Onward Blog

A Call for People-First Language

By Divine Pryor

January 15, 2019

Since the founding of the United States, language has been central to dehumanizing Black and brown people to justify violence and injustice.

Dispatch from the Field: Organizing Kids and Young People to Build Communities in NYC

By Harvey Murphy

January 9, 2019

I’m JustLeadershipUSA’s NYC Community Organizer, working to #CLOSErikers, build communities, and end mass incarceration.

Open Letter to New York City Correctional Officers

By JustLeadershipUSA

We are a group of formerly incarcerated individuals, and loved ones of people formerly and currently incarcerated, and we are fighting to #CLOSErikers

What You Need To Know About The First Step Act

By DeAnna Hoskins

November 20, 2018

I’m writing to to share the concerns of JustLeadershipUSA, and key national partner organizations regarding the First Step Act.

You’re Born with Either a Fight or Flight Response, And Luckily I was Born with the Fight Response. I’ve Been Fighting Since I was a Child.

By James Monteiro, #LwC2018

November 19, 2018

The best thing I got from Leading with Conviction is I’m never alone. There’s always someone I can reach out to across the country.

What’s at the top of my agenda now is my role as the new criminal justice columnist with ‘Creators Syndicate.’

By Chandra Bozelko, #LwC2018

I’ve carved out an area in thought leadership, so my advocacy comes in challenging assumptions.

Everybody I Know and Loved is in a Cage and I’m Never Going to Be Okay With That

By Ryan Lo, #LwC2018

October 19, 2018

That’s what we’re trying to do--use media to shift culture.

I still feel a sense of amazement when I look at where I am today.

By Seán Dalpiaz, #LwC2018

October 1, 2018

The Leading with Conviction training is excellent, and the coaching I received from David was pivotal...

You’re born either with a fight or flight response, and luckily I was born with the fight response. I’ve been fighting since I was a child.

By Kandra Clark, #LwC2018

For me, Leading with Conviction has been life-changing.

I’ve been out of prison for fifteen years, but I have been reconvicted over and over again because of my criminal record.

By Susan Mason, #LwC2018

September 20, 2018

Over those years I received multiple job offers, but as soon as the employers did a background check, the offers were rescinded, one by one.

I’m the founder and president of the National Workforce Opportunity Network.

By Jeffrey Abramowitz, #LwC2018

We are a fully integrated workforce development and career placement for-profit agency serving individuals with barriers to gainful employment.

It’s My Mission to Reengage the Faith Community with Returning Citizens on a Nationwide Basis

By Rev. Dr. Chris Kimmenez, #LwC2018

September 13, 2018

To be in a room with 30 other leaders has been literally life changing.

I Consider All of the Children Who Are Living in Detention Facilities, Group Homes, and Foster Care to Be My Siblings

By Jennifer Rodriguez, #LwC2018

The Leading with Conviction training has been a life-changing experience.

I am the National Youth Partnership Strategist for the Youth First Initiative.

By Hernán Carvente, #LwC2018

August 30, 2018

We are committed to ending youth incarceration, closing youth prisons, and investing in community-based programs, services and opportunities.

I was committed to being an asset to my community instead of a liability.

By Donald Perry, #LwC2018

I have worked in human services for many years with the hungry, homeless and formerly incarcerated.

I want to leave a legacy of humanizing this thing called justice.

By Steven “Humble” Mangual

I served 14 years in New York State prisons, and it was while I was incarcerated in the Woodbourne Correctional Facility that I discovered my passion