Opportunity Scholars

Overview

Opportunity Scholars is an initiative that supports people with lived experience in the carceral system to grow personally, professionally, and academically through access to higher education and fulfilling careers. The Mellon Foundation funds the Opportunity Scholars project.

 

Our Approach

Since 2020, scholars currently and formerly incarcerated have been building a community of peer support, creating a digital student network, and bringing together a statewide coalition of faculty, learners, and community leaders committed to expanding emancipatory education across Maine. Opportunity Scholars (formerly housed at the University of Southern Maine and currently supported by CEPP) will continue to mobilize personal and community transformation, career development, and social change goals by establishing a cohort of Opportunity Scholars to serve as peer mentors and to lead projects that center critical community justice, justice for women, and youth justice work nationwide.

We uplift our Opportunity Scholars:

Abdi “Lalee” Awad has refused to let his current circumstances define who he is. While incarcerated at Maine State Prison, he earned his AA and BA from the University of Maine at Augusta and his MS in Adult and Higher Education from the University of Southern Maine (USM). He is currently looking to apply for a PhD program. Lalee has experience in research, policy work, curriculum development, facilitation, and restorative and mindfulness practices. He has consulted on and facilitated culturally responsive restorative practices and currently holds a collaborator/consultant role with Place Matters at USM. His work with the Place Matters team includes supporting the development of programs, writing curricula, and providing content expertise in restorative justice, justice policy, and education. Lalee is a two-time Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Fellow, Senior Justice Scholar with Opportunity Scholars, 2023 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Dream Fellow, Alliance for Higher Education 2024–2025 Fellow, and Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Volunteer. He is a social justice advocate who leans on his knowledge and experience as an immigrant and currently incarcerated person to bring about change. He has a history of working with and mentoring youth and young adults through restorative practice. Lalee is passionate about uplifting and empowering the voices of youth and underserved communities. He is also a Board of Directors member of Restorative Justice Project Maine. Lalee firmly believes education is the greatest equalizer in our society. His favorite pastimes include listening to music and watching documentaries.

Dan Fortune is committed to assisting individuals in changing their lives, both within and outside of the Maine State Prison. He works with individuals in recovery to create healthier coping skills and foster resiliency. His assistance for other men incarcerated includes peer mentoring and a class he leads, named Talk-To-Feel, which helps men enhance their communication skills. Dan believes his purpose is to assist individuals in seeing their value and starting the process of healing from trauma. At present, he is pursuing a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution, specializing in trauma, at George Mason University. As an Opportunity Scholar, his work extends beyond the prison walls, using his unique skill set to promote the well-being of those impacted by the justice system, recognizing the far-reaching effects on individuals and their families. Additionally, his leadership reaches further, as he serves on the executive boards of both the NAACP Maine State Prison Branch and the Northeast Federation of Cooperatives. A recovery coach, certified peer support specialist, and yoga instructor, Dan believes in helping empower people to understand their experiences and foster hope for a brighter future.

Darlene George is a skillful, innovative, dedicated scholar and thought partner from Brooklyn, New York. She currently resides in Maine, where she is incarcerated. Darlene George holds a BA in Psychology and Forensic Psychology and is a program manager for a health facility in Maine. She has been a Recovery Coach for over a decade. Darlene facilitates humanities courses with other incarcerated women and the public, including Finding and Connecting Your Roots, Floetry, and Poetry workshops through the Maine Humanities Council. Darlene is also a CEPP consultant. In this role, she uses her life experiences and expertise to advise on a tool for pretrial stakeholders to support currently and formerly incarcerated women and facilitates listening sessions. Recently, Darlene was selected to be part of the National Prison Debate League. The team argued against Harvard University on whether Congress should enact the Paycheck Fairness Act. Darlene has committed her life to teaching people that incarcerated individuals have the potential to contribute to topics, policies, and practices that can shift America. Darlene is a board member of the College Guild, which serves the population of individuals who do not have access to college. She is also a coordinator for the Maine Prisoners Advocacy Coalition. Darlene is a Right/Write to Heal creative writing group facilitator. She also facilitates classes for outside organizations through Colby College’s Freedom & Captivity Project.

