and has contributed to statewide and national publications on the topic.

Carla’s work is motivated by her belief that people of faith are called to serve and minister in difficult settings. She draws inspiration from her late mother, Linda Crowder, who volunteered in a jail ministry in Florence, Alabama and was the county’s longest serving Meals on Wheels volunteer.

Prior to joining Appleseed, she served as Program and Policy Director at The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham, where she worked on childcare access and workforce initiatives for women. She also worked as a staff attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, challenging death sentences and representing children condemned to life without parole sentences. Carla’s work as a newspaper reporter earned multiple awards including the Thurgood Marshall Award from the Death Penalty Information Center. She has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

A native of Florence, Alabama, Carla earned a B.A. in English and History from Huntingdon College in Montgomery. In 2009, she earned a J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law with a certificate in Public Interest Law. She is a graduate of Leadership Alabama, Leadership Birmingham, and a member of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. In 2024, Carla was selected as Alabama’s Woman of the Year by USA Today.

Email Carla at carla.crowder@alabamaappleseed.org

Scott Fuqua is an attorney who joined Alabama Appleseed to represent clients serving excessive prison sentences. 

A 2009 graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, Scott brings over a decade of experience in both criminal and civil litigation to Alabama Appleseed. While working in private practice and at the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office, Scott developed a keen understanding of the systemic problems in our criminal justice system.  During his time at Appleseed, he has been the lead attorney in more than a dozen cases resulting in reduced sentences, prison releases, and parole wins for people serving extreme sentences in state prisons.

A native of Birmingham, Scott graduated from Auburn University where he was a member of the cross country and track & field teams. Scott has volunteered as a distance running coach and continues to run competitively on a recreational level. 

Email Scott at scott.fuqua@alabamaappleseed.org

Callie Greer is a longtime community organizer based in Selma. She brings decades of experience advocating for low-wealth Alabamians, for Medicaid expansion, and against the death penalty. Callie’s recent work leading MAAVIS (Mothers Against All Violence in Selma) bridges the gap between survivors of violence and justice-involved people, embracing restorative justice practices to address violence and over-incarceration.

Callie was born in Montgomery, in the kitchen of a home on Day Street. She developed a gift for cooking at a young age, learning from her great-grandmother who lived through slavery. Callie has overcome numerous obstacles, including drug addiction and incarceration. She raised her son Mercury, who had a college basketball scholarship, then was killed by gun violence. At the trial, she refused to demand a harsh prison sentence for her son’s assailant, telling the judge, “I have forgiven him, and I ask that you have mercy on him.”

Callie has a brave history of advocating for Medicaid expansion in Alabama. Her daughter, Venus, died from breast cancer that went untreated because she was uninsured. Callie has testified before congressional committees, been featured in national magazines, and appeared on CBS Soul of a Nation. She is active in the Poor People’s Campaign and has been involved in advocacy efforts led by Greater Birmingham Ministries, the Aspen Institute, Project Hope of Abolish the Death Penalty, Alabama Arise, and the Selma Center for Nonviolence.

Email Callie at callie.greer@alabamaappleseed.org

Kathleen Henderson serves as the Re-entry Case Manager for Alabama Appleseed. In this role she encourages and supports clients after their release from prison, connects them with community resources and services, and ensures they feel embraced and supported.

Prior to joining Appleseed, Kathleen worked for the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles as a case manager in a special program that connected returning citizens to the resources necessary to have a smooth reentry into a new life. She helped build a program of trust and resources while encouraging participants to dream bigger.

 She also served as a Case Manager at the Adam Bishop Center in Walker County Alabama connecting children with mental health issues and their parents to the resources necessary to heal and grow on their journeys. Further, she worked with first-generation, low-income students to help further their education. 

Having migrated from Michigan in 1990, Kathleen holds a B.A. in Psychology from Athens State University and an M.S. in Psychology from the University of the Southwest.

