Our Team
Ceasar McDowell - Co-Founder & CEO
Ceasar McDowell is the Co-Founder & CEO of Unite The People Inc. A formerly incarcerated person who has dedicated his life to assisting the disadvantaged community as well as promote social justice in the United States. A native of Rialto California, where Mr. McDowell, along with his family, helped his Father’s bail bonds company “24/7 Bail Bonds” become one of the more prominent bail bonds conglomerates in the state; Mr. McDowell has served as a community pillar since a young age. Mr. McDowell, while incarcerated and since released, has dedicated his himself to assisting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people with legal issues and working to unite the people, all the people, across the United States and beyond. While incarcerated at San Quentin Prison for 20 years, Mr. McDowell served as a model inmate and conviction consultant, any one of Mr. McDowell’s peers could look to him for guidance. Mr. McDowell also makes an appearance on Netflix’s “Q-Ball”, a documentary that explores the San Quentin Prison basketball squad - teammates and inmates at San Quentin. Also, while incarcerated, Mr. McDowell participated in multiple programs on computer coding, earned his AS and AAS degrees from Palos Verdes Community College, and became registered with the The Writer’s Guild of America for his screenplays on his life’s story.
Today, you will find Mr. McDowell as operating CEO of Unite The People Inc., in the office on a daily basis trying to address the social issues that plague our communities. Working with prominent members of the community such as Actress Tiffany Haddish, Senator Nancy Skinner, Actor Tom Sizemore, Activist Weldon Angelos, and many more. Mr. McDowell has lead Unite The People Inc. as an organization to heights unimaginable since their early stages of operation. Unite The People Inc. drafted a portion of Governor Newsom’s California Budge Act of 2020 in which all qualifying CDCR inmates earned 12 weeks positive programming credits for during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the help of Senator Nancy Skinner’s office and Advisory Board member Marvin Deon. More recently, Mr. McDowell and staff Co-Hosted the Compton Veteran Association’s Toys & Essentials Drive, and Unite The People Inc.’s first annual Homelessness Drive in Downtown Long Beach. Now currently working on Unite The People Inc.’s Enhancement campaign to abolish sentencing enhancements statewide, collaborating with notable organizations such as Athletes for Impact and The Weldon Project, and soon opening our second office in Philadelphia, Mr. McDowell knows what actions need to be had to make the legislative changes our communities desperately need.
Mitchell McDowell - Co-Founder & PResident
Mitchell McDowell is the Co-Founding member of Unite the People. His vision for the organization is to advance social justice in the United States through organizing in the community service sector and promoting affordable legal services for all. Mitchell has 25 years of experience as the owner of a bail assistance organization, where he helped reunite hundreds of families and restore the presumption of innocence for the accused, and has also managed several community service organizations before founding UTP. Mitch also served in the United States military reserves. He and UTP are currently involved in moving forward a California sentencing reform initiative - The People’s Fair Sentencing & Public Safety Act - as well as helping close the justice gap by connecting Californians with affordable legal services and representation.
Jonathan Williams - Secretary, Board Member, & Advisory Board Member
Jonathan Williams was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Growing up in the projects, he experienced hardships and witnessed inequalities in his under-served community that ultimately inspired him to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Southwest. During his time at University of Southwest, he was involved in multiple programs committed to teaching local under-served youth life skills as well as sport skills. Although he didn’t play in any team sports during high school, interestingly he played in college and his outstanding talent and athleticism led him to play professional basketball in Germany. Jonathan has maintained a myriad of personal relationships within the professional sports and music industry and utilizing these friendships to help him achieve his mission of assisting the disadvantaged and giving a voice to those oppressed by our unfair social justice system. He is currently involved in the San Quentin Ministry basketball league and actively plays in their weekly games against San Quentin inmates to encourage rehabilitation through competitive sportsmanship. He is passionate about prisoner rights and more specifically working with Unite the People Inc., to abolish the Three-Strike Law for inmates serving non-violent sentences.
Todd Perry II - Marketing Director
Todd L. Perry II joins Unite The People as a board member and will focus efforts on building out a presence for the non-profit in Pennsylvania where he intends to commit his time to helping serve those who are adversely affected by the justice system in Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA Todd had an early fascination with business and music. He went on to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English.
Todd is currently a music executive and entrepreneur currently serving as Vice President Of A&R and Business Development for Create Music Group (2020 Inc. Magazine #2 Fastest Growing Company in The United States). Todd began his music career in 2012 under the direction of music executive, Laney Stewart (Tricky Stewart, The-Dream) where he started as an intern for Music Gallery / UMPG Publishing Co. Todd assisted Laney in building and developing songwriters and producers who went on to pen hits for Meek Mill, Jeremih, Jesse McCartney, G-Eazy, Ty Dolla Sign and many others.
