Mustafa Ali-Smith (he/him) is a writer, social justice advocate, and organizer whose work sits at the intersection of community building, accountability, and transformative justice. Across all of his public service roles, he centers the lived experiences and stories of community members, grounding policy and practice in the realities of the people most affected.

Mustafa previously served as a Program Associate at the Vera Institute of Justice with the Motion for Justice campaign, where he worked with elected prosecutors to reduce incarceration, confront racial disparities, and build structures for greater community accountability. As a mayoral appointee in Knoxville’s Office of Community Safety, Mustafa helped build a community-driven violence-interruption strategy, strengthened partnerships with local organizations, and advanced cross-department safety innovations grounded in lived experience. Prior to that, Mustafa at Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia working towards their mission of harm reduction and the rights of youth within the child welfare and justice systems.

In addition to his work in prosecution reform and violence prevention, Mustafa worked on post-conviction justice and reentry systems. He consulted with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), supporting the implementation of Medicaid reentry reforms aimed at improving continuity of care for people returning home after incarceration. He also worked with the ACLU of New Jersey’s clemency project, contributing to advocacy and case support efforts to secure sentence relief for individuals serving extreme prison terms.

Mustafa received a B.S. in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he was initiated into the Mu Rho Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania with concentrations in Criminal Justice, Education, and Race, and an MPA from the Princeton School of Public & International Affairs, specializing in domestic policy.

Mustafa’s writing has appeared in The Appeal, Truthout, and Black Youth Project. He frequently writes about justice, race, culture, and history. Outside of his policy and writing work, he can often be found running or training for a marathon, or DJ’ing 60s–80s soul, funk, and jazz on vinyl.