Staff

I grew up in the inner city and was incarcerated for over 10 years, and I understand the struggle of inner-city life, and I understand the trauma of being incarcerated. I also understand the strength it takes to overcome. I’m a firm believer in “Once you get out of a ditch, it’s your duty to help others out of a ditch.” Alone, one can do a little; together we can do a lot.

• anthony@freedomprojectwa.org

David knows first-hand the impacts of mass incarceration after being incarcerated at 16 years old with a de facto life sentence. Due to his juvenile status when he was convicted, and the passage of the 5064 bill, he was released after 24 years of confinement. He now works toward developing partnerships with other community providers whose mission is in alignment with making advancements in criminal justice and prison reform. He is also a Credible Messenger, which is a national initiative of adult men and women from similar backgrounds who equip young people with the tools to heal their lives and provide them with a living example of hope and transformation.

• david@freedomprojectwa.org

introduction coming soon

• dyneeca@freedomprojectwa.org

Ebonee provides one-on-one resource navigation support for people releasing from prison and in the reentry process. She supports participants with resources such as housing, CCO appointments, court appointments, DSHS, rides, and offers emotional support while actively navigating systems. Ebonee is also a Program Manager with G.R.O.O.M. (Gifted Regardless Of Oppressive Methods), a program of the Urban League modeled after the national Credible Messengers model that offers prevention and diversion programs for youth at risk of justice-involvement. As a trained Credible Messenger, she works with youth and their families in a variety of capacities, to ensure that participants are supported mentally, socially, behaviorally, and legally. After leaving prison in 2014, Ebonee became an apprentice with AJAC (Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee) while simultaneously completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Green River College, graduating magna cum laude. She was the first woman to complete the journeyman program with Pioneer Human Services, and she was recognized as the Tradeswoman of the Year by Washington Women in Trade in 2019. In all of her work, Ebonee is dedicated to fostering transformational healing and healthy living in her communities and with people who are coming out of institutions.

• ebonee@freedomprojectwa.org

Eugene Youngblood was arrested in 1991 at 18 years of age and released in March of 2021 at the age of 48 after serving 29 and a half years. He was set to spend the rest of his life in prison but in June 2019, the clemency and pardons board voted unanimously to recommend release after finding that his personal transformation and the work he did with other prisoners was extraordinary.
>”It can be harder to heal from having harmed others than from all the harm done to us. No matter how difficult the task, I’m up for the challenge because I know… people don’t change, we HEAL!”

• youngblood@freedomprojectwa.org

 

Franklyn Smith is a justice-involved community leader who has turn his passion and pleasure for assisting individuals in transition (homelessness, incarceration, and treatment programs) into his current profession as a Community Resources Director with Freedom Project. Franklyn was born and raised in Seattle, attending and completing Seattle Public Schools, served in the US Armed Forces-Army, and holds a Degree in Business and Accounting with supporting certificates in Supervisory Management/ Leadership Training, Case Management, Peer Counseling and Credible Messenger Mentoring Training. Franklyn started his professional career in the field of community resources navigation as a volunteer with such organization as St. Vincent DePaul (St. Francis House), Crisis Clinic, and eventually hired by the Freedom Projects (Safe Returns Reentry Program) in 2009. Franklyn has participated in various summits on Homelessness, Reentry and has presented testimony to the WA State House of Representatives, Senate, legislator, and Results WA on the issues of Homelessness, Reentry, and Public Health Safety.

• franklyn@freedomprojectwa.org

Jeremiah directs the Beyond the Blindfold of Justice work, which seeks to build access to legal aid and legisltative advocacy for community members, as well as encourage more people who identify as Black to enter legal careers. Jeremiah is a journalist, legal scholar, formerly incarcerated person, and matriculating law student. In 1992, at age 14, he became one of the youngest children in the United States to receive a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole and the second youngest person to receive this sentence in the history of the State of Washington. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama (2012)—in which the Court declared that imposing mandatory sentences of life without parole on juveniles violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment—Jeremiah was resentenced to an indeterminate term of twenty-five years to life, which made him eligible for parole.

While he was imprisoned, Jeremiah committed himself to higher education notwithstanding a sentence that meant he would die behind bars. Through independent means, he earned a bachelor’s degree in legal studies and criminology, graduating magna cum laude. He also utilized his education to tutor prisoners working to earn their GEDs and became an advisor to the University Beyond Bars, a non-profit that enables prisoners to obtain a college education at Washington State Reformatory.  Upon graduating from Gonzaga University School of Law, he will use his law degree to help those he left behind in prison.

In 2019 as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that deemed his sentence to be a cruel and unusual punishment. Since then he has consulted with lawmakers and academics, lectured to law students and undergraduates, and presented to corporate law offices to further their understanding of the criminal legal system and advocate for change, reform and healing with the legal system.

• jj@freedomprojectwa.org

Jermaine Williams is the Director of Freedom Project East, serving in Spokane County and the eastern part of the state. As an impacted person, his aim is to build bridges that will empower other impacted individuals to cross over into their humanity. This journey is one of healing. Jermaine believes when our thoughts, words, and deeds are in concert only then will our lives have harmony. Jermaine has been a peer mentor for two decades.  Part of his healing journey has been owning the height of his virtues and the depth of his vices while developing the courage to truly represent himself good bad ugly indifferent.  Jermaine’s versatility is unquestionable from Tchaikovsky and Wolfgang Mozart to DaBaby. You couldn’t tell by looking at him but Footloose (1984) and Hairspray (2007) are two of his all time favorite movies.

• jermaine@freedomprojectwa.org

Kiki does community work with Freedom Project by connecting with people and organizations that help fund the work we do. She loves collaborating on resources and strategies that meet the needs of the community, as directed by the community. She writes grants, shares about the work we are doing, and connects with people who want to support this work through giving. She also enjoys the opportunities to co-facilitate anti-oppression trainings with the Freedom Project team. She started at Freedom Project in 2016 and brings over 20 years experience in business and organizational development, as well as a long meditation practice. A recovering perfectionst, Kiki went to Smith College and earned a Bachelor’s Degree with High Honors in American Studies. Her focus was on contemporary issues impacting Native American communities; and studied religious freedom conflicts with the National Park Service in the West. Kiki loves to backpack and be in the woods; it connects her to one small offer of reparations for the history of dehumanization, colonialism and theft perpetuated by her lineage.  This is life-long work.

• kiki@freedomprojectwa.org

Tonya endeavors to manage and broaden community resources offered to men and women returning to the community after incarceration. A Black woman directly impacted by the prison system, Tonya knows that the needs of previously incarcerated women often go unacknowledged and unmet. She realizes that as the Reentry Outreach Coordinator of an organization that seeks to disrupt White Supremacy and center the voices and leadership of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and all people of Color, she stands in a position of responsibility for those coming after her. Tonya values the mindfulness and empathy-building potential of the Nonviolent Communication model and works with others in the organization to refresh the model to be one of true inclusion and relevance for all people. Tonya is also a board member of the Freedom Education Project of Puget Sound (FEPPS) and a native of Tacoma. She has presented as a TEDx speaker and spoken word artist, as well as appearing in the documentary Since I’ve Been Down. Her greatest joy is being part of an extensive and vibrant family in Tacoma, Washington.

• tonya@freedomprojectwa.org