EMPATHY: The Incarceration Epidemic
I've been thinking about how to best bring my Lionheart Initiative to life. As a bit of background, one of the things I wanted to do when I decided to start Smiling Lions was to set aside a portion of my time each month towards pro-bono work. I want to focus on how we might bring more diverse backgrounds into the marketing space through strategy training in an effort to create work that is more representative of culture and as a result, naturally grounded in empathy, courage and optimism. Part of pulling this together is talking to people and leaders in my local community as well as my digital community to see where I might best plug in. Along the way I’m reading loads and learning much about my own advantages and just how little I really know about the culture that surrounds me.
One such area is incarceration. I’ve learned about the staggering challenge it is to do your time and re-enter the outside world. I knew this, but really didn’t understand. Even with the best of intentions, people coming out are often met with closed doors and few paths. It's no surprise that ~ 80% of those released are back inside within 5 years. As I was reading I came across these three links to organizations that I wanted to share. Education is power and the more we can understand and empathize, the more likely we are to have the courage to get involved in some small way and work to create some optimism around the problem. These three organizations are doing just that. Worth giving them a look.
Weld Seattle: Weld Seattle believes in harnessing the power of community in building and reshaping lives, nurturing a sense of accountability and support among its members. Weld’s group, conscious of peer-on-peer support flows through its staff, to its house managers, to its members, then back out to the greater community. Believe, Belong, Become. Check it out.
Mod Pizza: Finding employment can be challenging — many employers aren’t willing to overlook prior missteps. At MOD, they believe you’re defined not by your past, but by what you do next. "We’ve found many justice-involved individuals are ready to get to work and have the grit and resilience we value in all our people. So we’ve given many a second chance by hiring them to be part of the MOD Squad." Mod lives by the credo of "enlightened capitalism." I don't know enough to weigh in on this other than it's very close to my time at Starbucks "working through the lens of humanity." It a great program and it works given how many folks the program has hired and the number of sores they're opening. Check it out.
Concreates: Authentic Insights lead to non-traditional ideas. "Concreates is a creative agency powered by currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. We give these radical thinkers the chance to harness their creativity in a positive way by providing radical ideas to brands looking to break the mold. In the process, we hope to shatter the stigma associated with the 1/3 of the U.S. population who have criminal histories, provide people with a second chance to be valuable members of society and reduce recidivism." Do yourself a favor and download their free ebook. "Guide to Doing Time; Quarantine." It's fantastic and super insightful. Check it out.
