“Inside each of us is a natural-born storyteller, waiting to be released.”
-Robin Moore
Hosting & Coaching
Kelly Lyndgaard is the Founder and CEO of Unshattered, a nonprofit providing training, employment, and a compassionate community for women who are winning their battle against addiction. To help pave the road between sobriety and long-term success after completing a residential recovery program, Unshattered provides employment where women design, create, and sell unique handbags made from premium upcycled materials. Their employment model focuses on personal and professional development so that women can thrive in recovery.
Lean more about Unshattered at https://unshattered.org/
A New Approach to Ending Addiction Relapse Cycle
Bill Brown is the Executive Director of Prison Yoga Project, a nonprofit bringing trauma-informed yoga practices to thousands of incarcerated people around the country, promoting stress and anger management and mindfulness to reduce the likelihood of reincarceration. Prison Yoga Project’s unique offering addresses unresolved traumas that can contribute to criminal behavior and emphasizes improved mental health and personal rehabilitation for every participant.
Lean more about Prison Yoga Project at https://prisonyoga.org/
How Yoga Can Reduce Reincarceration Rates
Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez is a Program Director at The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, a nonprofit running a multi state prison visitation program that provides opportunities for members of the public to meet and speak to those directly impacted by the criminal legal system in the U.S. The program’s conversations are structured to build empathy and grow understanding for all involved in order to drive meaningful personal and systemic changes. JJ shares his own personal story of transformation, how he has overcome 23+ years of wrongful incarceration, and the incredible work that Frederick Douglass Project is doing to help harness humanity in prison.
Lean more about The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice at https://www.douglassproject.org/
The Never-Ending Impact of Incarceration
Greg Khalil serves as the co-founder of the Telos Group. Telos Group works to educate individuals on the deeply rooted issues plaguing our communities. Telos calls those to action who may feel far removed from these issues to wield their influence to enact needed change. Telos organizes immersive trips to areas experiencing conflict, developing teams of peacemakers who can repair relationships and strengthen communities. Telos is working to replace violence, division, and distrust with empathy; training their peacemakers to see others’ struggles as their own; and cultivating the skills that will spark action.
Lean more about Telos Group at https://www.telosgroup.org/
Telos Group: Greg Khalil
Kirk Brown, the Chief Executive Officer of HANDY. HANDY provides individualized life coaching and employment opportunities to neglected youth to help them discover their unique gifts and realize their own version of success. HANDY’s family-like support system empowers youth as they transition into a post-secondary environment and adulthood, providing customized programs focused on education, youth development, and economic self-sufficiency. HANDY transforms the traditional casework approach from adult-led to youth-led, enabling participants to take their future into their own hands.
Lean more about HANDY at https://www.handyinc.org/
HANDY
Tasnim Sulaiman, Founder and Executive Director of Black Men Heal, and Doug Reed, Director of Partnerships of Black Men Heal Black Men Heal provides complementary therapy sessions to Black and Brown men seeking mental health care. Minority men are especially susceptible to mental health conditions yet face a variety of barriers that disallow them from receiving needed care. Black Men Heal helps these individuals overcome these barriers, matches them with Black and Brown mental health clinicians, and encourages the men to openly share their mental health experiences with their peers. This serves to destigmatize the topic of mental health, paving the way for more men in the community to seek care and find their own healing.
Lean more about Black Men Heal at https://blackmenheal.org/
Black Men Heal
Three out of every four Texans living in poverty are Hispanic or Black. JUST's mission is to close the racial wealth gap through their work, and JUSTdoes not plan to rest until every person living in the Lone Star State has the opportunity to live with less stress and more joy. JUST is a non profit financial platform working to close the racial wealth gap by investing in ambitious Texas women through capital, peer coaching & community. Based on trust, JUST has created a different way for hard working families to get ahead both personally and professionally.
Lean more about JUST at https://hellojust.com
JUST
Dani Hedlund, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brink Literacy Project
Brink uses the power of storytelling to help incarcerated individuals reclaim their personal narratives, remove barriers to their personal development, and change public perceptions in the process. The prevailing narrative around incarcerated and marginalized communities focuses on deficiencies and failings, but Brink offers its participants a chance to reclaim their narrative through the creation of short graphic memoirs to improve their social-emotional well-being.
Lean more about Brink Literacy Project at https://www.brinklit.org/
Brink Literacy Project