Christa Gannon

“If only…”

 

When interviewing kids who were incarcerated at the Juvenile Hall, Christa Gannon quickly noticed a pattern. Each story started with “If only…”

 

“If only I had known how much trouble I would get into.”

 

“If only someone had cared about me, I wouldn’t be here.” 

 

From the get-go, Christa Gannon felt called to pursue law. Back in high school, Christa’s best friend was raped. During this time, Christa was supportive and active in her friends' fight for healing and justice. Fueled by this experience, Christa was determined to “make the world a safer place.” “Safer” not “Better.” While many people might say “make the world a better place,” Christa intentionally used the word “safer.” 

 

Entering Northwestern University, Christa enrolled in a law program in which she taught children in Juvenile Hall. “That experience completely changed my life trajectory,” she explained. “I met 14, 15, 16-year-old kids who were looking at 10 years, 20 years, life in prison.” Working with the kids, she noticed that all their stories began similarly, with the phrase “If only…” They wished they had known about the trouble they were about to face or wished they had mentors to guide them to another path. 

 

When she transferred to Stanford Law, she cold-called juvenile halls in San Jose and from there formed her own program to work with children.  She found that “while the spaces might be different, the neighborhood might be different, the gangs might be different, the ‘if onlys…’ were very much the same.” 

 

Their stories spurred her to take action. Part of her journey involved facing the White Savior Complex (the assumption that white people can “save” or “protect” a minority group), as well as the sheer enormity and complexity of the issue. “Who am I to help fix it?” she would ask herself. “How can I even make a dent?” Rather than back down, however, she committed to doing the hard work to learn about what the children needed. She felt “a responsibility to help bring their ideas to life. These kids were the reasons why FLY came to life. They believed that kids could change, people could care about them, and that systems could be reformed.” 

 

At Stanford Law School, Christa worked with teenagers who were sentenced to spend most of their lives behind bars. After graduating, Christa earned and completed a fellowship focused on youth development and crime prevention, which turned into Fresh Lifelines for Youth (“FLY”) in 1998. FLY works to dismantle the pipeline to prison while supporting kids in the system as well as those who are at risk of landing there. It centers on young people, helping them to recognize their talents, strengths, and beauty. “They experience so much pain and hardship in their young lives, more than any human being should have to bear. And at the same time, they are the most resilient, giddy, thoughtful, and insightful people I have met…It is so important to see the kids as our partners. They teach us as much as we teach and provide for them.”

 

Gannon currently serves as Founder in Residence of FLY. She is also a mom of two kids and a basketball coach.