Founded in 2008, the Petey Greene Program (PGP) supports the academic goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through high-quality volunteer tutoring programs, while educating volunteers on the injustice manifest in our carceral system and encouraging them to engage in justice-oriented activism to reimagine the criminal legal system.

The PGP is one of few organizations focused on the pre-collegiate level, despite great need: Only 20% of formerly incarcerated people have a high school diploma, one third have a GED, and less than 4% have a college degree. Without a high school credential, unemployment rates among formerly incarcerated people range from 25% to 60%. The PGP works to disrupt this cycle by helping incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people obtain a high school or other credential and prepare for postsecondary success. 

We have a strong track record of partnering with carceral facilities and reentry programs to provide high-quality tutoring services that are flexible, student-centered, and professional. 

From the thousands of incarcerated people we've tutored, we know that what they value most about our programming is the supportive human interaction our tutors provide. A tutor believing in and committing to them fosters students’ self-efficacy and helps them succeed. 

We’ve also learned that our volunteers are inspired by making a difference in someone’s life to make a difference in the world. They want to do something about a system that funnels people, especially Black people, from failed schooling to prison. The PGP has increasingly met this demand with trainings, workshops, and events that educate volunteers on how to be effective tutors in carceral settings, while connecting volunteers with the broader movement for change.

While the PGP recognizes that improving educational access for incarcerated people is but one element of reform required to promote a more just society, it is nonetheless essential. There are those who emphasize frontend measures like improving public education, job creation, and more equitable community investment; still others who advocate abolishing carceral systems altogether. These are critical and essential battles—but what of the millions of justice-involved people our society has already failed, who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated, and are not prepared for higher education or living wage work? 

The PGP believes that everyone deserves a chance, that we cannot discount anyone, and that we are responsible for each other. That is why we work to ensure that all formerly and currently incarcerated people have access to high-quality education.