For those who were unable to attend the 2014 Leadership Institute, or if you’d simply like to review materials from your time in New Orleans this year, I’m happy to announce that many presentations, videos and handouts are now publicly available.
We’re not just publishing snippets from our keynotes either. This year we’re excited to include the full-length videos from both Gina Castaneda, Santa Cruz County Deputy Probation Officer, and Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries.
Keynote: How One Young Woman Completely Transformed Her Life and the Teachers and Mentors Who Helped Pave the Way presented by Gina Castaneda, Santa Cruz County, CA Deputy Probation Officer
Keynote: Father 'Greg' Joseph Boyle, Founder & Director, Homeboy Industries
Last week, Reclaiming Futures fellows from across the country gathered in New Orleans to share experiences, learn together, and get inspired all over again. For those who were unable to attend, see below for highlights, including an inspiring interview with Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries.
Father Greg Boyle on why he Supports Reclaiming Futures
Our two efforts and movements are completely aligned. We're the largest gang intervention rehab reentry program in the country, so gang members and folks who have been in the system, felons between the ages of 14 and 50 come through our doors. It's a community that's therapeutic, engages in attachment repair, is interested in healing and moving people toward exactly a reclaiming of their own futures.
Our program is not for those who need help; it's for those who want it. That's the only way rehab works. It never works with somebody who's dragged and forced.
But once they walk through the doors it's ticker tape parade and streamers so that they feel welcomed, accepted, not judged. We help them re-imagine their futures because gang violence is a lethal absence of hope. It's an inability to conjure up an image of what tomorrow looks like, which is exactly in line with what Reclaiming Futures is all about.
