Formerly Incarcerated Speaker Series

Joseph Beaman is a software engineer. In this talk, Joseph will share about his experience in prison, his personal transformation, and how he came to be where he is today. Despite what you might think, prison provided a unique environment where he could leverage his tech skills, managing the prison’s CCTV channels and using media equipment and software. Joseph is passionate about this career field, which provides him with ample opportunity to learn and to create a positive change for people.

Richard Mireles is the Director of Personal Development and Outreach with CROP (Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs), a nonprofit that provides formerly incarcerated people with reentry support and job training. He will talk about this work, where he leads initiatives that equip people with the mindset, skills, and confidence needed to thrive after incarceration.

Richard’s own journey is a testament to the power of transformation. While serving 21 years, he earned a bachelor's degree in management, became an ordained minister, and dedicated himself to mentoring others. Since his release, he has spoken at high schools, colleges, churches, and more. He is the host of CROP’s Prison Post Podcast, where he shares powerful stories of transformation, resilience, and justice reform.

John Cunningham is a pastor at the Christ Centered Missionary Baptist Church in Hayward, California. He preaches a socially conscious gospel, empowering citizens to dismantle systems of oppression by organizing and mobilizing. He will share his own journey of redemption and restoration, as well as his advocacy work for the marginalized, underserved and forgotten voices in our communities.

John works for Rubicon Programs Inc., a Bay Area nonprofit that provides job readiness, education and vocational opportunities to justice-impacted single parents. As a justice-impacted individual, John attended San Francisco State University with the support of Project Rebound. While studying, he was awarded a fellowship to work with the city’s Board of Supervisors. He graduated with honors in December 2022, earning a bachelor’s degree in Race and Resistance Studies.

Precious Johnson is a reentry life coach, advocate, and podcast host of Insightful Xchange. As founder of Fresh Pathways, she empowers system-impacted individuals through coaching, storytelling, and curriculum, drawing from her own 15-year journey of incarceration and transformation.

Shani Shay is the founder and director of UC Berkeley’s Incarceration to College program, which offers college readiness courses, workshops, tutoring and coaching to incarcerated youth to help them succeed in college. Shay teaches classes that help students work on life skills, college applications, and financial aid assistance. She has a B.A. in African-American Studies with a minor in Education from UC Berkeley and a Master’s in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Jay Kim’s talk “The Right Place and Right Time: How You Create Your Own Path,” covers his own transformation journey. He will share how he has started creating his own sphere of influence and elevating his opportunities in a post-release world.

Ruben "Jitu" Williams spent 44 years incarcerated, 32 year of isolation, and 26 years of that in Pelican Bay. While there, he was part of the Californian Hunger Strikes, protesting solitary confinement practices in the prison.

Terah Lawyer is the President of CROP (Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs), a nonprofit that provides reentry support to formerly incarcerated individuals. While incarcerated, Terah became a certified peer health educator, a drug and alcohol counselor and earned two associate degrees. After returning home in 2017, Terah has dedicated her life to her community. She is the former director of Impact Justice’s groundbreaking reentry program, The Homecoming Project, which matches eligible returning citizens with rooms for rent with compatible hosts. Over three years, she developed and led the program which has received national and state awards.

Vanessa Rojas is a powerful voice for prison and sentencing reform, grounded in lived experience and driven by purpose. A California native and mother of three, Vanessa served many county jail terms and four years in federal prison before being released under the First Step Act’s compassionate release provision. She now works for Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), the organization that played a significant role in her release. Vanessa is now pursuing a degree in law, public policy, and society, and has committed her life to building a world where no one is defined by their worst mistake.

Edwin “Zakee” Hutchinson is the Regional Program Manager for the GRIP Training Institute. As both a veteran and formerly incarcerated individual, Zakee has devoted himself to helping others to transform their lives, by learning accountability and changing their life narratives. His personal life experiences drive his desire to create positive change and improve the lives of others impacted by the criminal justice system.

After serving over five years in prison for a wrongful conviction, Cedar Annenkovna was suddenly released by the Supreme Court with only 30 minutes’ notice. While incarcerated, she became a mentor and GED instructor, earned an associates degree, got involved in legislation, had her art and writing published and exhibited nationally and internationally. Now, as an artist, poet, and activist, she is an advocate for prison abolition.

Ernst Fenelon Jr. is a Holistic Justice Advocate who has over 34 years experience with prison systems, in California and around the world. He was incarcerated for 14 of those years. His unique lived experience has honed his focus on social justice, prison transformation, social reintegration, and personal leadership development.

Fenelon will share some of his poetry, which focuses on the themes of freedom, common humanity, and post-sentence punishment. He will also share an excerpt from his film, “Angee’s Journey,” about his mother’s journey to visit him in prison.

John Cannon, also known as J-Smacka, is a voice for the voiceless, an artist who flips pain into power and struggle into sound. After spending years inside prison, he came home on a mission: to speak truth, spark change, and show the people that we are more than our circumstances. Every bar he spits is for the ones still fighting, the ones they counted out, and the ones building something real from the ground up.

Troy Williams served 25 years of his life in juvenile and adult prison facilities. He is the founder of Restorative Media Inc., a non-profit social impact organization whose mission is to give voice to the wisdom of lived experience, advance intellectual ownership, and distribute narratives that inspire social transformation. Restorative Media officially launched a Formerly Incarcerated Speaker Series in partnership with the National Park Service on Alcatraz Island in 2022.

Troy will be present original poetry inspired by his time at San Quentin. A preview of this was performed at the Planting Justice El Sabronte nursery earlier this summer.

Stanford Chatfield brings a powerful story of transformation and resilience, shaped by 35 years of incarceration. In 2023, Stanford became a fellow with the CROP Organization and joined the Excell Network, where he continues to support others on their reentry journeys. In 2024, he began working with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy on Alcatraz Island. Stanford’s journey reflects a deep commitment to healing, purpose, and giving back.

Stanford will share two short poems composed while he was incarcerated. The first poem will be an exposition of the darker elements of his soul. The next will be a revelation of the power of transformation.