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Biography:
David is the former Executive Director of Freedom Project. David became Freedom Project’s Executive Director in 2018 when the organization had a handful of staff, a $200,000 budget, and 50 volunteers supporting NVC workshops inside prisons. As a result of the collective efforts of the team and community, David helped build a team and a purpose that better represented the community they served. Five years later, with a $4 million annual budget, a team of 26 full-time staff was able to engage with hundreds of community members inside and outside of the prisons, actively working to stay accountable to and showing up for the community in a way that’s needed. Most importantly, David brought together a team that is over 90% composed of Black and brown people impacted by incarceration. Under David’s stewardship, Freedom Project expanded to meet community needs for culturally responsive and healing-informed reentry support, housing, legislative advocacy, and policy change. In 2021 Freedom Project was chosen to be part of a 16-jurisdictional initiative under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Comprehensive Strategy to reduce, prevent, and respond to community-based gun violence. David also guided Freedom Project’s implementation of organizational policies designed to dismantle white supremacy culture, centering the values of a community that has a rich and living history of organizing and fighting against oppressive systems.
David frequently consults with and advocates for other community organizations, nonprofits, and funders to implement similar anti-oppressive policies and practices. He is passionate about passing on knowledge about the impacts of mass incarceration, juvenile justice, systemic racism, and reentry at universities, law schools, community engagement events, and he serves on numerous advisory boards, such as Seattle’s Criminal Legal System Realignment Taskforce. David co-facilitates anti-oppression and as well as Culturally Responsive Compassionate Communication workshops. He was in the second cohort of Unlocked Futures’ social entrepreneurs impacted by the criminal injustice system, formed through a partnership with New Profit and John Legend's nonprofit organization FREEAMERICA. He is also a Credible Messenger, which is a national initiative of adults from similar backgrounds who work to equip young people with tools to encourage healing and a life filled with hope and transformation. As a Co-founder and Director of Vision and Values of The Black Rose Collective, David is committed to centering the voices and acknowledging the humanity of those most impacted. David believes that relationships are our communities most vital resource and the key to our individual and collective healing.
“People don’t change, they heal. And when people heal, systems change.”
Career Advice:
The best gift you can give to the world is your authenticity. The best gift you can give to yourself is self-care or as I like to refer to it as self preservation. If you are authentically you and giving yourself the care you need you’ll be great at whatever you do.