September 2022 Newsletter
Lynne Sullivan shares her story with My Silver Lining
Lynne Sullivan, regional manager for PGP MA and RI, is living proof of the transformative power of education for incarcerated learners. Having earned a bachelor's degree in sociology through the Boston University Prison Education Program, she also reminds us of the true power of having someone who believes in you. Forever grateful for the support system that inspired her own life's journey, Lynne provides this support every day for learners through her work with The Petey Greene Program.
PGP featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review
Alison Badgett, former executive director of the Petey Greene Program, recently published an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled Systems Change: Making the Aspirational Actionable. Using the Petey Greene Program as an example, the article describes how a social justice framework for systems change planning can help leaders work out the root causes of social problems and create concrete strategies to solve them.
Alison is now founder of From Charity to Change consulting, which helps current and future social change agents understand and apply systems change strategies to redress the root causes of inequity and oppression, through processes aligned with social justice principles.
College Bridge Program spotlight in the University of Maryland’s Terp Magazine
The PGP College Bridge Program inside the DC Jail fosters the writing and critical thinking skills that are necessary to access and succeed in college, but it also teaches that writing is a civic act and a tool for liberation. The program is made possible by the support of volunteer tutors and instructors, Prof. Peter Mallios and doctoral student Elizabeth Catchmark. In the spring 2023 semester, students at the University of Maryland will be able to enroll in a course focused on writing pedagogy in carceral spaces that will also prepare them to serve as tutors in the PGP's College Bridge Program. This course will also enable the tutors to receive academic credit for their service.
Student Profile: Aisha Redellant’s Journey from Makeup Artist to Activist
Aisha Redellant is a very busy woman. She’s working towards an MPA in public policy and administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, she mentors formerly incarcerated women through College and Community Fellowship, and she’s involved with multiple social justice campaigns around New York City. But no matter how busy she was, she never missed a session with PGP volunteer tutor Chris Ahn. “Becoming a better writer is so important,” Aisha explains. “That’s why I never wanted to cancel a tutoring session, even when I was dealing with a tsunami of personal hardship” during the spring 2022 semester. “I don’t think Chris will ever understand how much he means to me,” Aisha continues.
Aisha earned a bachelor’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology over a decade ago. But that college experience didn’t prepare her for the rigor of the MPA program. “At FIT I learned about the business side of fashion—that’s totally different from reading laws and studying policy,” Aisha explains. “Being back in school was like learning how to swim in the deep end.”
The writing requirements were especially challenging. Aisha’s previous academic experiences didn’t require the type of writing that the MPA program requires, and the assumption that incoming students already have those skills meant that Aisha was on her own. That changed when she was paired with Chris. They were matched because Chris has expertise in public sector financing, a course Aisha was taking. But at their first tutoring session Aisha let Chris know that she wanted to focus on strengthening her writing skills, so that’s what they did. “At the start of every session Aisha would say what she wanted to learn—a grammar rule, how to structure an essay, how to write more concisely. She set the learning agenda and I was there to support her,” Chris explains. They even developed a customized resource on grammar and writing in a shared Word document, where Chris entered information and rules, formatted and organized to Aisha’s specifications.
“Aisha is such a driven student. She’s anchored in her long-term goals—to be an advocate for formerly incarcerated women—and she knows how important good writing skills are for that work. She made every minute of our tutoring sessions count” Chris recalls.
Although her interest in advocacy as a profession is new, Aisha has been supporting and empowering underserved members of the community for her entire career. “When I worked for Sephora on 34th street, people came in with low self esteem, cancer, domestic violence survivors—those are the customers I loved most” Aisha recalls. “I loved helping them, transforming them, making them feel better—those are my people; that was my way of giving back.”
Aisha’s determination to switch gears was sparked by a stay at Rikers Island as a result of a long-term abusive marriage. She was spared a prison sentence, but even that relatively short experience of incarceration was enough to change her professional trajectory. “When I was in Rikers, that’s when I made the decision to go back to school and change the system because it’s so unjust,” Aisha explains. “I know that I was supposed to be in Rikers—as traumatizing as it was—but being there, it was so inhumane, it activated the activist in me. I couldn’t go back to simply being a makeup artist after being in Rikers,” she remembers.
