Jeffrey Abramowitz on the power of storytelling in “high impact philanthropy”

“Jeffrey Abramowitz, J.D. [Leading with Conviction™ 2018], is the chief executive officer of the Petey Greene Program, past executive director of justice partnerships and executive director reentry services for JEVS Human Services and the founder and program director of Looking Forward Philadelphia Reentry Program. He previously served on the Executive Board of the Coalition on Adult Basic Education, COABE, where he served as secretary, and currently co-chairs the State Advocates for Adult Education Fellowship Program and is chair of the Public Policy Committee. Jeffrey was appointed to the Pennsylvania Reentry Council and serves as chairman of the Employment Committee and past co-chair of the Reentry Committee for the PA Workforce Development Board and served as the past chair of the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition and currently serves as a subject matter expert for the US Department of Education. …

Accepting responsibility for the choices that I made also meant accepting the consequences for those actions.

“‘By far the most impactful life experiences that shaped who I am today arise from some of the most challenging times of my life. After working as a trial lawyer for over twenty years, poor choices in life brought me into a courtroom where for the very first time, I stood not as an attorney, but as a defendant. Accepting responsibility for the choices that I made also meant accepting the consequences for those actions. I was sentenced to five years in a federal prison, and it was on this journey that I learned who I was, what was important in life and what my purpose was on this earth. I left prison after reading over 1,000 books, teaching over 35 classes and learning more than I ever believed possible about people and myself. The lessons learned were too numerous to recount here, but life for me has become not about the past, but those very lessons that guide me today to do the work that I do to make this world a better place.’ …

“‘Having lived experience in the carceral setting, living in a homeless shelter and seeing the positive impact of adult education as an educator, administrator, and now executive has given me a new view of the issues facing our students, staff and stakeholders when dealing with the barriers facing those individuals who are traveling through the criminal legal system.’ …

“‘They say that a picture says a thousand words and it is very true in the work we do. Being able to tell the stories of our students and our volunteers moves funders and other stakeholders to support our work. I have so very many stories of students coming home from prison and leaving to start their lives with a high school diploma or a stack of occupational credentials that they secured while incarcerated. One student, Steven, came home with an HVAC credential and, within weeks of his release, was working and earning a sustainable wage.’”

Read the full interview in Authority Magazine.