PRESS
MEMO: The Case for People First Reentry: A Just Approach to Support People Coming Home From Prison
May 2023
We are practitioners of community-based, resident-centered reentry housing and care, and we are formerly incarcerated people with personal experience with these systems. We wrote this memo to share our core values and principles that we have developed over years of personal and professional experience. We call this approach People First Reentry. It is based on six key principles: (1) agency, (2) leadership by people with lived experience, (3) a commitment to meeting basic human needs, (4) trauma awareness, (5) flexible arrangements, and (6) an overall restorative approach to harm.
CIIS Public Programs: An Indigenous & Zen Perspective on Living Into a World Beyond Crisis With Norma Wong & Sonya Shah
January 22, 2025
CIIS Public Programs | Join 86th generation Zen master and Indigenous Hawaiian leader Rōshi Norma Wong for an illuminating conversation with CIIS Associate Professor Sonya Shah exploring spiritual activism and how to envision co-creating new worlds from one in crisis.
WEBINAR: The Prison Within The Way Out is Through
April 17, 2024
Hear from the filmmakers behind the award-winning documentary “The Prison Within,” Also joining the discussion are cast members and renowned restorative justice advocates Troy Williams, Michael Nelson, Sujatha Baliga, and Sonya Shah - who provide their expertise in the film. Collectively, this will be an engaging dialogue about the importance of healing harm, that which we’ve experienced and caused, and the beautiful transformation that happen as a result.
Prison From Paradigm To Policy: Restorative Justice Symposium Panel
February 5, 2024
The Ahimsa Collective's Richard Cruz on a panel for a discussion of Why Choose RJ? with the perspectives of people with lived experiences of either participating in a restorative process (as a survivor or person who has caused harm), holding restorative processes (as practitioner), or choosing RJ in their capacity as a system actor (prosecutor, defense attorney/PD, and judge.)
ARTICLE: A place to be free
October 12, 2023
INQUEST | Three formerly incarcerated men explain that “If the reentry housing across the country were to follow what we like to call a “people-first reentry model,” then many thousands fewer people would return to prison each year, and would instead be on a path to success, agency, human dignity, and connection.” Two of the authors, David Carranza, Ahimsa’s Senior Accountant, and Anthony Ammons, of the CARE unit at the CA Department of Justice, tell their stories of attending the Ahimsa reentry house started by the third, Richard Cruz, Ahimsa’s co-ED
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WEBINAR: DVSA Utah conference
September 6, 2023
In this session, panelists shared the principles of people first reentry as formerly incarcerated reentry practitioners and leaders across the country who currently run reentry houses with a people first approach. Panelists included Terah Lawyer-Harper - Executive Director of Creating Restorative Opportunities & Programs (CROP), Stacey Borden - Founder of New Beginnings Reentry Services, Marlo Da Motivator - Executive Director of Motivating and Transforming Lives, Rasheed Stanley Lockheart - Reentry Director and Richard Cruz - Co-Executive Director of The Ahimsa Collective.
WEBINAR: Briefing for Philanthropic Funders
June 28, 2023
If you are in philanthropy and would like to request a copy of this webinar briefing on June 28, 2023, please email reentry@ahimsacollective.net and we will send you a link. Panelists included: Ken Oliver: Executive Director of Checkr Foundation, Richard Cruz and Rasheed Stanley-Lockheart of The Ahimsa Collective, Armand Coleman: Executive Director of the Transformational Prison Project, and Courtney Santesero: Director of Residential Programs Peaceprints of NY. Hosted by Maisha Quint with the Libra Foundation and Chloe Cockburn, CEO of Just Impact Advisors.
ARTICLE: How do we address sexual violence without contributing to the harms of mass incarceration?
June 13, 2023
BostonGlobe | A conversation with Sonya Shah, founder of Ahimsa Collective, on restorative practices to address harm. Sonya is asked to comment on the case of Brock Turner, the privileged young man who raped an unconscious student and only served 3 months inside, which led to the recall of the judge by popular vote. Her responses express her empathy for survivors of sexual violence, and her awareness that we have a long way to go in inventing the best ways to respond. See the film, which is included, as well as her interview.
RADIO SHOW: Show talk with the Ahimsa Collective case for person centered reentry
February 15, 2023
Prison Radio Show | This show features a long news section about a recent class-action lawsuit as well as an interview with Rasheed Stanley-Lockheart, the Reentry Director with the Ahimsa Collective. He is one of the authors of the recently released memo called "The Case for People First Reentry" and our interview focused on that memo. Heads up we downloaded the audio from CKUT's archives and so there are 2 minutes of audio from the previous show at the top of the hour. .
