Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative 2023 Annual Report

2023

ANNUAL REPORT

Message from the Director When I look back on this past year, I have so much pride in our ability to grow while still staying true to the values upon which we were founded. We transformed the Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative’s new downtown office building into a space that celebrates incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students while also bringing our growing team together. In our classrooms, students found a welcoming environment where they could take the next steps in their education and careers. And we celebrated the release of three wrongfully convicted people, Kenneth Bond, Muti Ajamu-Osagboro, and Terrel Barros, who were able to return home after a combined 80 years in prison.

PJI programs expanded their reach in 2023 — graduating 28 Fellows from our two reentry programs, welcoming dozens of incarcerated students into Georgetown classes, advocating for nine wrongfully convicted people, and expanding our own team.

You can get to know these programs and revisit these milestones in the pages of our 2023 Annual Report. I’m grateful to every person who has supported us along the way, and we’re looking forward to another great year ahead in 2024.

Sincerely,

Marc Howard

TABLE of CONTENTS

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2 Our Story 5 Prison Education

Student Spotlight: Amy McNamara Alumni Spotlight: Keonte Lewis

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12 Reentry

Alumni Spotlight: Joe Houston Congratulations, Pivot Graduates!

Congratulations, Paralegal Program Graduates!

Alumni Spotlight: Jessica Trejo

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25 Wrongful Convictions Making An Exoneree Welcome Home

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28 The PJI Team

Annual Report

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OUR STORY

The mission of the Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative is to empower currently and formerly incarcerated people by providing access to education and employment and by advocating for just outcomes in the legal system. We aim to support people as scholars, professionals, and leaders who can break cycles of incarceration and strengthen our communities.

PJI was founded in 2016 with the initial goal of engaging the Georgetown community in critical issues surrounding the mass incarceration crisis.

In the years since, we’ve grown to become the D.C. area’s leading provider of prison education and reentry programming, making Georgetown University a national model for meaningful service to system-impacted people.

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Georgetown University Prisons & Justice Initiative

THANK YOU The Prisons and Justice Initiative offers our sincere thanks to the donors and supporters who have contributed to our mission. We are also deeply grateful for our partners in the Georgetown community and across D.C. and Maryland, including: Bureau of Justice Assistance DC Department of Corrections DC Department of Employment Services DC Jail

Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Patuxent Institution

DC Office of the Attorney General

Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences

DC Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants

Georgetown McDonough School of Business Georgetown University Law Center Annual Report

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PJI: 2023 by the NUMBERS 16 12

64% of reentry graduates were employed within three months of graduation

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67

Fellows graduated from the Pivot Program

Fellows graduated from the Paralegal Program

students are currently in the Bachelor of Liberal Arts program

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Prison Scholars in DC completed at least one class in 2023

wrongful conviction cases were reinvestigated by Making An Exoneree wrongfully convicted people were released from prison

12 EVENTS HOSTED IN PJI’S NEW SPACE 4

Georgetown University Prisons & Justice Initiative

PRISON EDUCATION

BACHELOR OF LIBERAL ARTS At the Patuxent Institution, students have transformed carceral spaces into classrooms and study halls as they pursue a degree from Georgetown University.

Sixty-seven hardworking students are enrolled in the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA) program at the prison, located in Jessup, Maryland.

Offered through the Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences, the 120-credit degree program mirrors undergraduate offerings on the university’s main campus and brings courses taught by university faculty to the prison.

“Programs like this humanize us …

There’s good within me and others that we can still grasp.”

- Dorain Grogan, BLA Student

In the fall of 2023, the program welcomed its third cohort of 25 students from across the state of Maryland’s prison system, following a rigorous admissions process. The program remains a rarity among prison education initiatives for holding mixedgender classes — nine women are currently enrolled in the program.

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Student Spotlight: Amy McNamara Long after most people have fallen asleep, Amy McNamara stays up studying. It’s a routine she developed as an avid writer who needed to find quiet moments in prison to get her ideas down on paper.

Now, she’s using some of that time to stay on top of her Georgetown University schoolwork as she strives to earn her bachelor’s degree.

“It’s been wonderful,” she said. “To hear professor after professor say they enjoy coming here to teach, it means so much.”

McNamara was one of the first women to be accepted into Georgetown’s Bachelor of Liberal Arts program at the Patuxent Institution.

“We’re What Keeps Us Out”

When she first saw the program advertised on an informational flyer, “a light went off,” McNamara said.

McNamara said that over time, a cycle of addiction and incarceration made her lose hope — and some of herself.

She had been working as a clerk in the education department at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women and had already taken many college classes herself on the outside — but had been stopped short of earning a degree.

“I could have kept that attitude. But when I got accepted to Georgetown, it gave me an open door,” she said. “I still have that urge to help people.”

“I was helping other people finish their education, but I was stagnating,” she said.

McNamara decided then that she would allow herself the same encouragement she had been giving so many other women. But despite her educational background and love of learning, she still doubted that she would be admitted into the highly selective program, which has an overall acceptance rate of less than 10 percent.

