Onward Blog

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

By Chandra Bozelko

November 19, 2018

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Over those years I received multiple job offers, but as soon as the employers did a background check, the offers were rescinded, one by one.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

I Have a Real Sense Each Day That the Things I’m Working on are Actually Going to Result in Meaningful Policy Change

By Douglas Smith, #LwC2018

August 9, 2018

The Leading with Conviction training is reinforcing the importance of building strong partnerships with grassroots leadership.

I Believe in Approaching Things from a Place of Possibility. If We Lose Hope, Then We Have Nothing.

By Quintin Williams, #LwC2018

JustLeadershipUSA and LwC keep me hopeful as well.

I am the Policy Coordinator for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition in Los Angeles.

By Kent Mendoza #LwC2018

May 17, 2018

We provide hundreds of formerly incarcerated people with mentorship, mental health services, supportive housing, access to jobs and education.

Real Reform Means that I Can Tell My 8 Year Old Daughter Miracle that She Doesn’t Have to be Afraid Anymore of Walking While Black

By Shanequa Charles, #LwC2018

May 3, 2018

JLUSA’s Leading with Conviction training compares to nothing I’ve ever been a part of.

Our Life Experiences Have Greater Value and Power than Anyone Else’s in Fighting for Criminal Justice Reform

By Darwin Hamilton, #LwC2018

April 26, 2018

When people wonder why I fight for criminal justice reform I explain that I have been both convicted of crime and a victim of crime.