Corrections_Today_November_December_2022_Vol.84_No.6

NEWS&VIEWS

“The Summit is igniting trans formation and planting hope in the hearts of those that often feel un valued,” said Melanie Griffin, the director of the prison program for the GLN. GLN donors, inspired by the impact the Summit is having in the correctional environment, make the event available at no cost, and signing up is simple: all you need is a point person and the enabling tech nology (the GLS is a live-streamed event — the GLN tech team is avail able to assist and provide support to the IT department). Looking forward to future Summits, and a larger number of participating organizations and cor rectional facilities, we are grateful to have the generous support of the TDOC and the GLN. I have hosted the Summit several times at the Louisiana State Peniten tiary at Angola. Sitting in the prison chapel, sharing conversation with transformed men living with mean ing and purpose; I’ve personally witnessed the power of the event to both inspire and change lives. For more information about hosting the Summit in your facility, go to: https://globalleadership.org/prison.

outside sponsoring organization is not required, many Summit events are hosted by facility chaplains.) The GEO Group, a private correc tions and community reentry services provider, has hosted the Summit in 15 facilities since 2015 making the GLS available to over 1,200 persons in custody. This year, they broadcast the event via closed-circuit televi sion, opening the opportunity to view the two-day event to over 4,000 residents.

“Unlike many virtual broad cast programs, the Summit provides “workbooks” that engage the inmate partici pants on an entirely different level. With workbook and pens in hand, they can fol low outlines of the speakers, and as questions that come to mind in the process, they can write them down and ask, discuss, and otherwise explore the topics that reso nated with them during the breaks. From my perspective, this on-the-spot interaction precludes the tendency to passively watch and supplies a space to not just hear, but to think, digest, and find pos sible ways to implement the subject matter in their own lives. I am able to report that inmates, staff and volunteers alike have been profoundly impacted by what they saw and heard via the Summit.”

2022 Global Leadership Summit at Bledsoe County Correctional Complex, Hosted by Faith Promise Church. Photo courtesy The Global Leadership Summit

On day two, Faith Promise brought in boxed Chick-fil-A lunches for Summit participants and the staff assigned to the event. As a follow-up, the church purchased books authored by 2022 GLS faculty for participants (125+) – each participant got to choose which one they wanted and the church also resourced the Chap lain’s library with all of the books from this year’s Summit Guide. Two other community-based organizations hosted the GLS in Tennessee. Nashville based, transi tional housing provider, Men of Valor hosted the event at the Turney Center Industrial Complex; and Memphis area education and job services pro vider, HopeWorks hosted at the Mark Luttrell Transition Center. (Note: an

Eric Anderson works on community engagement initiatives at the Fourth Purpose Foundation in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Foundation’s mission is to make prison a place of Transformation.

— Richard Glau, Manager of Faith Based Services, The GEO Group, Inc.

10 — November/December 2022 Corrections Today