McNamara expects to return home in early 2024 and plans to complete her degree as a free woman. She also has her mind set on a career as a paralegal and is interested in the MORCA-Georgetown Paralegal Program at PJI. PJI staff are among those helping her prepare to take those next steps upon her reentry.

“I will always have the help of the PJI members,” she said. “I feel like I have a field map to avoid all the pitfalls and be where I want to be.”

“I was shocked when I was accepted,” she said.

“Knowing that I was one of the first ones picked made me want to see it through and open the door for other women who will come after me.”

Even with so much to look forward to in her own life, she remains committed to nurturing her desire to help others.

She specifically wants to give back to other individuals who have experienced incarceration.

McNamara joined the program in the fall of 2022 with the second cohort — the first to accept students from both men’s and women’s prison facilities in Maryland.

She was nervous at first and worried that she would be judged for still being a student at 47 years old. But she quickly felt the acceptance of her classmates and professors as she took classes in philosophy, writing, and theology.

McNamara said that college education programs in prison are one way that incarcerated people can break the cycles that trap them inside the system.

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Prison Education

“When you have programs like this, it’s helping all of those people that have the opportunity to take the courses inside to not come back,” she said. “We’re not what got us here. We’re what keeps us out. Georgetown is one of those things that is going to keep us out.”

BACHELOR OF LIBERAL ARTS COURSE CATALOG Spring 2023

• Ecotopian Visions: Randall Amster, Teaching Professor and CoDirector of Environmental Studies Program • History Focus: American Urban History: Rachel Donaldson, Adjunct Lecturer • Pop Music: Analysis and Interpretation: Fred Hosken, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Music Theory • Writing and Culture: Emily Hainze, Assistant Teaching Professor, Associate Director of the BLA Program, Director of BLA Writing Program; Elizabeth Velez, Adjunct Lecturer

Summer 2023

• Intensive Spanish I: Mariamnny Contreras-Fernandez, Doctoral Student Instructor of Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies; Maude Havenne, Doctoral Student Instructor of Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies • Intensive Spanish II: Victor Fernandez-Mallat, Assistant Professor of Spanish • Intensive Spanish III: Leopoldo Gonzalez Barajas, Doctoral Student Instructor of Spanish; Rachel Milito, Doctoral Student Instructor of Spanish • The Problem of God: Mehmet Sayilgan, Assistant Teaching Professor of Theology and Religious Studies • Writing for Public Audiences: Andrew Gretes, Adjunct Lecturer; Emily Hainze, Assistant Teaching Professor, Associate Director of BLA Program, Director of BLA Writing Program

Fall 2023

• Interdisciplinary Social Science: Amanda Lewis, PJI Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer • Islam in America: Mehmet Sayilgan, Assistant Teaching Professor of Theology and Religious Studies • Life Writing: Dennis Williams, Adjunct Lecturer • Political Philosophy: Patrick Smith, Adjunct Lecturer; Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Associate Professor of Philosophy

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PRISON SCHOLARS AT THE DC JAIL The Prison Scholars program at the D.C. Jail connects incarcerated students in the District with Georgetown classes and the opportunity to grow as college students — some for the first time. In the program, students expand their knowledge through a wide range of courses and earn college credits from Georgetown.

The program prepares students for success after release and serves as a springboard to continued higher education and job opportunities.

In a first, the program partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Brave Behind Bars program in 2023 to offer an accredited web design and coding course to the Scholars.

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Prison Education

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students earned 357 college credits in 2023

Alumni Spotlight: Keonte Lewis When Keonte Lewis used his one phone call to let his dad know he was being booked into the D.C. Jail, he could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“I wanted to make sure that was the last time my father felt like that,” Lewis recalled.

The conversation sparked Lewis’s drive to put himself on a different trajectory. During another phone call just a year later, Lewis and his dad had a very different conversation.

“I’m proud of you,” his father said. And he had reason to be: Two days after their call, Lewis was set to be acknowledged for completing his first semester of college courses through the Georgetown Prison Scholars program.

In the time between those two calls, Lewis had earned his GED, joined the Young Men Emerging mentorship program, completed college readiness classes, and taken nearly every course Georgetown had to offer.

Over the spring and summer semesters, he earned 15 credits and maintained a 4.0 GPA. At just 20 years old, he was also among the youngest in his classes.

“It was really special for me because I was not as welcoming to the idea of going to college,” he said at a celebration marking the end of the academic year. “I’m very grateful and honored to have had the opportunity to participate in this program.”

Lewis had never before had the chance to envision himself as a college student. Committing himself to his education was “a complete 180” from the path he had been on, which was marked by fraught relationships with his family and addiction to drugs.

“I realized I didn’t want to be in and out of jail,” he said. “I wanted to do something that’s meaningful for me.”

Lewis completed credit-bearing courses in sociology, history, and criminal justice, as well as a non-credit personal finance class. He has his sights set on pursuing a career in clinical psychology, motivated in part by his own family’s experience with mental illness and mental health challenges.

