Scharlette Holdman, Ph.D., is the executive director of San Francisco's Center for Capital Assistance. Scharlette pioneered the exploration of mitigating circumstances in capital cases, and for over thirty years she has helped legal teams discover, understand, and develop a wide range of mitigating information about their clients' lives, including brain damage, mental illness, the impact of racism and poverty on a child's development, and a host of other circumstances that together provide resources not to execute. Her tenacious and compassionate advocacy has saved countless lives.