Louisiana Parole Project is proud to announce the formation of a new program we have been working on: The Impacted Leaders Initiative. Inspired by our Executive Director Andrew Hundley’s Galaxy Gives fellowship and Represent Justice ambassadorship, the Impacted Leaders Initiative is designed to fill a gap in our field of work: the training and mentoring of high potential formerly incarcerated leaders so that they may truly reach their full potential and utilize their experiences to change systems, change communities, and change lives. The Impacted Leaders Initiative is unique in that we are seeking to develop leaders who have not had the chance to hone their craft, or lead organizations, or to effect change in a way that is consistent with their potential.
Problem To Be Addressed
There are amazing, talented people incarcerated in prisons in Louisiana and every state in our country. Many of them are artists, scholars, skilled technicians, and leaders. But when they come home, they struggle to reach their full potential and often settle for what is easily attainable. Some formerly incarcerated leaders have been fortunate to have success because of opportunities that allowed them to impact the justice system.
Norris Henderson of VOTE, Serena Liguori of New Hour, and Xavier McElrath-Bey of CFSY are but a few examples of leaders whose backgrounds have not stopped them from making an impact in their communities. When they came home, these leaders were given opportunities and made the most of their second chances. But there are a larger number of talented men and women leaving prisons without the same investment into their futures. Many potential leaders must immediately focus on finding living wage employment to keep their heads above water when they come home from prison. Instead of focusing on building their talents and network, they are focused on keeping a roof over their head and keeping their parole fees paid. The Impacted Leaders Initiative will serve as a bridge so they can go from being simply formerly incarcerated to being impacted leaders thriving in their communities. We wholeheartedly believe that targeted, intentional support of formerly incarcerated leaders would greatly impact their abilities to lead organizations, campaigns, and efforts to significantly change systems.
Fellowship Design
Through our network of allies and collaborators around the country, we will identify, interview, and select potential fellows for the initiative. While we envision each fellowship to last one year, we seek to create a network of fellows who, over time, uplift, encourage, and learn from one another. This initiative provides formerly incarcerated leaders, both within and beyond Louisiana, the intentional investment necessary to unlock their full potential as they reintegrate into society. Fellows receive the resources, support, and hands-on experience to refine their talents and emerge as influential leaders outside of prison.
The fellowship will focus on building leaders with the following emphases:
- Training/workshops: The initiative offers workshops and activities focused on:
- Personal growth: trauma healing, social-emotional learning, goal setting
- Mobility: digital and financial literacy
- Communications: storytelling, public speech, and effective messaging
- Networking: power-mapping, strategic planning, relationship building
- Mentorship: Fellows receive ongoing personalized mentorship with established leaders in their fields.
- Externships: Fellows are placed in externships in both local and national organizations, providing exposure to diverse social justice practices and conditions beyond their immediate environments.
- Collaboration: Using a cohort model, the fellowship fosters collaborative relationships among fellows while amplifying each leader’s individual impact in their respective social justice fields.
Following the year-long program, fellows are provided with opportunities to stay engaged with this initiative, with each other, and with a national network of formerly incarcerated leaders. We firmly believe that, with the right tools and resources, fellows will be empowered to lead campaigns, organizations, and movements for systemic change.
Initial Funding
Public Welfare Foundation recently awarded Louisiana Parole Project the initial funding for the Impacted Leaders Initiative. This funding will provide our organization with the support needed to develop the initiative and usher in our first cohort of fellows in 2025. While we are confident that the Impacted Leaders Initiative will become a long-term funding project for the Public Welfare Foundation, we are seeking additional funding to ensure this program is not only impactful, but sustainable.
Program Manager Hired
Hannah Rose Groedel recently joined our staff as the Program Manager of the Impacted Leaders Initiative. Before joining Parole Project, Hannah Rose worked with the Tulane Law School Women’s Prison Project to address the abuse-to-prison pipeline. Using trauma-responsive restorative justice practices, Hannah Rose collaborated with inmate counsels at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women to provide legal education, develop resources, and facilitate learning exchanges between incarcerated
legal experts and law students. After graduating from Tulane Law School in 2015, Hannah Rose spent six years working with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services advocating for survivors of violence. Her experience as an attorney who has advocated both for people who have been harmed and people who have caused harm has shaped her professional identity and informs her commitment to challenging legal system binaries and amplifying marginalized voices.
Hannah Rose is also a co-founder of RISE Collective, a grassroots movement in New Orleans. RISE builds an empowered community of families and loved ones impacted by incarceration through community resources, legal support, political education, and healing justice. In her free time, Hannah Rose enjoys gardening, reading science fiction, and spending time with her cat, Fela Kitty.
