[October 20, 2026] – The Prison Journalism Project (PJP), a national nonprofit that trains incarcerated writers in journalism and publishes their stories, today announced the appointment of Dena Ferrara Driscoll as Director of Philanthropy. Driscoll will lead the organization’s strategic fundraising initiatives, institutional giving and donor engagement to expand and deepen PJP’s impact across the country.
Driscoll’s appointment comes as PJP scales its training programs, print publication, and media partnerships, having collectively published more than 2,600 stories from behind prison walls. The organization was recently named a 2025 Emerging Strategies Honoree by the Library of Congress and listed as finalist for the 6th Annual Anthem Awards, with voting open to the public now. Driscoll will focus on raising funds to expand PJP’s programming and reach, including its literacy as journalism training programs, its initiative to expand women’s voices and its print publication PJP Inside, which is now distributed to 345 prison libraries in 42 states and has over 10,000 readers.
“We are delighted to welcome Dena as our new Director of Philanthropy and look forward to her leveraging her deep experience in fundraising and development as we work to support more incarcerated writers,” said Yukari Kane, Co-founder and CEO, PJP. “She has an outstanding track record of scaling nonprofits and her expertise will be a crucial asset for our team.”
Driscoll joins PJP with an extensive background at high-impact philanthropic organizations. Most recently, she served as Development Director for Coming Clean Inc. – a national environmental health network representing over 140 organizations where she led fundraising strategy and revenue growth while managing a portfolio of foundation partners. Previously, Driscoll spent more than six years serving as the Director of Development and Communications at the Public Interest Law Center.
“I’m thrilled to join Prison Journalism Project at a moment of growth and success,” said Dena Ferrara Driscoll, Director of Philanthropy, PJP. “It’s an honor to support the team in giving incarcerated writers the tools to report on their own communities and experiences, which in turn helps the public better understand life inside prisons. I look forward to strengthening existing relationships and building new philanthropic partnerships that will help us reach more writers and bring this valuable reporting to more readers.”
ABOUT PRISON JOURNALISM PROJECT
Prison Journalism Project trains and publishes incarcerated writers so people most affected by incarceration can shape public understanding while building literacy, professional skills and confidence for life after prison.
The organization is the largest publisher of writing from inside prison, and it was named a 2026 Emerging Strategies Honoree by the Library of Congress. Sign up for PJP’s newsletter, The Inside Story, at: prisonjournalismproject.org/newsletter/.
CONTACT
press@prisonjournalismproject.org