In 2018, Todd joined management company Mouvement and built out an A&R department that led to creating records for Chris Brown (Heartbreak On A Full Moon, 2x Platinum), Tinashe, Cat Dealers, Steve Aoki and The-Dream.
Todd joined Create Music Group as Vice President Of A&R in 2020 and is most noted for signing Tory Lanez and releasing, DAYSTAR, which debuted at #10 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums.
Todd has a passion for advocacy and providing resources for those who aren’t afforded fair opportunities. Todd intends on leveraging his network in politics and music to help make a difference in the lives of incarcerated black and latino inmates.
mohammed aly - supervising attorney
Advocate for the homeless population of Orange County, CA, Mohammed Aly has a passion for the betterment of people cast out by society. This makes him the perfect candidate for his new position as supervising attorney at Unite the People Inc. “In the past I have lobbied for housing legislation and championed local programs serving the poor in O.C.,” Aly said. Aly has also worked in criminal defense, post-conviction, civil, and family law. Aly, who was listed by The Orange County Register as one of the most influential people of 2017 for his dedicated work for the homeless in the county, is a breath of fresh air for Unite the People. CEO and co-founder of Unite the People, Ceasar McDowell said of the supervising lawyer, “I love the way he has started getting everything in order, making sure everything going out is quality work as this will lead to a better chance at being released [for our incarcerated clients].” McDowell spoke about how hard it is to find a lawyer that cares when you’re incarcerated, without having the money or the connections, comparing it to finding a needle in a haystack. He has full faith in the fact that Aly does actually care about his clients, a sentiment for which Aly’s co-workers and past social justice efforts agree. “The new supervising lawyer that we chose had to be someone who had time for people,” McDowell said. “In the long run, we have finally put together a legal team that is for the people.”
anthony draper - attorney
Anthony spent the majority of his time as a law student working with incarcerated persons and the victims of crime throughout Wisconsin, and quickly realized the many shortcomings of the American system of incarceration, including the lack of advocacy for currently incarcerated persons who deserve freedom. Though he was born in the Netherlands and was raised in the United Kingdom, he has decided to earn an American law degree and get to work helping as many people as possible find the justice they deserve from a criminal justice system that constantly works against them.
melinda gomez - attorney
Passionate about bridging the gap between criminal justice and everyday relationships, Melinda Gomez chose a career in criminal law because she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Though her hope is to move the criminal justice needle through years of dedication and reform advocacy, her real passion lies with people. Her love for Christ moves her to love others as God would love them, which is why she feels so strongly about the individual. As a prior NCAA Division 1 and professional basketball player, hard work, tenacity, and passion are engraved in her DNA. She also has a love for teaching and has experience as an adjunct professor at Cal Baptist University, where she challenged students to think about criminal law through a Christian perspective. Propelled by immigrant roots, Melinda feels very proud to be a part of the 2% of Latina lawyers in America and the first lawyer in her family.
Payton Lowry-Sanders - Firm Administrator & advisory board member
Payton Lowry-Sanders is from Omaha, Nebraska and currently residing in Inglewood, CA. Coming from a community where many of its members were affected by the over-policing and inequalities in the justice system, he has a strong determination to help the issue of mass incarceration in Prison Systems in California and across the United States through providing Unite the People Inc.’s professional legal services to the community . He is skilled and versed in Sales, Digital Marketing, and organizational effectiveness; he plays a large role at the main office handling day to day office management and communication with clientele. A former Division I Athlete, Payton brings his work ethic along with a Sociology Focus in General Sales, Merchandising, and Related Marketing Operations from University of Wyoming, to Unite the People Inc.
Olivia - legal admin
Olivia has always had a fascination with the justice system and its affects on both incarcerated people and their communities. Some of her main interests include activism that helps improve the quality of people's lives as well as rehabilitation. Her goal through her work with our organization is to show positive changes in released men and women's lives and the changes our system as a whole needs to endure to become a better version of itself. Olivia is currently pursuing a minor in American politics at Humboldt State University.
Derrick suggs - Post-conviction consultant
& community advocate (Unite the people inc: Philadelphia)
Michelle - Legal Admin/Human Resources
Chelsea Mcdowell - legal admin
Reina Rivas - legal assitant
Mariah thomas - legal assistant
Mariah Thomas is a 20 year old first generation college student and activist for the black community. Her interest in the criminal justice system became apparent due to the continued racial injustices that have sparked outrage in our country. Her overall goal is to become a Criminal Defense Attorney, and help put an end to mass incarceration. Dedicated to helping rebuild black communities, Mariah believes that there should be a push to reverse criminal gang roles through mental rehabilitation and education. Mariah will be attending CSU San Bernardino to obtain her B.A in Criminal Justice.
