Rebuilding the Community from within the Community
Strategic Collaboration by UBFSF Founder Ivan Kilgore. LEARN MORE →
Why Philanthropy Must Start Investing in the People Behind Prison Bars By Glenn E. Martin Walk into almost any prison in America and, if you know where to look, you’ll find something philanthropy has been searching for: talent. We lock up some of America’s best and...
Claims that Trump or the Executive Office of the President has canceled Black History Month appear to stem from a post from Mark Zaid, a prominent lawyer in Washington, D.C., who has represented federal government employees and whistleblowers. In an X post on Jan. 23,...
Inside Leadership, Outside Impact By Isabella Cain One of the most overlooked employment pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals begins long before release. It starts inside prison, where individuals take on leadership roles in educational programs, peer...
For a long time, I felt like my life story had already been written for me. Like many formerly incarcerated people, I returned home carrying more than a criminal record. I carried shame, anger, and the overwhelming understanding that society often expects people like...
From Prison Leadership to Nonprofit Careers: How the In-Building Self-Help Program (IBSHP) Creates a Pipeline of Community Leaders Inside California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities, rehabilitation programs often focus on individual...
Creating My Own Opportunities : Building a Pathway to Gainful Employment From Inside Prison By Ivan Kilgore When people ask me how I prepared for gainful employment after prison, I tell them something many people do not expect to hear : opportunity is not something...
Building My Lifeline: The First Time I Negotiated With Prison Administration to Start a Program By Ivan Kilgore I landed on B-facility at CSP-Sac in 2011 with the kind of quiet dread you don’t always admit out loud. It wasn’t just a housing move from C-yard to B-yard;...
Intersectionality Behind Bars By Isabella Cain Women’s History Month calls us to remember, celebrate, and amplify the voices of women who have shaped our world, often against extraordinary odds. Yet too often this recognition excludes one of the most marginalized and...
Rebuilding from Within: A Community Assessment of Northeast Oklahoma City By EJ, R.E.B.U.I.L.D. Program and Policy Coordinator The United Black Family Scholarship Foundation (UBFSF), through its R.E.B.U.I.L.D. initiative—Reinvesting in Every Black and Underserved...
Women’s History Month: Memory, Movement, and the Responsibility of Truth By Ivan Kilgore Every year, Women’s History Month invites me to pause and reflect not only on the victories that have been won, but on the work that still remains. For me, it is a time to...
Redefining "Rehabilitation" By Isabella Cain, UBFSF Media & Marketing Director The word “rehabilitation” implies restoration. It suggests healing, renewal, and reintegration, however, in the context of incarceration, rehabilitation has often meant something very...
Care & Cooperation: Leadership Rooted in Humanity By Ivan Kilgore, UBFSF Founder When I first began reflecting on this month’s theme—care and cooperation—the answer came to me almost immediately. What surfaced was not a theory, framework, or abstract leadership...