Onward Blog

Ten Years Home

By Brittany Lovely

July 16, 2025

Brittany Lovely (Leading with Conviction™ 2022) writes, “I built a new life, but I will not stop there. I will continue to build ...”

Joshua Hoe on how to create meaningful change in a divided America

July 14, 2025

Josh Hoe (Leading with Conviction™ 2021), Senior Policy Manager for Dream.Org, talks politics as “the art of the possible.”

Oswald Newbold on “The Strength of Healed Wounds”

By JLUSA

July 7, 2025

In this powerful episode of the Breaking Chains Podcast, Oswald Newbold (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) shares his transformational personal story.

Go shopping with Matt Sutton to buy an outfit for a job interview after reentry

By JLUSA

June 25, 2025

In a compelling “man on the street”-style video, Matt Sutton (Leading with Conviction™ 2023) shows how difficult it is to buy clothing after reentry.

Mark Rice on proposed Wisconsin Office of the Ombudsperson for Corrections

By JLUSA

June 23, 2025

“Currently incarcerated people ... need to really be more at the center of decision-making.”

Dominique Grant on Georgia’s new Survivor Justice Act

By JLUSA

June 17, 2025

LwC 2024 graduate Dominque Grant writes about Georgia's new Survivor Justice Act

Saad Soliman on economic mobility for formerly incarcerated people — in USA Today

By JLUSA

June 16, 2025

“The U.S. economy loses between $78 and $87 billion annually in gross domestic product due to the employment barriers faced by [PwLE].”

Pauline Rogers on the prospect of reopening prison on Alcatraz Island

By JLUSA

June 11, 2025

Reopening [Alcatraz] would symbolize a return to punitive measures over rehabilitative approaches.

Chazidy Robinson talks about Post-Incarceration Syndrome on the Inside Out Podcast

By JLUSA

May 28, 2025

In a new episode of the Inside Out Podcast, host Noah Asher engages in a profound conversation with Chazidy Robinson (Leading with Conviction™ 2021).

Lana Mendis on the mental health needs of women impacted by incarceration

By JLUSA

May 7, 2025

Too often, the mental health needs of women impacted by incarceration are overlooked or inadequately addressed.

Rick Speck discusses Michigan banning mandatory life without parole for 19- and 20-year-olds convicted of murder

By JLUSA

April 24, 2025

JLUSA’s Leadership Programs Coordinator Rick Speck (Leading with Conviction 2021) spoke to Michigan NPR. Here’s what he had to say!

Mark Rice testifies at state budget hearing on “Wisconsin’s disastrous system of mass supervision”

By JLUSA

April 21, 2025

Mark Rice (Leading with Conviction™ 2017) recently gave testimony at a state budget hearing in West Allis, WI. Here’s what he had to say.

Ronald Simpson-Bey on “Second Chances Under the Second Trump Administration”

By JLUSA

April 9, 2025

On April 3, JustLeadershipUSA Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Ronald Simpson-Bey joined a bipartisan panel discussion. Watch!

“For America to make ‘second chances’ a reality through good jobs, we must act now”: Michael Saine at Newsweek

By JLUSA

April 7, 2025

Michael Saine (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) co-authored this op-ed published by Newsweek for Second Chance Month.

Maggie Luna and Latecia Hill participate in Texas reentry panel discussion

By JLUSA

March 17, 2025

Maggie Luna (Leading with Conviction™ 2021) and Latecia Hill (LwC 2024) participated in a panel discussion on reentry in Texas. Watch video!

Five years after the police killing of Breonna Taylor, Keturah Herron asks: “Where do we stand today?”

By JLUSA

March 13, 2025

In an op-ed published Tuesday in the Louisville Courier Journal, Sen. Keturah Herron (Leading with Conviction™ 2019) writes ...