White Collar Week Newsletter March '23
Jeffrey D. Grant
Private General Counsel/White Collar Attorney at GrantLaw, PLLC, White Collar Support Group, Featured in The New Yorker & on the Rich Roll Podcast
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WHITE COLLAR SUPPORT GROUP TO HOLD MILESTONE 350TH MEETING: 7 Years of Community!
Greenwich, CT (March 6, 2023): Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc ., the world’s first ministry devoted to those navigating the white collar criminal justice system, will hold its 350th weekly White Collar Support Group meeting online on Zoom on Monday, March 6, 2023.?More than 600 people prosecuted for white collar crimes have participated in the support group meetings.
In celebration of the 7 years of community reflected by this milestone, Craig Stanland , Bill Livolsi and many other men and women from the white collar justice-impacted community, will share the “AHA moments” in their journeys that changed their perceptions and inspired them to create productive and meaningful lives before incarceration, during prison and upon reentry into society.
Co-founded in 2013 by Connecticut resident/NYC white collar attorney and ordained minister, Jeffrey D. Grant, Esq. (Jeff Grant) , the ministry’s mission is to help individuals prosecuted for white collar crimes to take responsibility for their actions and the wreckage they caused, make amends, and move forward in new way of life centered on hope, service, compassion, tolerance and empathy.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. Its objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems.
In addition to providing resources and community, Grant is the leading advocate for ensuring white collar-related issues are included within the ever-evolving debate around the criminal justice system. “When we started the ministry in 2013, people who had been to prison were pariahs with little opportunity to have a second chance,” said Grant. “A decade later, criminal justice reform is an important national conversation; we are proud of our work to enable white collar justice advocates to have a seat at the table.”
To date, the community has been a featured source surrounding white-collar related issues, including a recent profile of Grant and the White Collar Support Group in the New Yorker .?Grant’s work has also been featured in major national media Entrepreneur , Bloomberg , Reuters ,?Forbes , and Greenwich Magazine as well as major podcasts such as The Rich Roll Podcast . Grant has also been a Mainstage presenter at prestigious conferences such as The Nantucket Project . In addition to being a popular interviewee, Grant has helped thousands of his community members navigate their past and push towards re-establishing themselves as productive contributors to society.
With both Juris Doctorate (law) and Master of Divinity degrees, Grant provides a unique perspective of understanding about what and how his community members are coping with and facing ahead of them.?Grant himself spent almost 14 months in a Federal prison for a white collar crime he committed in 2001.
The weekly Monday meetings are held online on Zoom beginning at 7 pm ET, 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT and last approximately 75 minutes.?During the meeting, members are given the chance to reflect on their healing process as well as embrace those who are new to the group, which continues to grow with each weekly gathering.?
Additional information and support is provided on the ministry’s widely regarded website, prisonist.org, that provides over ten years’ of important content and resources to those going through the system. The ministry regularly sends newsletters and books to its members who are currently incarcerated.
About Progressive Prison Ministries: Established in 2013 in Greenwich, CT, Progressive Prison Ministries is the world’s first ministry devoted to serving devoted to those navigating the white collar criminal justice system. More information is available on its website at?prisonist.org and on its social media channels:?Facebook , Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn .
About Progressive Prison Ministries’ Co-Founders: Co-founders husband and wife Jeff Grant and?Lynn Springer were featured in a twelve-page article in Greenwich Magazine: The Redemption of Jeff Grant . After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost 14 months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, Grant began his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City with a focus in Social Ethics. In 2021, Jeff’s law license was reinstated by the New York State Supreme Court.
For additional information, contact: Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.., T: (212) 859-3512; Email: [email protected] , prisonist.org ,
Media Contact: [email protected] .
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White Collar Support Group 350th Meeting Online on Zoom, Mon., Mar. 6, 2023. 7 pm ET, 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT
Over 600 Fellow Travelers have participated in our support group meetings.
We hope all of our members, old and new, will show up on March 6th to celebrate our 350th meeting and our great community that has helped lift so many of us out of the darkness of despair and into the light. Please join us!
We meet every Monday.
We are a community of individuals, families and groups with white collar justice issues who have a desire to take responsibility for our actions and the wreckage we caused, make amends, and move forward in new way of life centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance and empathy. Our experience shows us that many of us are suffering in silence with shame, remorse, and deep regret. Many of us have been stigmatized by our own families, friends and communities, and the business community. Our goal is to learn and evolve into a new spiritual way of life and to reach out in service to others.?
Thank you for referring justice-impacted people and families:?[email protected] .
For press/media inquiries:?[email protected] .?
IMPORTANT!:?If you are currently on supervised release, probation or parole, it is important that you first discuss this with your P.O. To assist in this regard, information about our ministry is available on?prisonist.org .
