End of Summer Reflections & Program Updates

Summer Reflections & Program Updates 

Here is a look back on some of what we have accomplished together so far in 2025:

Project Restore Bed-Stuy

After releasing the program summary report at the end of last year, Project Restore was highlighted at the Elevating Youth Voices Conference in Albany in May and The Power & Promise of Healing and Restoration Symposium in Baltimore.

Our staff are still supporting PRB participants in pursuing their career and education goals. Additionally, the short documentary “On Our Block” about the work of Project Restore and the Justice Ambassadors screened at the Harlem Film Festival and won the award for Best Short Documentary.

Beyond the Bars Conference

This year we celebrated 15 years of Beyond the Bars Conferences! We had one of our largest conferences yet with over 1000 people attending over the weekend of International Women’s Day in March. The theme was Sankofa, meaning looking back to move forward. We focused on healing and gaining skills to move forward in the midst of rising tensions in our country. See more in our recap of this year’s conference.

Beyond the Bars Fellowship

This year we welcomed our 10th cohort of Beyond the Bars Fellows. This year’s fellows participated in solidarity projects, collaborating with local nonprofits on projects to support their work. We just closed applications for the new 11th cohort and selected applicants will begin meeting in October 2025.

Degrees of Freedom

In December 2024 our short documentary Degrees of Freedom premiered at the Dances With Films Festival in NYC. We were then invited to screen it at the LA festival this June. Degrees of Freedom chronicles the powerful organizing of women behind and through the bars of New York’s only maximum-security prison for women to bring college back to the prison and create a transformative community of care.

Right/Write to Heal

Right/Write to Heal continues to meet weekly with currently and formerly incarcerated women from New York and Maine. We also are running a group inside of Bedford Hills for women in solitary confinement and looking to expand the program.

Right/Write to Heal performed at this year’s Beyond the Bars Conference and has a few upcoming performances including at a contingent of the Beyond the Bars Conference in Portland, Maine.

Policy Advocacy 

This year we have supported efforts to mitigate excessive sentencing, support women’s rights behind bars, and increase opportunities for release through parole and clemency. We co-hosted a panel with Union Theological and presented at the Beyond the Bars Conference on the need for sentencing reform.

Justice Through Code

Justice Through Code (JTC) recently relaunched their programs to be AI-native, preparing justice-impacted talent for the fastest-growing roles in today’s economy. JTC is currently recruiting for their fall programs.

Justice Ambassadors Youth Council

Our Justice Ambassadors Youth Council (JAYC) just launched its 8th cohort of participants and are currently in the pre-programming stage. This year, we are welcoming new partners in the Youth Justice Network, as well as student volunteers from all over the world, including IE University in Spain. We are grateful for the continued support of Columbia SPS’s Career Catalyst Internship Program.

The Center for Justice has also been traveling all over the world this year, expanding our reach locally and globally. 

Places we have shared our work so far include Ireland, Spain, Ghana, Bogotá, New Orleans, Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Albany, and more. 

We are currently preparing to go to Portland, Maine to support our partners in putting on their own Beyond the Bars Conference.