Education Justice Project's Reentry Guides

The Reentry Resource Program at the Education Justice Project (EJP) publishes practical guides for people returning home from prison and for those being deported from the US. These roughly 200-page guides, published in English and Spanish, offer empowering information and resources for individuals going through often-traumatic transitions. Lee Ragsdale will discuss the resources, how to access them, anticipated updates, and more. In addition, Lee will talk about EJP’s Reentry Guide Project through which the organization provides a year of technical and financial assistance to organizations to create their own reentry guides. 

Presenter:
Lee Ragsdale directs the Education Justice Project's Reentry Resource Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The Reentry Resource Program connects people with the resources they need for a healthy transition to life after prison or deportation. EJP has produced the Illinois reentry guide, Mapping Your Future: A Guide to Successful Reentry, since 2015. As a college student at Loyola University Chicago, Lee participated in the Campaign to End the Death Penalty in Illinois and later tutored in San Quentin Prison in California. As the partner of a formerly incarcerated and deported person, she has personal experience with the effects of incarceration and deportation on families. Lee has a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and MAs in Spanish and English Linguistics from the University of Illinois. She lives with her husband in Mexico, where they run the nonprofit organization, Mexipets Animal Rescue.