Ashley Mackie is a dedicated and passionate scholar, advocate, and student currently incarcerated at the Southern Maine Reentry Center. She is focusing on criminal justice, graphic design, and coding while working toward her bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Maine at Augusta, as well as pursuing her paralegal certification and MHRT-C certification. Ashley has contributed to justice reform projects and is proud to be part of the effort to create Maine’s first justice coding lab, where she will become SWIFT-certified. She uses her voice to advocate for policy changes that empower communities impacted by the criminal justice system and believes that education is one of the most powerful tools for transformation. In addition to her academic pursuits, Ashley is an advocate for prison and policy reform and is passionate about coding, art, and graphic design. Her long-term goal is to create tools and resources that provide opportunities for people impacted by the justice system and support their successful reentry.

Shaun Libby is pursuing his MA in Youth Development at Michigan State University and working full-time at Jobs for the Future. As a former incarcerated teenager, he plans to mentor and advocate for youth to divert their involvement with the justice system. Shaun also lends his time and heart to the Restorative Justice Project of Maine.

 

 

 

Victoria Scott is an interdisciplinary student of Justice Studies and Transformative Systems Planning with a minor in Psychology, currently completing her BA at the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA). Her work includes serving as an advisory board member with UMA’s Prison Education Partnership, where she wrote the academic reentry grant for post-release support for incarcerated students that the Davis Family Foundation generously funded. Victoria is currently incarcerated at the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center of the Maine Department of Corrections, works as a fellow with the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison and with the Colby College Justice Think Tank, serves as a facilitator for Colby College’s Freedom & Captivity Project and the Maine Humanities Council, and has been a teaching assistant with the Educational Justice Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 2021.

Linda Small is a Senior Justice Scholar and the founder and executive director of Reentry Sisters, an organization specializing in a trauma-informed approach that is responsive to women’s reentry needs in Maine and beyond. She is a program coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, a 2023–2024 Columbia University Women’s Collective Leadership Fellow, a Colby Justice Think Tank member, and a DJ for Justice Radio. Linda serves on the Mass Incarceration Convening Planning Committee in collaboration with state humanities councils. She is part of a collaborative effort to develop a Justice Collective to bring restorative justice practices to Maine. She holds an MS in Adult Higher Education and Leadership.

 

Opportunity Scholars Community Team

Andre “Dray” Hicks is a social entrepreneur, mentor, and national performance artist who has performed with the Yeti and Kool G. Rap. Andre lives in Portland with his family, and is the longstanding manager of Toni’s Touch, a cornerstone barbershop in the Greater Portland community. Building upon his experience in the justice system as a youth and adult, he has a long history of community engagement. Andre works as a mentor to young people and adults with the Opportunity Scholars project and as a coordinator with the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. He also facilitates weekly groups of currently and formerly incarcerated people to build positive reentry support, and he works to create opportunities for people to aspire to greatness and thrive through his company, Rhyme & Reason. He uses the tools of writing, conversation, and performance art to facilitate justice as healing and liberation. Andre also mentors youth in financial literacy and well-being, and he mentors young people inside Maine’s only youth prison, connecting them to employment, housing, and reentry support opportunities. 

Nicole Lemay completed her AS in Human Services from Washington County Community College with a certificate in Substance Use and Recovery. She is now the operations lead and development co-lead at Youth-LED Justice. Outgoing and resourceful, Nicole is also the program manager for Recovery Housing of Maine, which provides transitional housing for men and women. She mentors women in reentry and recovery and lends her leadership and creativity to Opportunity Scholars and Right/Write to Heal.

 

Se Mi Anderson is originally from Misawa, Japan, and spent much of her life in Queens, New York. She graduated with an AS concentration in Health Science from Southern Maine Community College and is currently pursuing a nursing degree. Her focus is on veterans’ rights and recovery advocacy. As a United States Maine Corps veteran, she is working to change the narrative and remove barriers to second chances so that people can become structural columns in the community through knowledge and humility.

 

The Impact

Our Opportunity Scholars will gain invaluable skills for their career development. They will serve as trainers, faculty, and staff, providing peer support to justice system practitioners. Local governments and national institutions of higher learning will use their recommendations and insights to improve currently and formerly incarcerated students’ educational opportunities and experiences and increase enrollment and degree completion, especially through the reentry process.

Opportunity Scholars will also develop resources and community tools that call attention to the brilliance of students who are incarcerated. They will work on several projects with CEPP, including:

• Justice Policy Coding Lab
• Community Supervision Resource Center
• Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research
• Beyond the Bars New York and Maine
• Strengthening Families and Primary Caregivers
• Narrative and policy change through the humanities and creating pathways
• Social Impact Bonds and Pay for Success Models

Opportunity Scholars will provide high-level community engagement that humanizes people in prisons by centering their voices and promoting narrative change. When we create opportunities for our most vulnerable citizens to advance, we build stronger, safer communities.