Justice, Identity, and the People Who Keep Me Going

Hello everyone! I'm currently in the great state of Wisconsin. As many of you know, The Community is based in Milwaukee. Twenty years ago, I worked at a camp in the Wisconsin Dells and visited Madison a few times, but this is actually my first time in Milwaukee! I also had the opportunity to return to Madison—and it didn’t take long to remember why I love this state. Both cities felt so open and welcoming.

While in Madison, I visited a bookstore called A Room of One’s Own, and it almost screamed equality. The store made it clear that everyone was welcome, regardless of who they were. I was especially pleased (and surprised!) to find an entire section dedicated to abolition and prisoner rights, including a proud display of support for LGBT Books to Prisoners. Even though many Wisconsin prisons have recently banned incoming books or packages, LGBT Books to Prisoners hasn’t backed down from their mission to provide resources to incarcerated LGBTQ+ individuals.

On that visit, I also learned something new—there’s a Disability Pride Flag! I showed it to Dr. Montag, and she laughed and said I must’ve been living under a rock. 😆 Honestly, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t come across it sooner!

As a quick disclaimer: when we conduct site visits or trainings, I won’t be naming specific institutions, but I will share insights by state. We had several meaningful visits here in Wisconsin, and I’m incredibly excited about the training manual we’re developing for staff and faculty in higher ed prison programs. One of our grant goals is to increase the number of students with disabilities who complete their programs—and we believe this work will ripple outward, eventually becoming a wave of transformation.

Two themes have come up at nearly every visit Dr. Montag and I have had:

1. “If you build it, they will come.” Dr. Montag began her work in one prison with a single student who needed accommodations. As she made her presence more known, that number grew—to 45 students. Likewise, this project started with a few connections and now spans over 30 states, countries, and territories. That’s incredible.

2. Hidden disabilities are everywhere. Most people entering prison lack strong educational backgrounds. Many likely have undiagnosed or unrecognized disabilities. Did they ever get evaluated? We may never know. I often compare it to needing glasses—I once drove around thinking I was fine. Then I got new lenses and realized how bad my vision really was. The optometrist even asked, “How were you driving like this?” That’s what it’s like for many people in prison. It’s not that they don’t want to read—they may just never have been given the tools or supports (like my glasses) to learn how.

My week ended with an incredible panel hosted by JustDane in Madison. Four amazing individuals shared their experiences as LGBTQ+ people impacted by incarceration. These stories can be heavy—there’s so much work to be done—but I walked away with hope. One panelist, Kai, shared her experience being misgendered over and over again in a men’s prison. It was deeply damaging. But now she’s out, living proudly and building her life in Madison. It’s people like Kai, Tarah, and Kelsey who remind me why we do what we do: for dignity, for justice, for humanity.

Thank you, Wisconsin, for your hospitality. I’ll be back.

See you on the 30th (next Monday) at 1pm for our talk with Unlock Higher Education ! Register here :)

Beyond the Numbers: What JFF’s Horizons Conference Means for Prison Education and Reentry

 

Photo credit: Rebecca Villarreal

Hi all!

Part of my job at The Community is to correspond with individuals who are incarcerated in the state of Wisconsin. I also communicate with several people from Ohio. While this began as part of my Communications role, I chose to continue this work even after transitioning into my current position as Director of Disability Access in Prison Education.

Many of the people I write to express feelings of hopelessness: “I can’t do it,” “There’s no hope for me when I get out,” and so on. And honestly? I get it. I don’t always know what to say. The statistics are discouraging. According to one study, about 39% of people incarcerated in state facilities return to prison within three years. Only 40% of formerly incarcerated individuals have gainful employment (though I often wonder how “gainful” is actually defined). One study out of Cornell reported that 66% of incarcerated individuals self-report having a disability. The numbers vary depending on the source, but the overall picture doesn’t look promising.

So how do we respond? How do we encourage people who are staring down numbers like that—people who have been incarcerated for 15 or even 20 years, preparing for release with little to no family left, few financial resources, and no clear direction?

How do we offer hope without sounding like a cliché? “Don’t give up!” “Try hard and you’ll succeed!” “Good things come to those who wait!” These statements, while well-meaning, often fall flat. On the flip side, I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer either.

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Horizons conference hosted by Jobs for the Future (JFF). JFF has a division called the Center for Justice and Economic Advancement (CJEA), which is committed to breaking down systemic barriers and advancing fair chance employment for people with criminal records. JFF is also doing groundbreaking work around AI, North Star credentialing, and more. I’m continually impressed that they boldly and publicly support CJEA, even when so many organizations still shy away from justice-focused efforts.

During a main stage session with over 1,500 attendees—from institutions, nonprofits, corporations, and more—JFF proudly highlighted CJEA and invited Molly Lasagna, Susan Burton, Lucretia Murphy, and Darvelle Hutchins to speak. These four are giants in the field. I’ve admired Susan and Molly’s work for years, and Lucretia and Darvelle are true pioneers. If you don’t know who they are, take a moment to look them up—you won’t regret it. I got to buy Susan's book, too! 

In addition to the main session, I attended breakouts focused on fair chance employment, including one with a representative from the Port Authority (yes, the one known for its rigorous security checks) and a professor from Belize doing powerful comparative work. JFF also introduced seven ambassadors from CJEA, all formerly incarcerated individuals now leading in their fields.

I’ll be honest—there were moments I felt like a fish out of water. I felt that way last year, too. But here’s what I’ve realized: I belong there. I was in that room with governors, CEOs, university administrators, and yes, folks like me. I attended sessions on AI, disability, and justice just like the executives sitting next to me.

I’m especially grateful to Rebecca Villarreal and Jenna Dreier, whose passion for this work is unmatched. JFF backs up their values with action. They’ve even hired Shaun Libby, a currently incarcerated individual, as a manager on staff. They’ve made it work—despite the challenges—and most importantly, they’ve treated him like an equal member of the team. He’s building savings. When he comes home, he won’t be starting from scratch.

One of my personal heroes is Dolly Parton, and her words feel relevant here:

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader.”

That’s exactly what CJEA is doing.
They empower people to dream more by showing them a future is possible.
They help us learn more by educating the public and stakeholders.
They equip people to do more by building networks and hiring directly from impacted communities.
They help others become more by producing results—not just rhetoric.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

When incarcerated individuals write to me, I want to point to something real—something tangible, something practical. Instead of saying, “If I can do it, you can too,” I want to say, “Look at what JFF and CJEA are doing. There’s a model out there. There’s hope—and here’s what it looks like in action.”

And that’s what I hope to accomplish with our disability access project too. I want to be able to say, “Here’s what we’re building for you. Here’s how we’re creating access to education and employment.” Everyone deserves the chance to be an engaged, contributing member of their community. This is how we start.

Also—on a lighter note—I had an amazing time in New Orleans! We went on a riverboat, took a swamp tour (airboats are wild!), explored the French Market, and of course, wandered up and down Bourbon Street. If you go, take a riverboat tour—you won’t regret it!

To Molly, Susan, Darvelle, Lucretia, Rebecca, Jenna, Linette, Maria, Michael, Shaun, and so many others I’m forgetting to name here—thank you for making Horizons such a rewarding and revitalizing experience.

The Power of Voice, the Strength of a Team: Reporting from NASFAA-PEP

 

Hi all!

I’m reporting from Washington, DC! I have always loved this city—I love the history and all the stories behind every museum here. Unfortunately, there was no time to go exploring in any of the museums—the NASFAA (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)- PEP (Prison Education Program) took up all of my time. Honestly? It was a lot of fun! A lot of learning, and a lot of connections and networking.

