Funding the Future: fellowships for Formerly-Incarcerated People in California
The California Criminal Justice Funders Group (CCJFG) is pleased to share our first-of-its-kind report “Funding the Future: Fellowships for Formerly-Incarcerated People in California.” The report provides: background on the project’s origins; an overview of the need for and value of fellowships for formerly-incarcerated people; discussion of research methodology and report terminology; a synthesis of the research findings; and key recommendations. This, first-of-its-kind research backing the report, was conducted in the fall of 2018. The data gathered through the research is intended to inform and engage funders about the diversity of fellowship opportunities throughout the state, the immense value of fellowships for formerly-incarcerated individuals, and how fellowships benefit California’s criminal justice reform movement.
The report provides a consolidated list of 38 existing, proposed, and aspirational fellowship programs. The research findings illustrate the importance of centering the leadership of formerly-incarcerated people, as well as the need for well-designed fellowships, as an integral part of advancing the movements for social and criminal justice reform.
The CCJFG hopes that the report will inspire our members and other funders to strategically invest in efforts to support and elevate the leadership of formerly-incarcerated people through paid fellowships, both within the criminal justice reform movement as well as in other social justice sectors in California.