The Prison Scholars program also created connections and fostered learning that went beyond the D.C. Jail. Lewis and other Scholars had the chance to collaborate with Georgetown undergraduates from the university’s main campus through a unique class that brings “inside” and “outside” students together to study the criminal legal system and mass incarceration.

Through Forgotten Humanity of Prisoners, a one-credit course taught by PJI Director Marc Howard, Lewis learned and worked side by side with main campus Georgetown students as his classmates. He shared his experience and perspective and learned from theirs, too.

“The most significant thing was that the students weren’t distant,” he said of the main campus students.

“It was like, ‘We see you outside of your uniform and your circumstances.’”

The experience brought into sharper focus what his own future as a college student could look like.

And he’s already taking steps to make that future a reality. In the folder he carried with him to the Georgetown celebration, among the leftover papers collected throughout the semester, was a draft of a personal statement – part of his application to Howard University.

Before he was able to complete additional Georgetown courses in the fall semester, Lewis was transferred to the federal Bureau of Prisons to serve the remainder of his sentence. However, he is expected to be released in early 2024 and hopes to soon be sitting in a college classroom as a free man for the first time.

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PRISON SCHOLARS COURSE CATALOG Spring 2023

• DC Noir: Maurice Jackson, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies • Fiction Writing: Bruce Clarke, Author and Former Criminal Defense Attorney* • Forgotten Humanity of Prisoners: Marc Howard, PJI Director and Professor of Government and Law • Personal Finance: Michael Ryan, Adjunct Professor of the Practice, Finance* • Philosophy of Critical Thinking: Genevieve Hayman, Doctoral Student Instructor of Philosophy • Understanding Social Problems: Charlene Lane, Adjunct Lecturer

Summer 2023

• Journalism, Current Events, and Personal Relations: Neil Roland, Award-Winning Veteran Journalist* • Law and Society: Amanda Lewis, PJI Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer

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Prison Education

• Personal Finance (Money is Emotional): George Comer, Associate Professor, McDonough School of Business, Co-Academic Director, Reach Program, and Director of Underrepresented Minority Student Support; Joy Comer, Guest Lecturer • Web Design I: Marisa Gaetz, Co-founder of Brave Behind Bars, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Fall 2023

• Anthropology of Religion: Annalisa Butticci, Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies • Fiction Writing: Bruce Clarke, Author and Former Criminal Defense Attorney* • Life Writing: Sean Pears, Lecturer, Howard University • Personal Finance: Michael Ryan, Adjunct Professor of the Practice, Finance* • Public Policy in America: Jasmine Tyler, Associate Professor of the Practice, McCourt School of Public Policy *non-credit

GUEST LECTURERS Carl Eugene Appleton

Doctoral Student in Criminology, Law, and Society, George Mason University

Tirrea Billings

Senior Communications Manager, United Philanthropy Forum

Marcus Bullock CEO, Flikshop

Joel Castón*

Former ANC Commissioner and Author

Valerie Coats

PJI Technology Coordinator and DC Jail Site Coordinator

Soyica Colbert

Idol Family Professor of African American Studies and Performing Arts

Tyronda Ferrell*

Administrative Coordinator, Pivot Program

Halim Flowers*

Artist and Activist

Anita Gonzales

Justin Gordon Actor

Ben Harbert

Department Chair and Professor of Performing Arts

Pamela Bailey, James Carpenter, and Anthony “Pete” Petty

Louis Michael Seidman

Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center

Frank Tramble

Warren Hardy, Jen McCool, and Shoshana Perry

Adjunct Faculty Instructor, Georgetown School of Continuing Studies

Diana Negroponte

Delia Trickett

Editor-in-Chief, Politico

Adjunct Professor, School of Foreign Service

Reentry Coordinator, Mediation First Inc.

Stefan LoBuglio

“Out of Our Shells” Team

Haroon Ullah

Marc Howard

PJI Director and Professor of Government and Law

Matthew Kaminski

Director, Corrections & Reentry, Vera Institute of Justice

Jimmy Lynn

Adjunct Instructor, McDonough School of Business

Kimberly MacVaugh

School of Foreign Service and Government Liaison and Reference Librarian

Mia Massimino

Director of Creative Projects, The Woodshed Center for Art, Thought, and Culture, Racial Justice Institute

Professor of Performing Arts and African American Studies, Co-Founder of Georgetown Racial Justice Institute

Joshua Miller

Bill Gaertner

Director of Criminal Justice Research, Arnold Ventures

Founder and Executive Director, Gatekeepers

More Than Our Crimes Team

Research and Advocacy Director, Open City Advocates

Matthew Mizel

Narrative4 Team

Dunia Sinnreich, Musical Artist, and Aram Sinnreich, Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at American University

Author

Clarence Page

Kelly Orians, Assistant Professor of Law, and students Liam Zeya, Katherine Poppiti, Maitland Lilja Io Jones, and Tyriek Mack

Journalist, Chicago Tribune

David Park

Director of Data and Business Analytics, National League of Cities

REFORM Alliance Team

Aja Blair, Michael "Rondo" Bonilla, Erin Haney, Hannah Jackson, Jessica Jackson, and Aricia Porto Cardosa Dias