Her path through graduate school has been bumpy, with academic and personal challenges often piling up, and the work of healing from the trauma of domestic violence an ongoing demand on Aisha’s energy and attention. But the tutoring support Aisha received from the PGP has made a tremendous difference. She recently passed the MPAQE, a written qualifying exam that’s a prerequisite to graduation, and she's on track to graduate from John Jay in 2023.
“I want to express my gratitude for the PGP,” Aisha says. “I don’t know whose brilliant idea it was—but that’s what activism looks like: it’s understanding that in order for there to be change, you have to support new leaders on their educational journey,” Aisha muses. “I am one of those new leaders, and the PGP’s support is creating change.”
Join us remotely or in person at the Artesani Playground Charles River Reservation in Allston, MA for a family-friendly 5K Run/Walk in support of The Petey Greene Program on Saturday, October 29, 2022, at 1:00 PM. The event will be held rain or shine. There is no rain date.
Active volunteers and students, as a thank you for your participation with the Petey Greene Program, we will cover the cost of your registration. If you join us in person or virtually, please share your experience with others who want to support education justice!
Is your business invested in a fall give-back campaign?
Are you seeking a fun and meaningful event to celebrate your team while supporting the community? Your sponsorship directly empowers The Petey Greene Program to support the academic goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through high-quality volunteer tutoring programs.
If you interested in donating refreshments, or have questions about sponsorships or registration, please contact Meg Tavares.
Are you driven to FUNdraise to support education justice?
We would love to have your support! Visit our fundraising page and click "I Want to Fundraise For This" and start your own campaign to share with family and friends. You are not required to register for the 5K to fundraise for the cause.
In June, the PGP published a blog titled “Supporting the Freedom Dreams of Incarcerated Learners and Volunteer Tutors'' which argued that “access to high-quality educational programming and educational support for currently and formerly incarcerated learners are matters of justice… Because, as we have learned from the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated learners we serve, educational programming is one of the only services focused on their freedom dreams.”
During this webinar the following panelists will continue this conversation: Ved Price - executive director for the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, Rebecca Ginsburg - co-founder and current director of the Education Justice Project, William Freeman III - manager of Higher Education Education Justice Initiatives for the Education Trust, and Christina Dawkins - social justice consultant of A4Abolitionist.
These practitioners are engaged in the work of educational justice and they will help us think about and apply answers to these five broad questions: : (1) What is educational injustice/justice? (2) What is the relationship between mass incarceration, the carceral state, and educational justice? (3) Why should prison education programs pursue education justice? (4) In what ways does high-quality educational programming support the freedom dreams of currently incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people? (5) What is the relationship between educational justice, reform, abolition, and freedom dreaming?
The PGP will be well represented at the 12th National Conference for Higher Education in Prison, which will be held virtually on October 11-14, 2022. PGP staff and partners are presenting three panels. We hope to see you at one or all of them:
Tutoring in Prison and Reentry Education Programs: How and Why?
Tuesday, October 11, 3:00-4:00 pmMDT
Reading and Writing in Carceral and Reentry Spaces
Wednesday, October 12, 1:00-2:00 pm MDT
Black Tutors Matter:
Elevating and Supporting Black Volunteer Tutors at HBCUs and Beyond
Thursday, October 13, 9:00-10:00 am MDT
We're recruiting volunteer tutors for this fall with PGP Pittsburgh
Have you been thinking about volunteering to tutor with the PGP? We have openings for in person tutoring in our Pittsburgh region.
We're working on an alumni network to help us stay in touch with you, create opportunities to connect with the PGP and with other alumni, and work together to get the word out about the PGP. We hope to launch the network sometime in 2023, and in the meantime, you can help by telling us what you’re up to and by sharing our survey with other former volunteers and students who might not receive this newsletter.
The survey will only take about 5 minutes to complete, and as our thanks, we’ll send you our brand new PGP sticker so you can share the PGP pride.