RADIO SHOW: UpFront "What does restorative justice work look like?"
February 15, 2023
94.1 KPFA | Julian Ward, restorative justice facilitator who’s run victim-offender dialogues in California’s prisons, and community-based restorative justice processes, mostly working through the Ahimsa Collective. Trino Jimenez, went through a restorative justice process with the man who killed his oldest brother. He now gives talks about restorative justice in prisons.
ARTICLE: "Colleges experiment with restorative justice in sexual assault cases"
December 28, 2022
CAL MATTERS | Some California colleges are responding to campus sexual assault and harassment with restorative justice: a process that brings together the student who was harmed, the person who harmed them and the community to seek solutions.
PODCAST: "Restorative Justice: a conversation with Sonya Shah"
October 21, 2022
A New Legacy | In 1993 Polly Klaas, aged 12, was abducted and murdered in Petaluma, California. The public outrage had a major impact in increasing harsh prison sentences and growing the prison system. Polly’s sisters are now dedicated to finding alternative responses to harm. In this podcast they find some of sonya’s ideas about RJ surprising: e.g., that sonya sees RJ as an option not a panacea, and that forgiveness is not mandated by RJ but is both rare and complex.
RADIO SERIES: Crime Survivor Stories
August 22, 2022
KCBS RADIO | This five part series by KCBS follows a group of survivors and kin of victims who have gone through the VOD Program with The Ahimsa Collective. The piece documents their interaction with incarcerated people at Soledad State Prison around a collective journey of healing and accountability.
ARTICLE: "He befriended his brother’s murderer. In each other, they found healing" October 11, 2021
LA TIMES | This story of two men provides a window onto California's Victim Offender Dialogue program, which facilitates meetings between people in prison and the individuals they harmed. This dialog was facilitated by Ahimsa VOD Program Director Martina Lutz Schneider.
ARTICLE: "Can face-to-face meetings between a victim and an abuser help a society overwhelmed with bad behavior?" July 21, 2021
THE CUT | An in-depth article about bringing healing to people who have caused and been subjected to intimate violence, told in the context of the #MeToo and restorative justice movements. This article sites Executive Director, sonya shah.
VIDEO: Adrienne Maree Brown in Conversation with sonya shah
February 12, 2021
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) | sonya shah interviews adrienne maree brown about transformative justice, cancel culture, and pleasure activism.
VIDEOS: Centering the Needs of Survivors
March 2020
Building Accountable Communities Project with the Barnard Center for Research on Women | Featuring nuri nusrat, sonya shah, Elliott Fukui, adrienne maree brown, Stas Schmiedt, Lea Roth, RJ Maccani, Priya Rai, Rachel Herzing, and Esteban Kelly
WEBINAR: How do we walk our talk? Exploring restorative organizational practices. October 16, 2019
Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice | Kazu Haga and sonya shah
PODCAST: "Tell Christy I love her"
October 16, 2019
Ear Hustle | Featuring VOD participants, Jason Samuel and Tom & Christy Morgan and VOD Director, Martina Lutz-Schneider.
DOCUMENTARY: The Prison Within
December 2019
Featuring Troy Williams, Sam Johnson, Barry Splillman, Eddie Herrena, sujatha baliga, sonya shah and others. | Watch trailer here.
ARTICLE: Unseen 2019 - Smashing the Patriarchy with Kindness
December 28, 2019
Live Mint | Featuring Sachi Maniar from the Ashiyana Foundation and organizations The Ahimsa Collective has supported and collaborated with in India.
VIDEO: What are obstacles to accountability?
October 2019
Building Accountable Communities Project with the Barnard Center for Research on Women | Featuring nuri nusrat, sonya shah, Mimi Kim, Ann Russo, Esteban Kelly, adrienne maree brown, Rachel Herzing, Stas Schmiedt, Lea Roth, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, and Mia Mingus
PLENARY: What is accountability?
April, 2019
Barnard Center for Research for Women co-sponsored Building Accountable Communities: A National Gathering to Transform Harm | Shannon Perez-Darby, Esteban Kelly, RJ Maccani, Mia Mingus, sonya shah, and Leah Todd. Moderated by Piper Anderson.
WEBINAR: Adult Survivors as Movement Leaders
January 23, 2019
PreventConnect & CALCASA | Sonya Shah, Aishah Shahidah Simmons & Amita Swadin
WEBINAR: Centering Survivors - A Critical Conversation
April 18th, 2018
Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice | Featuring Kazu Haga, Alison Espinosa-Setchko, and
Richard Smith
FILM: Healing Justice - Cultivating a World of Belonging
September 2017
WORLD TRUST: Social Impact through Film & Dialogue | Director: Shakti Butler