Robert Raben

President and Founder, The Raben Group, and Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General

Joshua Roling

University of Virginia Law School’s Decarceration and Community Reentry Clinic Team

Judith Warner

Adjunct Lecturer and BestSelling Author and Journalist

Matthew Wilkinson

Professor of Religion in Public Life, Cardiff University

Michael Woody*

Staff Instructor, Negotiation Works *program alumni

Assistant Professor of English, United States Military Academy at West Point

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REENTRY

GEORGETOWN PIVOT PROGRAM Launched in 2018, the Georgetown Pivot Program is a professional development program for career-oriented individuals who have previously been incarcerated. Through rigorous classroom training and hands-on work experience, Pivot Fellows discover potential vocational paths and develop the skills to succeed in both the workplace and as leaders in their communities.

Pivot’s mission is to break down the barriers that prevent people with past convictions from achieving the career success they deserve.

In partnership with the DC Department of Employment Services, Pivot pays Fellows an hourly stipend while they complete classes. The Pivot Program also works closely with employer partners and the business community to advance hiring practices that are more inclusive of people with past convictions.

“We are trying to position our Fellows for job opportunities that better match their skills and passions, and at the same time, challenge long-held beliefs and practices on the part of employers about individuals with a past conviction,” said Alyssa Lovegrove, Pivot Executive and Academic Director.

Institutional Partners: AEA Investors

A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation

DC Office of Employment Services DC Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants

66 GRADUATES ACROSS 5 COHORTS 12

Reentry

CONGRATULATIONS, PIVOT GRADUATES! Sixteen new graduates joined the network of Pivot Program alumni on June 30 as the program’s fifth cohort received their certificates in business and entrepreneurship from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business.

Jonnie Akinruli

Roger Clark

Kelli Davis

Keith Eatmon

Tyronda Ferrell

Tyrell Frierson

Shana Frundt

Alexis Green

Raashed Hall

Julian Harrington

Darius Jennings

Musa Kamara

Kerstan Leonard

Markese Lewis

Curtis Patterson

David Williams

After graduating, Tyronda Ferrell joined the Pivot team as a full-time Administrative Coordinator.

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PIVOT INTERNSHIPS Pivot Program internships are a cornerstone of the program and create opportunities for Fellows to gain on-the-job experience at a wide range of companies, nonprofits, and government agencies.

The internships, which are subsidized by Pivot, also serve as a way for partners to take an important first step in second chance hiring with support and guidance from the Pivot team. Many Pivot internships have been a pathway to full-time employment at companies including DICK’S Sporting Goods, Deloitte, LINK Strategic Partners, Eaton Corporation, and more.

“The insight that Pivot Fellows bring through their lived experience truly bolsters the diverse perspectives and capabilities of our team, and in turn, strengthens our commitments to both our hyperlocal and global communities.”

- Michael Akin, President, LINK Strategic Partners

The Pivot Program is grateful for the support of our 2023 intern hosts: Accenture Center for Employment Opportunities DC Department of Employment Services

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Reentry

DC Department of Small and Local Business Development

LINK Strategic Partners

Deloitte

Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures

Eaton Corporation

Shirley Contracting

Lafayette Square

USA Guided Tours

PIVOT PITCH COMPETITION In addition to gaining hands-on work experience at internships, many Pivot Fellows also take on another challenge to hone their entrepreneurship skills: the annual Pitch Competition.

Entrepreneurial thinking is at the heart of the Pivot curriculum, regardless of whether a Fellow wants to pursue their own venture after graduation. For those who do see themselves as future business owners, the Pitch Competition is a way to develop their business plans, make connections, and gain seed funding.

Seven Pivot Fellows competed at the virtual Pitch Competition in June, walking a panel of distinguished judges through their ideas, plans, and budgets for an array of startups. Participants took home a total of $9,750 in startup funding and expert advice from successful entrepreneurs and business professionals.

Tyronda Ferrell won first place for her venture idea Pop, Lock n’ Learn, a summer dance program for kids that also incorporates digital literacy curriculum.

“I’ve dreamed of opening this program since I was a child because of what I went through,” Ferrell said. “I feel like I have accomplished something huge in my life.”

Alexis Green won second place for KG Beauty, which would place beauty supply vending machines on historically Black college and university campuses.

Jonnie Akinruli and Kerstan Leonard took third for mobile car detailing and maintenance venture K&J Car Care.

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PIVOT FELLOW BRINGS PRODUCT TO ROCKET PITCH Pivot Fellow Raashed Hall brought his startup to the Georgetown-wide Rocket Pitch competition, winning second place for his product the Resistance Pro Max. Hall invented and patented the workout product while he was incarcerated, and the Pivot Program helped him further develop his plans for the business.

Since graduating in 2023, Hall created a working prototype and plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign to get the Resistance Pro Max into the hands of fitness enthusiasts.

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Reentry

Alumni Spotlight: Joe Houston Georgetown Pivot Program alum Joe Houston Jr. made history with the grand opening of his gym, WeFitDC, in the District’s Ward 8.

The new space opened in June, drawing an impressive crowd that included D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and dozens of excited guests. Unveiling the new gym was a milestone for Houston, who had been developing plans for WeFitDC before he entered the Pivot Program in 2021. WeFitDC is not only a personal achievement for Houston, but also a major victory for his community in Southeast.

Houston said WeFitDC is “the first of its kind” in the city.

“This is history right here,” he said. “We’re actually moving that far in regards to economic mobility in our community, especially gearing towards health and wellness.”

The gym hosts a variety of classes, like yoga and boxing, in addition to its traditional facilities, offering something that works for everyone.

Houston is passionate about getting his community active, motivated by the staggering health disparities between Southeast and other areas of D.C. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wards 7 and 8 experienced the highest death rates in the city as other health issues like diabetes left the community more vulnerable than others. Houston understood the area lacked community spaces that centered on health and fitness, and he knew he could be that change.

“Enough is enough,” said Houston. “It’s really an opportunity for us to show where the gap was and how we are a solution to the problem, that we are a wellness hub for our community, that we save lives, transform lives.”

WeFitDC is part of a new retail village, Sycamore & Oak, in Congress Heights that is a step toward overcoming racial economic barriers in one of D.C.’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The new complex is a flourishing community of Black-owned businesses that brings people together and stimulates the local economy, with spaces like WeFitDC filling gaps in the neighborhood and giving back to the community. Houston was featured in the Washington Post alongside other entrepreneurs from Sycamore & Oak. All of WeFitDC’s trainers are local D.C. natives, some of whom are returning citizens like Houston.

“I’m so glad that I have a for-profit business based around social impact,” said Houston.

Houston said that joining Pivot helped him gain the expertise and confidence to build WeFitDC into the business he had been imagining.

“You’re gonna mess up, but it’s about being smarter the next time. And that’s what I learned from Pivot,” said Houston. “It’s put me around a lot of great people in rooms I never thought that I would be in … I’m confident I’m supposed to be here.”

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Welcome, PIVOT COHORT 6!

The Pivot Program welcomed its sixth cohort on Oct. 2, with a new group of Fellows embarking on their career development journey.

The Fellows will spend 40 hours a week in classes — three days in person and two days virtually — before stepping into internships in the spring. Throughout their months in the program, the Fellows will gain

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Reentry

critical skills for the modern workplace and have an opportunity to develop their own startup ideas.

“I want a business that could succeed and that I could take to different heights,” said Pivot Fellow Kenneth Sanders. “In order for me to do that, I think I need the proper steps, formal education, and examples from people who’ve been through here.”

PIVOT FACULTY Melissa Bradley

Dawn Myers

George Comer

Erjona Prifti

Professor of the Practice, McDonough School of Business Associate Professor, McDonough School of Business, Co-Academic Director, Reach Program, and Director of Underrepresented Minority Student Support

Joy Comer

Guest Lecturer, Georgetown Pivot Program

Tremain Davis

Guest Lecturer, Georgetown Pivot Program

Greg Frazier

Director of Planning and Budget, McDonough School of Business

Alyssa Lovegrove

Pivot Program Executive and Academic Director, Teaching Professor, McDonough School of Business, and Senior Advisor, Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative

Guest Lecturer, Georgetown Pivot Program Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, McDonough School of Business

Pietra Rivoli

Pivot Founding Director and Professor of Strategy, Economics, Public Policy and Ethics, McDonough School of Business

Jeanine Turner

Professor of Communication, Culture, and Technology and Affiliate Professor, McDonough School of Business

Sharon Welsh

Adjunct Faculty, Georgetown School of Continuing Studies, Corporate and Custom Education

Evelyn Williams

Teaching Professor, McDonough School of Business Annual Report

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MORCA-GEORGETOWN PARALEGAL PROGRAM People who have been incarcerated face significant barriers to employment — even in a field where their experience in the system can be a valuable asset.

Through the MORCA-Georgetown Paralegal Program, Fellows build their existing legal knowledge into a formalized professional skill set and prepare for successful careers in the field of law.

Graduates who complete the intensive 24-week program earn a certificate in Paralegal Studies — which was, for the first time in 2023, offered by the Georgetown University Law Center. The program, a partnership with the DC Department of Employment Services and the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs (MORCA), pays students an hourly stipend while they complete their studies.

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Reentry

The curriculum focuses on a wide range of legal subjects, hands-on paralegal skills, and professional development. The last few weeks of the program center on job readiness training and connecting Fellows with interviews at law firms, public interest organizations, and government agencies.

Past graduates of the program have gone on to secure full-time legal support positions at the DC Office of the Attorney General, Outten & Golden, Legal Aid DC, the DC Office of Human Rights, and Neighborhood Legal Services Program, among others.

FELLOWS COMPETE IN MOOT COURT In their final capstone project for the MORCA-Georgetown Paralegal Program, the Fellows faced off with their classmates and a panel of judges in a moot court exercise.

Thanks to this year’s partnership with the Georgetown University Law Center, the moot court was held at the Supreme Court Institute moot courtroom — a replica of the United States Supreme Court, down to the carpeting and the distance between the podium and the judges’ bench.

