MISSIONTo educate and reshape our society’s perception of former inmates so they may reintegrate and be given a fair chance for employment, housing, education and entrepreneurial opportunities.
REINVENTING ReEntry
Reinventing Reentry, an Arizona 501(c)(3)nonprofit, actively promotes education to both the community and to former inmates. The high rates of recidivism result in more cost to communities and a potential for higher crime rates. This is a bi-partisan public/private collaboration of business, academia, social work, justice and former inmates to assist newly released inmates to gain employment, seek higher education and find housing, thus building safer communities, reducing recidivism and freeing up millions of dollars for education budgets instead.
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Board of DirectorsSue Ellen Allen Founder & President Shamia Lodge Vice President Deanna J. Durkee Treasurer Daria Brill Michele Goodwin |
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Sue Ellen AllenSue Ellen Allen is the founder and executive director of Reinventing Reentry. After leading a prison program for seven years and researching other programs nationwide, she realized that change on a large and effective scale would not happen until the general public realized how our current prison system fails both public safety and our children and families. A University of Texas grad, educator, community leader, former inmate at Arizona State Prison and current activist, she found her purpose from serving time in prison.
In 2016, Sue Ellen was honored to be one of twenty-three Americans invited to sit with the First Lady in her box at the State of the Union message, representing criminal justice reform. Later that year she was a guest speaker on criminal justice at the White House sponsored summit, The United State of Women. She was a guest at a White House Convening on Criminal Justice Reform bringing together both emerging and established leaders from the advocacy, philanthropic, business, and law enforcement sectors to lift up the progress and advancements that have been made and surfacing opportunities to tackle persistent problems. Sue Ellen was invited to the White House once again in 2019 to celebrate the signing of the First Step Act. She is the author of The Slumber Party from Hell, a memoir about prison life, and the recipient of the Dawson Prize in Memoir in the 2009 Prison Writing Contest for PEN American Center. |
Speaking engagements available
Sue Ellen Allen is available for speaking engagements, keynotes, discussions and lectures at universities, businesses, schools and more.
Past partners and speaking engagements:
- Columbia Center for Justice
- TAMER Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia University
- Arizona Public Defender’s Association
- American Friends Seminary
- Village Initiative
- Eastern Illinois University
- ALEC
- Slack
- Philadelphia Mural Arts
- ATHENA International
- American Legislative Exchange Council
- Arizona State University, School of Law, College of Justice Studies, College of Criminal Justice
- Arizona State University Entrepreneurs & Innovation
- Arizona State University Project Humanities
- AZ Women's Conference
- Brandeis Authors' Series
- BUSTED!
- Columbia University, Center for Justice
- Daughters of the American Revolution
- DKB Foundation
- Federal Bureau of Prisons
- Ignite!
- Job Corps
- Junior League
- Maricopa County Probation Officers
- National Association of Workforce Development
- Operation Reform Summit
- PayPal
- Pebble Creek Lecture Series
- POE International
- Prescott Valley Leadership
- TEDx Arrowhead Ranch
- The National Press Club
- Thunderbird School of Global Management
- VA Hospital
- United State of Women, White House Summit
- University Career Women
- University of California/Irvine
- University of Arizona
- Yavapai County Bar Association
- Zonta International AZ
Media
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Honouring My Dead Cellmate
BBC World Service January 21, 2016 Who Are the President's Guests at the 2016 State of the Union? US News & World Report January 12, 2016 Prison advocate, 'dreamer' to get spotlight at Obama speech The Arizona Republic January 10, 2016 Meet The Ex-Convict President Obama Will Host At The State Of The Union BuzzFeed January 9, 2016 Former inmates still pay for crimes, after they pay debt to society Cronkite News/PBSaz December 10, 2015 |
ASU interns help combat recidivism with
female leadership program in local prisons The State Press November 29, 2015 How a Woman Locked Up with Breast Cancer Became a Prison Activist VICE.COM October 2, 2015 Breast Cancer Behind Bars: One Woman’s Story Reality Check October 24, 2014 Sue Ellen Allen’s Prison Revolution Huffington Post July 9, 2012 Prison hosts speaker series to educate, motivate female inmates AZ Capital Times March 30, 2011 |