February 23, 2022 — Prison Journalism Project (PJP), a national initiative that trains incarcerated writers to be journalists and publishes their stories, has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the FWD.us Education Fund that will support efforts over the next two years to expand PJP J-School journalism training program and the organization’s newsroom operations.

The grant, which will be received in two annual installments of $200,000, will be used to build a sustainable organization, expand training offerings through PJP J-School and fund the development of an outside newsroom that can support prison journalists.

“There are more than 2 million people currently incarcerated in the United States, and yet most stories about prisons and the criminal justice system are written almost entirely with an outside perspective,” said Yukari Kane, co-founder of Prison Journalism Project. “We are incredibly thankful to FWD.us for supporting us in our mission to help incarcerated writers take the power — and responsibility — of journalism into their own hands.”

“PJP believes passionately in breaking stereotypes and shifting the narrative through the power of storytelling. We are grateful for the trust that FWD.us has put in our organization and for their commitment to supporting our hundreds of incarcerated journalists, as well as our students, across the country as they seek to shatter stereotypes and stigmas about who they are,” said Shaheen Pasha, co-founder of Prison Journalism Project.

FWD.us is a bipartisan political organization that believes America’s families, communities and economy thrive when more individuals are able to achieve their full potential. Part of its mission is to tackle the country’s harmful criminal justice system to unlock America’s potential, and its Education Fund is devoted to informing the public about criminal justice policy and reform.

PJP was founded to unleash the power of journalism to help incarcerated writers and those in communities affected by incarceration contribute news, perspectives and lived experiences to the public conversation about justice and imprisonment in our society. In summer 2021, the non-profit launched PJP J-School, a correspondence-based journalism course tailored for incarcerated writers. PJP is creating a national network of prison journalists and bringing transparency to the world of mass incarceration from the inside. To date, PJP has published over 1,200 stories from over 400 writers in more than 160 prisons across 35 states and D.C.

For more information on Prison Journalism Project and to read stories from its journalists, please visit https://prisonjournalismproject.org/.

ABOUT PRISON JOURNALISM PROJECT

Prison Journalism Project is a national, independent, nonpartisan initiative that trains incarcerated writers in the tools of journalism and helps them reach an outside audience via their own publication as well as through partnerships with mainstream media organizations.

ABOUT FWD.us

FWD.us is a bipartisan political organization that believes America’s families, communities, and economy thrive when more individuals are able to achieve their full potential. For too long, our broken immigration and criminal justice systems have locked too many people out of the American dream. Founded by leaders in the technology and business communities, we seek to grow and galvanize political support to break through partisan gridlock and achieve meaningful reforms. Together, we can move America forward.

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