In teams of two, Fellows had just a few days to dive into the fictional civil cases handed to them by Faculty Director Suzanne Tsintolas. They made their arguments, countered the other side’s claims, and stood up against tough questioning by the judges, made up of program faculty, staff, alumni, and outside legal practitioners.

“We were pretty much researching our case for about four days straight. We were writing the script, trying to think of defenses, and trying to shoot holes in the opposition’s arguments. And also trying to mask weaknesses in our claims,” Paralegal Fellow Nicole Cevario said. “I certainly am very proud of us and all the hard work that we put in.”

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CONGRATULATIONS

PARALEGAL PROGRAM GRADS! Twelve Fellows graduated from the MORCA-Georgetown Paralegal Program in September 2023 at a ceremony held at the Georgetown University Law Center. With an audience of family, friends and supporters, the graduates earned their certificates in Paralegal Studies after six months of hard work.

“I am proud to be standing on the shoulders of those who have come before us,” graduate Andre Pendleton said at the ceremony. “My time in this program was remarkable. It has been nurturing to be in an environment where the entire staff is committed to promoting trust and empowering the lives of returning citizens.”

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Reentry

Nicole Cevario

Donta Ellerbe

Dee Farmer

Eric Hicks

Andrea Macauley

Juan McLendon

Alfred Miller

Chemonz Olds

Andre Pendleton

Helen Storey

Jessica Trejo

Autumn Weston

Alumni Spotlight: Jessica Trejo Right after her graduation from the MORCA-Georgetown Paralegal Program in September, Jessica Trejo video-called her mom, who had been watching the ceremony online from California.

“She was crying, crying, crying. She showed her lap, and she had all these tissues. And she was like, ‘I’m so proud of you,’” Trejo recalls. “Hearing that from her, it was confirmation of everything that I worked hard for.”

Trejo was one of 12 people to graduate from the program and earn a certificate in Paralegal Studies from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2023. For Trejo, the accomplishment was even more meaningful because of how far she had come to make it to the graduation stage.

“I had so much shame and guilt from the crimes and the life that I was living that I didn’t feel worthy of having anything,” Trejo said. “Coming into PJI made me feel worthy of having a successful life.”

A few weeks after graduation, Trejo started a full-time position as an Equal Opportunity Specialist at the D.C. Office of Human Rights. In her role, she investigates claims of discrimination in employment, housing, health systems, and educational institutions, speaking with both sides, collecting information and documentation, and preparing reports for case files.

It’s a major shift from the type of jobs she had just a few years ago.

“For the last maybe three years, I was living paycheck to paycheck. Struggling, just cutting it so close,” she said. “I think that without PJI, I wouldn’t feel the way I do, and I would still be stuck at a labor job, tired and working my butt off with nothing to show for it.”

In addition to the stability that her new position provides, Trejo enjoys doing investigative research, conducting interviews, and using everything she learned in the program to help get to the bottom of discrimination claims.

Finding a Career Fit Trejo found out about the program on the same day that applications were due for the 2023 cohort. She didn’t know much about paralegal work, but she knew she had an interest in the law — not only because of her personal experience but also having seen family members and others in her community struggling to navigate the immigration system in the U.S. “My first interest was wanting to help people that need help,” she said. “But I didn’t know what a paralegal was or that I could even be allowed to be in some type of legal field with

my record.”

Trejo said going through the program and researching on her own, she realized that there are many professionals in the legal field who have previously been incarcerated.

“It opened my eyes to see that just because you’ve been incarcerated doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful,” she said.

Trejo began classes in April of 2023 at PJI and immediately took to the curriculum — even when it got challenging. She said that professors, like Faculty Director Suzanne Tsintolas, held the class to the same high standards as any other group of students. Being taken seriously as Georgetown students and professionals made Trejo feel more confident and accepting of her own story.

“Sometimes I just want to forget that I was ever in jail, forget that was ever me, and forget that I changed my life. I just want to be this new me. But I think that returning citizens should revel in the fact that we’ve changed,” she said.

Moving Forward Knowing firsthand the barriers and discrimination that people with past convictions face, it’s rewarding for Trejo to be working somewhere like the Office of Human Rights.

In her role, she’s learning more every day about equal opportunity, investigations, mediation, and more.

She is also continuing to pursue her passion for supporting immigrant communities and is working on a course to earn Department of Justice accreditation that will allow her to serve as a representative at hearings for undocumented immigrants, who do not have a right to legal counsel. Her other main goal is to buy her first home so that she and her daughter can move out of transitional housing.

Trejo said that with her experience in the MORCAGeorgetown Paralegal Program, things that previously seemed out of reach — like becoming a professional paralegal and a homeowner — are within her grasp for the first time.

“PJI was definitely that beacon of light for me, and I’m just eternally grateful,” she said. “My paralegal certificate means everything to me.”

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PARALEGAL PROGRAM FACULTY Rawle Andrews, Jr.

