About Delia

Delia Cohen specializes in turning extraordinary ideas -- involving the arts, cutting-edge technology, and new media -- into reality. The common theme of her projects? They all attempt to make the world a better place. 

She ran the messaging department at the Clinton White House during impeachment and transition; helped organize the first and second Clinton Global Initiatives; produced Richard Avedon’s last work, a photo-essay on democracy for The New Yorker; rebranded Goldie Hawn’s education foundation; managed Nokia’s $1 million global investment challenge; and pulled together in 15 months an extremely ambitious TED Prize project – a global film event called Pangea Day. For most people, that would be a lifetime of work. But for Delia, it was just the appetizer. Her main course – her magnum opus – would be on another level entirely.

Delia’s most interesting, challenging, and rewarding work has been in criminal justice reform. For the last decade, she’s been leveraging her unique network of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, correctional leadership, activists, entertainers, and entrepreneurs to organize TEDx events in prisons around the United States. 

With Delia’s guidance, incarcerated people, correctional officers, prison administrators, and community members collaboratively plan and curate each event. Following Bryan Stevenson’s call for advancing justice through proximity, half of the attendees are community leaders and half are incarcerated. 

Numerous attendees have found the experience unforgettable and transformative, spurring a wave of criminal justice activism and philanthropy. Shared on the TEDx YouTube channel, videos from the prison events have gone viral across the globe and comprise an unprecedented archive of authentic voices and ideas for criminal justice reform. 

When she’s not working at a prison or meeting with high level dignitaries, Delia retreats to her upstate New York 18th-century Dutch Colonial farmhouse, where she lives with her dog Buddy.

Books

Just Mercy