Also, White Collar Week Podcast:?An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group. 16 support group members share their stories. Link?here .
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The World’s First Support Group Devoted to Those Navigating The White Collar Criminal Justice System. Greenwich CT & Nationwide
It's the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
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White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Scott Semple, Former Connecticut Commissioner of Correction, March 21, 2023, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT.
We are honored to have Scott Semple as the March speaker in our White Collar Support Group Tuesday Speaker Series.
Link to register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIudOyspj4iEtfz1cj03X8_YYxPgudHNT6o
Information about our White Collar Support Group: https://prisonist.org
Scott Semple was appointed commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Correction in March 2015. Scott joined the Connecticut Department of Correction as a front line Correction Officer in 1988 at the high security Cheshire Correctional Institution. During his tenure, he has served the agency in numerous administrative capacities, to include pre-service training coordinator, external and legislative affairs, and warden of the state’s only correctional facility dedicated for men requiring comprehensive treatment services for significant mental illness.
As commissioner, Scott has successfully implemented several performance based and progressive correctional practices designed to support both staff and incarcerated people. Most notable, they include the Emerging Adult Units known as the TRUE Unit (located in Cheshire) and the WORTH Unit (located in Niantic). He has also repurposed an existing correctional facility and other specific housing units for specialized populations to provide a therapeutic environment designed to support community reintegration. Scott has implemented numerous agency-wide staff wellness initiatives to support, respond and improve policies evolving around the complex and unique needs associated with the health and welfare of correctional professionals and their families.
On January 1, 2019, after more than 30-years of service to the agency, Scott retired from public service. He now provides professional consult through Semple Consulting, LLC on various criminal justice and correctional related endeavors.
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White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Christopher Poulos, Executive Director,?Center for Justice and Human Dignity, April 18, 2023, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT
We are honored to have Christopher Poulos as the April speaker in our White Collar Support Group Tuesday Speaker Series.
Link to register:?https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvfu6tqDwjGN2CYtITEnsmxxQUMkblRpX7
Information about our White Collar Support Group: https://prisonist.org
Following an extensive, nationwide recruitment effort, Christopher Poulos was appointed the Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Human Dignity (CJHD) , effective February 1, 2023. Chris is an attorney and former senior government executive who brings a wealth of personal and professional passion and expertise to this pivotal role. His path led him from trauma, addiction, and incarceration to graduating from college and law school and serving at both the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and The Sentencing Project.
After attaining licensure in state and federal court, Chris served as Executive Director of the Washington Statewide Reentry Council and, most recently, as Director of Person-Centered Services at the Washington State Department of Corrections. His position at the Washington State Department of Corrections was unique in that it was the first of its kind and the first time a formerly incarcerated person has held a senior executive role in a state department of corrections.
Chris’s work and personal story have been featured on The Today Show and in The Guardian, The New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, The Hill, Crosscut, The Epoch Times and The Harvard Law and Policy Review. Chris was selected as one of Portland Magazine’s “Most Intriguing People” and as “Law Student of the Year” by National Jurist Magazine.
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领英推荐
Interrogating Justice: BOP Transparency Vows Over USP Tucson Gun Incident Meant Nothing, by Peter Tomasek, Esq., Feb. 23, 2023
Peter Tomasek is a friend of our ministry and is the Editor-in-Chief of Interrogating Justice. He was the October speaker in our White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series.?
"Nov. 13, 2022, a federal prisoner at the minimum-security satellite camp at USP Tucson tried to murder his wife in the camp’s visiting room. Thankfully, the pistol Jaime had didn’t go off any of the times he pulled the trigger. Jaime apparently used the wrong bullet (.25 caliber ammo in a .22 pistol). Instead of killing Ismaela, his wife, the bullets fell to the floor.
The day after the attempted shooting, on Nov. 14, 2022, the Associated Press published this story on the incident, describing what happened after the attempted shooting as follows: “Officials said the inmate was restrained and the firearm was seized.” And the day after that, on Nov. 15, 2022, the AP published this follow-up report that provided the public with the first inside perspective on what happened two days earlier. As is almost always the case, that inside perspective came exclusively from the Bureau of Prisons.
Collette Peters, the BOP’s new Director, told the AP that it “was a ‘terrifying incident to have had happened.’ ” But, the AP’s initial story said, “Peters has vowed to bring new transparency to an agency that has long been a haven of secrecy and coverups.”
It’s now been more than three months since the BOP narrowly avoided having a room filled with women, children, a senior and a few minimum security “campers” watch as a husband executed his wife. How has the new BOP Director’s transparency vow held up over the past 102 days? If you ask the people who were in that visiting room or just outside of it on that terrifying Sunday morning, the answer is a clear one: Not good. Not good at all..."
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Legal Action Center 50 Years of Impact!
