Your investment worked.
Now let's make it scale.

To our supporters and partners,

When I started this campaign 29 months ago, I didn't have a roadmap. I had a film, a community that needed help, and a belief that if we made pardons accessible — really accessible — something would shift. What I didn't have was much money, a staff, or any formal nonprofit training.

You believed in this work anyway. And because of that, we've built something that matters.

• The Pardon Hub Network — Launched. We now have 2 operational hubs in West Philadelphia providing free pardon coaching to justice-impacted people. Both are staffed by community members with lived experience.
• 15+ Pardon Hubs Activated Across the State. Across Pennsylvania, we've helped activate the volunteer network that gets people connected to pardon coaching at no cost.
• Legislation Passed. Automatic expungement for pardoned crimes was signed into law. Employer immunity legislation is in progress. Occupational licensing reform is now in effect. While not directly because of us, we helped champion the work of many organizations working behind the scenes.
• The West Philadelphia Pardon Network — Launched. The first neighborhood-based pardon support system in Pennsylvania, now a model for communities nationwide.
• Workforce Systems Engaged. Veterans Service Officers were trained statewide, presentations were made at the PA Workforce Development Association conference, and CareerLinks offices were connected to Pardon Projects across rural Pennsylvania. A collective effort — showing what's possible when organizations move together.
• Press Coverage. KYW, The Philadelphia Citizen, Resolve Philly, the Social Innovations Journal, and multiple outlets statewide.
• 40% of Campaign Goal Raised. And we created a Discussion Guide, pardon brochures, and application checklists now used by hubs within our network.

The most important thing I've learned is that the pardon system is not designed for the people who need it most. It's slow, confusing, and full of gatekeeping that has nothing to do with whether someone deserves a second chance.

The second thing I've learned is that community-based coaching works. When someone who has been through this process walks another person through it — someone who looks like them, who lives nearby, who understands what's at stake — the completion rate goes up. The quality goes up. The hope goes up.

The third thing is harder to admit: I've been trying to do too much alone. I've been the filmmaker, the coordinator, the trainer, the fundraiser, and the public face of this campaign. That's not sustainable, and it's not what this work deserves.

So this year, we're building infrastructure. Not just more hubs — the systems that let hubs run without depending on me personally.

• 1

  A 30-Episode Social Media Docu-Series

  People with records are suffering in silos. Through short, cinematic stories of redemption and second chances, we're going to meet them on social media — where they actually are — and show them that pardons are real, accessible, and life-changing. Stories change hearts and minds, and social media is where we need to be.

• 2

  Comprehensive Training Materials

  We're creating the pardon coaching playbook that doesn't exist yet — step-by-step guides, volunteer handbooks, and modular training so any organization can become a hub without depending on me to walk them through it personally.

• 3

  Team Building

  I can't be the coordinator, filmmaker, fundraiser, and trainer. We're building a small team of trusted messengers — people with lived experience who can carry this work into communities across Philadelphia and beyond.

I didn't come from money, networks, or nonprofit training. Everything we've built has come from your belief in this work and the community's hunger for second chances. We need your continued support to keep going: