Announcement:
- We include this introductory video/lesson at the start of every course. If you’ve seen it before, and you’ve made a decision on whether you want to add consent, there is no reason to watch the video or go through the lesson again.
Goal:
- Apprise members of the Prison Professors community of our work, and invite to collaborate by consenting to share their work with Prison Professors so that it can become a part of our advocacy mission.
🔹 Introduction: Why We’re Here
Most people in our audience are facing challenges with the criminal justice system. Thanks to our collaboration with the Edovo Foundation, we get to provide resources to help them.
My name is Michael Santos, and I am the founder of Prison Professors. With this lesson and accompanying video, I’ll show some of the ways we work on behalf of our community.
We’d love for you to become a part of these efforts to improve outcomes for all people in the system.
Everything on Prison Professors is free, and we offer it without any restriction or limitations. We want to help people build pathways to success. You can become a part of our efforts to advocate for work-release programs, furloughs, and home confinement initiatives if you consent to allow us to publish and share your work.
🔹 Outline of This Lesson
Here’s how I’ll guide this lesson:
- Share what we’re doing to advocate for reform—and how you can assist.
- Describe our strategy for creating change.
- Show how we measure impact and how you can develop resources for self-advocacy and mitigation.
- A demo showing how easily you can become part of our community.
🔹 Who I Am
For those who don’t know who I am, let me provide a brief background.
My name is Michael Santos, and I served 26 years in federal prison. When I was 23 years old, I made some bad decisions. Inspired by the wrong role models, I got involved in drug trafficking. At the start of my sentence, while in solitary confinement, I found opportunities to change the way I think by learning from great thinkers such as Socrates, Viktor Frankl, Nelson Mandela, Frederick Douglass, and others. Since each of them had gone through the crisis of living in confinement, I willingly learned from them. They taught me how to begin building a pathway to a better life.
Since my release in 2013, I’ve built businesses that allow me to work toward opening opportunities for more people who’re going through the system. Ideally, I want to open more mechanisms for people to earn higher levels of liberty through merit and their personal efforts.
🔹 Our Vision: Reform Through Collaboration
Our mission requires building an ecosystem—a collaborative movement that includes:
- People in prison
- Administrators and staff
- Legislators and policymakers
- Researchers and academics
- Employers and community leaders
- Defense attorneys and journalists
- Taxpayers and families
We want to open opportunities for more people to return to society with their dignity intact and opportunities to prosper as law-abiding, contributing citizens.
🔹 Why We Need Data—and Your Permission
To create systemic change, we must show proof. That means collecting data on how people interact with our programs and how it affects their adjustment, rehabilitation, and outcomes after release.
That’s why we ask for your permission to include your participation in research. It’s not required, but it helps us show policymakers, agencies, and funders that people inside are working hard to earn freedom through merit.
Participating in our courses is not contingent on anyone sharing information with Prison Professors. To succeed, however, we need to show results, and we’d like to feature you.
🔹 The Bigger Goals We’re Fighting For
- Expanded access to home confinement
- More work-release and furlough opportunities
- Stronger partnerships with national employers
- Access to business-building tools and financial literacy
- Post-release funding opportunities (scholarships, microloans, bridge housing)
- Credit-building programs for returning citizens
But we can’t do any of this without showing that our community members are putting in the work.
🔹 Tools We Provide for Free
We offer everything on our website, or through Edovo, at no charge. That includes:
- Self-directed courses
- MasterClasses
- Books and podcasts
- Research reports
- Mitigation strategies
- Daily lessons
🔹 Memorializing Your Journey
To assist people in showing why they’re worthy candidates for liberty, we built a platform: PrisonProfessorsTalent.com. Our platform encourages you to build a public record of your efforts and growth. You can use it as a mitigation tool, or as evidence of your work ethic when applying for jobs, clemency, or early release. We encourage you to participate. If you consent to participate in our program, you’ll be able to send us the following information:
- Your name
- Your registration number
- Your mailing address where we can send you books
- Your sentence length
Once you send us that information, our team will begin to build your profile. We’ll also send you a book to prompt you and help you learn how to write your:
- Biography – Tell your story. Who are you? How have you changed?
- Journal Entries – Share your thoughts, goals, and daily progress.
- Book Reports – Reflect on what you’re learning. Just answer:
- Why did I read this book?
- What did I learn?
- How will it help me succeed?
- Release Plan – Start mapping your vision for success after prison.
You don’t even need to use your real name if you’re concerned about privacy. You can use a username and still participate fully.
🔹 Earn Points and Appear on the Leader Board
Every time you publish on the Talent platform, you earn points. We track those points and display them on our leader board. This leaderboard is public and shows who’s working hardest to prepare for success.
When I meet with government agencies, employers, or legislators, I screen-share that board. I want them to see your effort. Imagine the impact if your name shows up at the top. It could influence:
- Home confinement eligibility
- Work release decisions
- Employment offers
- Funding or scholarship approvals
🔹 Why Your Profile Matters
When you publish consistently, you create a body of work that reflects your values, discipline, and growth. That makes it easier for our team to advocate for the changes we want to see, and for members of your team to advocate on your behalf.
For example, Eduardo, one of our participants, is serving a 240-month sentence in Miami. But he has already earned more than 250 points because he publishes nearly every day. That kind of consistency is powerful. And it’s public.
🔹 How to Get Started
If you want to participate:
- Fill out the profile form in your Edovo app or our website at PrisonProfessors.org
- Give us permission to publish your materials.
- Begin submitting your work (biography, journals, book reports, release plan).
- You’ll start earning points and appearing on the leaderboard.
We’ll send you free books and resources. And you can unsubscribe or delete your profile anytime.
🔹 My Promise to You
Everything I offer is based on what I did while serving my sentence—and what I still do today.
I make 3 promises:
- I will never lie to you.
- I will never ask you to do anything I didn’t do myself.
- I will never ask for a penny from anyone who is incarcerated.
🔹 Final Thoughts
I hope you choose to join our community and be part of this movement. If you give us permission, we will use your progress to fight for policy changes. If you choose not to, you can still go through all the lessons and tools for free.