Legal Action Center is turning 50 and celebrating half a century fighting discrimination, building health equity, and restoring opportunity for individuals and families impacted by the criminal legal system, addiction and/or HIV/AIDS. We hope you’ll join us as we build upon our many accomplishments over the past five decades and work to ensure another 50 years of impact building a healthier, more equitable, and just nation for all.
"I am honored to serve on the Board of Directors of the Legal Action Center." - Jeff
Watch the Video:
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White Collar Week News & Events
1.? Spiritual Urgent Care, Online on Zoom, Thursdays, 9:30 am ET, 6:30 am PT:?Please join us for a 1/2 hour midweek check in. Open to friends and family members too: https://zoom.us/j/397962564
2.?We Need You!! Please Submit Your 350th Meeting Reflection Today! WCSG 350th Meeting, Mon., Mar. 6th, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Your submission can take any form. For details and to submit your reflection, contact Fellow Travelers Bill L. or Jeff K. at [email protected] .
3. YouTube Video: White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series - Elizabeth Kelley, Criminal Defense Attorney for People with Mental Health Disabilities, Jan. 10, 2023: https://www.grantlaw.com/white-collar-week-tuesday-speaker-series-elizabeth-kelley-criminal-defense-attorney-for-people-with-mental-health-disabilities-on-zoom-tues-jan-10-2023-7-pm-et-4-pm-pt/
4.?YouTube Video: We Presented at the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Fall Conference, Fri., Nov. 18, 2022, Washington, DC: https://prisonist.org/panel-prosecuted-lawyers-perspectives-on-white-collar-nonviolent-prosecution-and-reentry-aba-criminal-justice-conference-washington-dc-nov-18-2022/
5.YouTube Video: White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Jim Campbell, Author of "Madoff Talks" The book that Inspired the Netflix Documentary "Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street": Feb. 21, 2023, https://prisonist.org/white-collar-week-tuesday-speaker-series-jim-campbell-author-of-madoff-talks-the-book-that-inspired-the-netflix-documentary-madoff-the-monster-of-wall-street-on-zoom-feb-21-2023-7-pm-et/
6.White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Scott Semple, Former Connecticut Commissioner of Correction: Mar. 21, 2023, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. To register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIudOyspj4iEtfz1cj03X8_YYxPgudHNT6o
7.White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Christopher Poulos, Executive Director, Center for Justice and Human Dignity: Apr/ 18, 2023, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. To register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvfu6tqDwjGN2CYtITEnsmxxQUMkblRpX7
8.Justice Impacted Podcast: Fellow Traveler Richard McDonald interviewed our Monday night speaker Kristine Bunch, Ep, 11, Part 1, Feb. 10, 2023: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/0de7999c-c3a2-4f0a-9986-425b3713b5f9
9.?Entrepreneur: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud – 7 Things to Know When Taking Disaster Relief Money: by Fellow Traveler Jeff Grant: https://www.grantlaw.com/hurricane-ian-fraud-alert-entrepreneur-article-redux-i-went-to-prison-for-sba-loan-fraud-7-things-to-know-when-taking-covid-19-relief-money-by-jeff-grant-j-d-m-div/
10.?Entrepreneur: 9 Things to Know when Hiring a White Collar Criminal Defense Attorney, by Fellow Traveler Jeff Grant: https://www.grantlaw.com/entrepreneur-9-things-to-know-when-hiring-a-white-collar-criminal-defense-lawyer-by-jeff-grant-esq/
11.?Fellow Travelers in Prison: If you would like to send letters and/or books from a major bookseller (e.g. Amazon, Barnes & Noble) to Fellow Travelers currently in prison, we now have a Slack Channel with updated contact information.
12.?Donations:?Thank you for your generosity in supporting Progressive Prison Ministries and our White Collar Support Group. We suggest a minimum donation of $5 per meeting. Please make your check payable to "Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.," a?501(c)(3)?nonprofit,?and send to our mailing address: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798. Or, please make your online donation here: https://conta.cc/3VABwOi . All?donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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Newsletter Sponsored By
GrantLaw, PLLC, Jeffrey D. Grant, Esq.?
Private General Counsel/ White Collar Attorney
43 West 43rd Street, Suite 108, New York, New York 10036-7424
(212) 859-3512
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More Information
Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he,?him, his)?
Co-founder, Progressive Prison?Ministries, Inc.
Greenwich CT &?Nationwide
Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT?06798
Website: prisonist.org
Email: [email protected]
Office: 212-859-3512
Donations (501c3):?https://bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ
not a prison coach, not a prison?consultant
Media Relations:?[email protected]
Speaking Engagements:?https://www.espeakers.com/marketplace/profile/39107
Newsletter Contains Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. ? Copyright 2023, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., All rights reserved.