Igniting justice reform through storytelling, dialogue, and connection.

Proximity for Justice was designed based on criminal justice reformer Bryan Stevenson’s insight that for change to happen, we must:

1. Get proximate

2. Change the narrative

3. Have hope

4. Do something uncomfortable

Leading the Fight for Mass Decarceration

Our events gather CEOs, community leaders, victims of crime, philanthropists, law enforcement, public policy makers, academics, and formerly incarcerated people together inside prisons alongside those who live and work there. Over the course of 18 TEDx events in prisons, we have engaged 3,500 in-person attendees, and reached 27 million more virtual viewers, increasing public engagement with criminal legal reform and influencing policy decisions.

TEDxAttica speakers and organizing team at Attica Correctional Facility.

TEDxSanQuentin organizing team.

What’s Next

Over the next three years, Proximity for Justice aims to expand programming to new Southern and Midwestern states, alongside continuing events in New York and Virginia. This series will engage more than 2,000 audience members and 160 incarcerated speakers, with expanded components inviting attendees to make public commitments to justice reform.