Email Kathleen at kathleen.henderson@alabamaappleseed.org

Ronald McKeithen is a formerly incarcerated artist, advocate, and writer. He serves as Director of Second Chances at Alabama Appleseed. Ronald’s work is focused on assisting Appleseed clients as they transition from incarceration to lives of freedom. Additionally, he speaks widely about the experiences of long-term incarceration in Alabama’s prisons and the need for criminal justice reform to address the injustices he has experienced first hand.

Ronald spent 37 years in Alabama’s prisons under the Habitual Felony Offender Act based on a robbery conviction at the age of 19. He used his time in prison to increase his education, become a barber, mentor others, and create meaningful connections with professors, journalists, and volunteers in the prisons. Ronald was freed in December 2020 after being represented by Appleseed. Since then, his artwork has been featured in numerous art shows. He lives in Birmingham, where he works at Appleseed and is active with the Offender Alumni Association. 

More about Ronald, including artwork and writing, can be found on his website: RonaldMcKeithen.com.   

Email Ronald at ronald.mckeithen@alabamaappleseed.org

Ingrid Patrick serves as the Re-entry Social Worker for Alabama Appleseed. In her role, she aids our clients on their re-entry journey through service connections and documentation.

She relocated from Mississippi to Alabama after Hurricane Katrina in hopes of escaping the harsh weather from the Gulf Coast. It wasn’t until she moved that she learned that the tornadoes in Alabama were brutal and of the social and economic disparities in Birmingham. These early experiences fueled her desire to make a difference in the lives of those facing adversity in vulnerable populations.

She graduated from The University of Montevallo with a B.S. in Social Work, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Social Work at Auburn University. Her passion for social work stems from her belief that everyone deserves to be empowered in their times of need. Before joining Alabama Appleseed, Ingrid worked with therapeutic offices in Bessemer teaching anger management and life skills classes.

Email Ingrid at ingrid.patrick@alabamaappleseed.org.

M. Keely Sutton serves as the Executive Assistant for Alabama Appleseed, where she manages a wide range of operational duties and provides research and development support. Born and raised in North Carolina, she has been in Birmingham since 2015. She has been informed that even though ten years isn’t long enough of a residency to be considered an Alabamian technically, because her child was born here, she’s all right.
Prior to joining Appleseed, Keely was Associate Professor of Religion at Birmingham-Southern College. She was also the director of the Poverty Studies program at the college. In that role, Keely taught about the intersections between religion and social justice, and worked with students in the program who did internships and senior projects centered on issues like disparities within healthcare, the legal system, Christian ministry, food deserts, and local Birmingham advocacy groups and efforts. Many times, she pointed them towards Alabama Appleseed reports, which clearly identify elements underlying economic inequality and events that can knock people on their back, financially speaking.
She has a Ph.D. in Asian Cultures and Languages from the University of Texas at Austin, an MA in Religion from Wake Forest University, and a BA in Philosophy and Religion from Appalachian State University. She has done significant research on Muslim song literature of the South Indian state of Kerala, with broader research into the religious histories of South Asia like Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. Keely has received a number of awards and fellowships, including the Birmingham-Southern Diversity in the Classroom award, a number of Foreign Language Area Studies grants, and grants for dissertation research in India.

Her experiences, research, and education have provided her with a broad understanding of how complex phenomena and historical systems weave together to create particular socio-political realities. She utilizes her strengths in whatever ways necessary to support Appleseed in working towards creating a more just Alabama.
Email Keely at keely.sutton@alabamaappleseed.org

Tayler joined Appleseed in 2025 as a Legal Fellow, leading a project assisting justice-involved women in Alabama. In this role she researches cases, develops client narratives, and works with community partners to address the needs of criminalized survivors, individuals whose convictions are the result of their own victimization.

Taylor graduated from Cumberland School of Law in 2025, earning a juris doctor degree. She also holds an undergraduate degree from the University of South Alabama in Psychology.

Tayler started work at Appleseed as an intern in the summer of 2024, and then worked as our legal assistant until she graduated from law school. Tayler is also fitness enthusiast, a certified Taekwondo instructor and teaches self-defense classes.

Email Tayler at admin@alabamaappleseed.org