Cheri Maples, JD

Cheri Maples is a private consultant and trainer. The health and wellness of criminal justice professionals is a special focus in her trainingand consulting work. She also focuses on ethics training and training criminal justice professionals in understanding unconscious racial bias.

In the early winter of 2008, Thich Nhat Hanh will honor Cheri by making her a dharma teacher in his "Order of Interbeing." Cheri will continue to focus many projects and develop mindfulness retreats for criminal justice professionals. Having worked in the criminal justice system for 25 years, Cheri has already demonstrated her ability to translate the language and practice of mindfulness into a framework that criminal justice professionals can relate to.

As a former Department of Justice employee, Cheri worked as an Assistant Attorney General. She has previously served as the Head of Probation and Parole for the State of Wisconsin, a police officer for 20 years with the Madison Police Department, and as a community organizer Cheri was the first Director of the Wisconsin Coalition against Domestic Violence.

Cheri holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Master´s Degree in Social work. She is a licensed attorney and a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Wisconsin.