Kenneth Kellner

Amy Bowser-Rollins

Suzanne M. Tsintolas

Corey Brooks Pace

Christopher Zampogna

Adjunct Lecturer and Executive Director, American Psychiatric Association Foundation

Adjunct Lecturer and Associate Vice President, Product Management, Risk and Financial Advisory, Deloitte

Adjunct Lecturer and Director of Legal Affairs, American Cleaning Institute

Michael Hudak

Adjunct Lecturer and Tax Consultant, Strategic Tax Planning

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Reentry

Adjunct Lecturer and Senior Counsel, Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice

Faculty Director, Adjunct Lecturer, and Principal, The Law Office of Suzanne M. Tsintolas

Adjunct Lecturer and Principal, Zampogna Law PC

WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

MAKING AN EXONEREE Through the Making An Exoneree program at Georgetown, 15 undergraduate students dedicated themselves to reinvestigating five wrongful conviction cases during the Spring 2023 semester. It was the sixth year of the Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences course, in which students work to bring the truth of these cases to light in hopes of freeing wrongfully convicted people from prison.

The course culminates with each team creating and publishing a short documentary and launching online petitions, websites, and social media campaigns to bring new attention to these often decades-old cases.

This year, Making An Exoneree’s reach grew even further through a partnership with Princeton University, which launched a parallel course led by Professor James Raymond Vreeland. With support from the Georgetown team, Princeton students investigated four cases of their own. Georgetown Law students assisted

“I feel hopeful, inspired, and supported by such a wonderful group of people.”

- Ha’son Cleveland the undergraduates at both universities with the legal aspects of their cases through a practicum course taught by Marc Howard and Marty Tankleff.

For the second year in a row, Georgetown students teamed up with Film and Digital Media students from the University of California Santa Cruz, led by Professor Sharon Daniel, who shot and edited the documentaries and assisted with the other digital storytelling components.

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9

cases in 2023

201

combined years in prison

GEORGETOWN CASES

PRINCETON CASES

Ha’son Cleveland Sentence:

Muti Ajamu-Osagboro Sentence:

Time Served:

Time Served:

John Kinsel Sentence:

Ivery Dorsey Sentence:

Time Served:

Time Served:

Sarah Pender Sentence:

James Earl Richardson Sentence:

Time Served:

Time Served:

Billy Pennington Sentence:

Patricia Rorrer Sentence:

Time Served:

Time Served:

Life Without Parole 17 Years

Life Without Parole 26 Years

Life in Prison 23 Years

18 Years to Life 13 Years

Jamie Snow Sentence: Life in Prison

Time Served: 24 Years

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Wrongful Convictions

Life in Prison 42 Years

20 Years to Life 17 Years

Life Without Parole 13 Years

Life in Prison 26 Years

This project was supported by Grant No. 15PBJA-22-GG-03927WRNG awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

WELCOME HOME! The Making An Exoneree team celebrated the freedom of three wrongfully convicted people in 2023 — the most in a single year since the program began in 2018. These recent homecomings bring the total number of Making An Exoneree releases to seven.

These latest releases follow those of Valentino Dixon in 2018, Eric Riddick and Keith Washington in 2021, and Arlando “Tray” Jones III in 2022.

Kenneth Bond

Released: February 9, 2023 Time Served: 27 years Kenneth Bond, who was one of Making An Exoneree’s first cases in 2018, was released from a Maryland prison and free for the first time since he was 16 years old. Bond was released under Maryland’s Juvenile Restoration Act, which allows for people who were convicted as juveniles and who have served at least 20 years to have their sentences reduced. Bond continues to fight to prove his innocence in court.

Muti Ajamu-Osagboro

Released: June 23, 2023 Time Served: 42 years

Muti Ajamu-Osagboro, one of the four wrongfully convicted people that Princeton University students worked with in 2023, was granted parole just a few weeks after the spring semester ended. The Princeton and Georgetown Law students who worked with Ajamu-Osagboro helped him prepare a new application for parole after he had previously been denied several times.

Terrel Barros

Released: August 15, 2023 Time Served: 11 years

A judge overturned Terrel Barros’s murder conviction, citing a new witness and evidence that Barros didn’t receive a fair trial in 2013. Making An Exoneree students reinvestigated Barros’s case in 2020, and it was their documentary that caused a new witness to come forward. As of December 2023, Barros was still on home confinement and hopeful that the state would drop the charges against him entirely.

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THE PJI TEAM

2023 EVENTS Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award (bottom left) March 21, 2023 PJI Director Marc Howard was honored with a President’s Award for Distinguished ScholarTeachers at the Spring Faculty Convocation.

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The PJI Team

Making An Exoneree 2023 Documentary Showcase (bottom center) May 3, 2023 Georgetown Making An Exoneree students presented their five short documentaries, each about a different wrongful conviction case.

PBS NewsHour’s “Searching for Justice”: Incarceration and the Family (above) October10, 2023 PJI hosted PBS NewsHour in Gaston Hall for a live streamed discussion on incarceration and the family. The conversation was hosted by NewsHour co-anchor Geoff Bennett and included PJI Director of Reentry Services Tyrone Walker as a panelist.