The most important thing that I learned during this meeting was that everyone needs to work as a team. There were meetings about compliance, registration, distance learning, the FAFSA, even a listening session from the Department of Education. I walked away with the confidence that my message has been right all along—it takes a team to lead and facilitate a successful prison education program. Think about it—students on the outside have the freedom to register online, fill out the FAFSA online, request accommodations on campus—things like that. But what about incarcerated students? How are they registering? How are they filling out the FAFSA? How are they getting the accommodations they need? The big issue for me here is, we need to support our students so they have the best future they could possibly have. Victoria Scott and Stacy Burnett at the opening session talked about the power of voice and the power of education. The data shows it, too—recidivism rates go down when you have more education. Education not only gives you practical knowledge but gives you the confidence to be who you want to be. To be a good citizen. That, to me, is paramount.

I was on a panel with Adam Kasarda, Jenifer Montag, and Dominic Winter. They are all champions in the student disability service field, whether it be with a DOC (Department of corrections) or a university. Even though I’ve been on quite a few panels and given quite a few presentations, this one was a bit harder for me. I was giving a presentation about a month ago, and about halfway through the presentation, I decided it was important to disclose that I do, in fact, have lived experience. Some of the individuals in the audience looked crestfallen, dejected, or looked as if they pitied me. My “inner demon” so to speak could have been talking to me, telling me that they did that when they really didn’t—but either way, I felt rejected. I felt like I was suddenly not an expert in this field. So I told that story to this audience, and said- you know what? Stacy Burnett (who is my heroine and one of my biggest role models!) said to own myself for who I am. She said to own our voices, and make sure our voices are heard. So, darn it, I made sure my voice was heard. This time, I didn’t see anyone look crestfallen. A win!

My favorite part of the whole thing was seeing people I’ve been connecting with in person. I saw people from Virgina, Nevada, Maine, Maryland, Illinois, California, the New England area… It was pretty exciting. I really enjoy seeing people who have a common interest—our students.

Again, my key takeaway from the presentations was the sense of TEAM. Too often, I hear that certain offices are not involved in their prison education program. This creates a burden on the PEP coordinators, and on the students. If the registration office works with the financial aid office and works with the student disability services office and the PEPs… And they all work together… a lot more can get done, and more efficiently, too.

I continue to emphasize that I strongly believe being proactive rather than being reactive when it comes to providing accommodations is a key factor in all of this. It saves money, time, and allows for more students to feel relaxed in the classroom. Having a checklist of things to make sure your classroom has, communicating with your students on their needs, making sure no one feels less than or more than—it’s a long ride, but so worth it. If we just wait until someone complains, then we are being reactive—rather than clean up the mess (which is more costly), avoid the mess from happening in the first place.

It was a good trip. It was great to connect. Kudos to Sheila Meiman and her team for putting this together, and I love that Ascendium was a sponsor of this event. To all the presenters, you were fabulous! Thank you for teaching me so much. I hope I taught you something, too.

I want to end on a personal note. The panel I was on went very well. I have no doubt of that. Outside of my introduction I only spoke once, but that was because we had so much content in an hour… There’s no way to condense it into an hour. But after the panel, my emotions got the best of me—I was feeling anxious, down, sad. I went back to my laptop and just focused on it to not burst into tears. It was like my inner self telling me that I was inefficient, I shouldn’t have been there, etc. I hate when that feeling happens. The reason I’m sharing this is because I believe that post incarceration syndrome is a real thing—and it was as if my anxiety wanted to eat me alive. And for what? A great panel?

I am so thankful for this disability access project. I am so excited to start working with everyone. We start our pilot visits in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which I am very excited about. It just so happens that Milwaukee is where The Community is located! I’ll finally get to see the team in person (although, we did just see each other in New Orleans in April!) In Washington DC I made several new contacts… I just know they will keep coming.

You know why? It’s because you KNOW all students are worth it.

Until next week! I'll be at the Horizons conference hosted by Jobs for the Future!! :)