CUMU Community Experience (bottom right) October 17, 2023 PJI hosted members of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) for a Community Experience during their annual conference. Participants learned more about PJI’s work and spoke in small groups with staff and alumni about prison education, reentry, and wrongful convictions.

PJI in the NEWS

PEOPLE MAGAZINE He served 17 years for murder, now he and the friend who proved his innocence are helping others

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS Son forgives father’s murderer 24 years later

ABC NEWS STUDIOS, HULU Demons and Saviors (Christina Boyer’s story)

CNN A look at conviction integrity units

BALTIMORE SUN He was freed from a life sentence in prison after 27 years

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION One woman's journey from incarceration to entrepreneurship

DR. PHIL Man on death row for 25 years is adamant he’s innocent

ABC7 Incarcerated to inventor: DC man turning life around with new invention

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WELCOME, KATY! Dr. Katy Ryan joined the PJI team in August as the new Director of Education and Teaching Professor.

Ryan is a recognized scholar whose research and teaching has focused on the literature and history of the U.S. prison system, and she is a leader in expanding access to education for incarcerated people. She joined PJI after more than 20 years at West Virginia University, where she co-founded the Higher Education in Prison Initiative and helped lead the development of an associate’s degree program in a Pennsylvania prison.

She is also the founder of the Appalachian Prison Book Project, which has sent 65,000 books to prisons across the region, creates book clubs for incarcerated people, and generates public dialogue about mass incarceration. Ryan is the coeditor of a forthcoming book about the project.

“I continue to be changed and inspired by the people I meet in prison … Part of the promise of higher education in prison is the transformation of higher education itself.”

- Katy Ryan

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The PJI Team

BEHIND THE SCENES AT PJI Alumni Cookout: For the second year in a row, PJI staff, faculty, alumni, friends, and family gathered for a summer cookout at Hains Point park.

Staff Appreciation: Members of the PJI team at Georgetown’s Staff Appreciation event.

Spirit Week: PJI celebrated our first ever Spirit Week with a week of themed days in August, leading up to the farewell celebration for our colleague Nell Haney as she headed off to law school.

Cheering on our Hoyas: PJI attended the first Hoyas men’s basketball game of the season.

Hoya Saxa!

Getting Spooky: The PJI team went all out for Halloween!

Sharing His Story: PJI Program Associate Colie "Shaka" Long spoke with high schoolers at United Nations International School in New York.

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OUR STAFF George Abalekpor (C’24) Student Associate, Prison Education

Olivia Baisier (C’24) Student Associate, Pivot Communications

Caity Baskin Executive Assistant to the Director, General Project Coordinator

Caitlin Chamberlain PJI Deputy Director

Valerie Coats D.C. Jail Site Coordinator, Technology Coordinator

Tyronda Ferrell Pivot Program Administrative Coordinator

Olivia Geveden Patuxent Institution Site Coordinator

Emily Hainze Assistant Teaching Professor, Associate Director of BLA Program, Director of BLA Writing Program

Vernice Heard George Mason Shinnyo Fellow

Virginia Hill PJI Assistant Director of Operations

Maya Hambrick Paralegal Program Manager

Marc Howard PJI Director and Pivot Program CoFounder

Arlando “Tray” Jones III PJI Program Associate

Annie Kane (C’24) Student Associate, PJI Communications, and Robert Katzmann Fellow

Tyler Kemp Patuxent Institution Site Coordinator

Claire Kim (C’24) Student Associate, Reentry

Amanda Lewis PJI Research Associate, Adjunct Lecturer

Colie “Shaka” Long PJI Program Associate

Alyssa Lovegrove Pivot Program Executive and Academic Director

LaTasha Moore Pivot Program Assistant Director

Jack Pedigo (SFS’24) Student Associate, Pivot Communications

Larry Quinn Community Resource Manager

Pietra Rivoli Pivot Program Co-Founder, Senior Advisor

Evelyn Rupert Director of Communications

Katy Ryan Director of Education, Teaching Professor

Ellie Sims (C’25) PJI Student Associate, Operations

Adnan Syed PJI Program Associate

Tyrone Walker Director of Reentry Services

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The PJI Team

STAND WITH US Connect with us online

Follow us on social media, subscribe to our newsletter, and visit our website to stay in the know on PJI.

Become a partner

We partner with employers, reentry organizations, faculty members, and experts to bring new opportunities to students. Reach out!

Make a donation

Give to PJI or to the Pivot Program online to support our programs. You can also donate books and school supplies to incarcerated Georgetown students through our new Amazon Wish List.

PJI prisonsandjustice.georgetown.edu prisonsandjustice@georgetown.edu

Pivot Program pivot.georgetown.edu pivot@georgetown.edu

Thank you for your support!

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A pencil drawing of Georgetown’s Healy Hall clock tower, created by former Georgetown Prison Scholar Alva Rees while incarcerated at the D.C. Jail.

On the front: Kenneth Bond, who served 27 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, visits Georgetown's campus three weeks after his release.

Bond spoke with students in the Making An Exoneree program, which advocated for his freedom.