dba International Prisoners' Family Conference
📍 San Antonio, Texas
September 30 – October 2, 2026
Welcome to the 2026 Connecting 4 Justice International Conference
As we gather for our 18th Annual Conference, I'm filled with gratitude and wishing my mom were here to share this moment. She founded Connecting 4 Justice on a simple belief: families and communities impacted by incarceration deserve to be seen, heard, and supported.
Today, we carry that belief forward together.
This year's theme, "Crack the Cube — Building Economic Justice," invites us to look differently at the barriers that keep people and families from moving forward: employment, housing, education, financial stability, entrepreneurship, and opportunity.
Cracking the cube means turning it, seeing the challenge from a different perspective, and discovering new pathways forward.
This conference is designed to be more than a place to listen. It is a place to connect, collaborate, share ideas, and build something together. Each of you brings a unique perspective, experience, and connection — and we need all of them.
Over the next few days, be curious. Ask questions. Share your story. Make a new connection. Sit beside someone you might not normally meet. Most importantly, come ready to participate. Because no one person can crack the cube alone.
It takes all of us — connecting across differences, creating opportunity, and believing in what is possible when we work together.
Thank you for being here and for helping carry this work forward.
Let's crack the cube — together.
With gratitude,
Kayla Victor
Chair, Connecting 4 Justice International
Please prioritize your well-being and self-care before, during, and after the conference. Some topics or personal stories may be emotional, uncomfortable, or difficult to hear. If you feel affected, please feel free to step away from any presentation or workshop at any time.
Our goal is to provide a space for factual information, lived experiences, and diverse perspectives. While we make every effort to thoughtfully vet conference content, the views and opinions expressed by presenters do not necessarily reflect those of Connecting 4 Justice International, its organizers, or board members.
Connecting 4 Justice International is about Connecting People. Challenging Systems. Creating Opportunity.
Connecting 4 Justice International (C4JI) brings together people working across the carceral system and the communities it touches — including returning citizens, families, advocates, educators, justice professionals, policymakers, employers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders.
For 18 years, C4JI has created a space where people with lived experience and professional expertise come together to learn from one another, challenge traditional approaches, and build meaningful connections. Our work is grounded in a simple belief: those closest to the challenges must have a voice in creating the solutions.
This year's conference, Crack the Cube — Building Economic Justice, explores what becomes possible when we look beyond incarceration and address the barriers that shape a person's ability to rebuild their life and contribute to their community. Housing, employment, entrepreneurship, financial stability, family connection, education, healing, and public safety are not separate issues — they are interconnected pieces of the same system.
Rather than a traditional conference where participants simply listen, C4JI creates an interactive environment for conversation, collaboration, and action. Participants are invited to share knowledge, lived experience, questions, resources, and ideas — and to leave with new relationships and practical possibilities.
Our goal is not simply to talk about change. It is to connect the people who can help create it.
Connecting 4 Justice began with one social worker who saw what others often overlooked.
Carolyn Esparza, MSW, witnessed firsthand how incarceration affected far more than the person behind the walls. Children missed parents. Families carried financial and emotional burdens. Communities inherited the consequences. And too often, the voices of those most affected were missing from the conversation.
Carolyn believed that bringing people together could change that.
She created a space where families, returning citizens, professionals, and people working within the justice system could sit at the same table, listen to one another, and begin imagining something different.
Today, we carry that vision forward.
Crack the Cube represents the barriers that can keep people and communities from moving forward — barriers created by incarceration, poverty, housing instability, limited employment opportunities, financial exclusion, and disconnected systems.
We gather because breaking down those barriers requires more than one program, one organization, or one sector. It requires connection, collaboration, and the belief that people are more than the circumstances that have defined them.
This conference is an invitation to step outside the silos, bring lived experience and professional expertise together, and ask a bigger question:
That is why we gather. That is how we begin to Crack the Cube.
Our Mission — To inspire people to unite and make a difference in the carceral systems.
Our Vision — To cultivate a more empathetic world for anyone impacted by the carceral systems.
Our Goals — To apply a holistic focus by inspiring positive changes in all persons impacted by carceral systems and to provide a safe space for people across all disciplines and backgrounds to share and discuss innovative solutions towards a just carceral system.
Established in 2009 by Carolyn Esparza under the auspices of Community Solutions of El Paso, a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated since 2001 to supporting children and families affected by the criminal justice system, this initiative was created to address three critical barriers hindering the successful reintegration of returning citizens and their families:
Shame, embarrassment, and fear often kept families impacted by incarceration from sharing their experiences. After leaving prison, many returning citizens and their loved ones sought to bury the painful experience altogether. This silence prevented the broader community from seeing and recognizing the remarkable individuals and strengths within these families.
Silence and shame created an Empathy Gap — an invisible barrier that could hinder successful reintegration into family and community life. Community members interacted with former prisoners, worshipped alongside families impacted by incarceration, and attended school with their children, often unaware of the experiences, challenges, and pain they carried.
Incarceration affects entire families and communities, often creating lasting trauma and disconnection. When people lack personal connection to those impacted by incarceration, fear and misunderstanding can take the place of empathy. This disconnect can prevent communities from recognizing the exceptional intelligence, talents, resilience, and potential of returning citizens and their families — both personally and professionally.
The belief was — and remains — that bringing people together can create a ripple effect, opening new channels for connection, understanding, and empathy while helping bridge this critical gap.
This Think Tank brings together people working inside and outside the carceral system across reentry, workforce development, AI and technology, healing and trauma, families, faith-based organizations, entrepreneurship, community safety, and economic opportunity to explore one powerful question:
We aren't just talking about problems. We're building solutions.
Bring your idea. Bring your experience. Bring your dream. Leave with a plan, partners, and possibilities.
Crack the cube. Break down the silos. Build something better — together.
| Time | Session / Activity | Speaker(s) | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | Breakfast opens for hotel guests | — | Dining Room |
| 7:00 AM | Registration opens in front of the Alamo Ballroom (downstairs) | — | Alamo |
| 8:00 AM | Conference Begins | Kayla Victor | Alamo |
| 8:30 AM | Conversations, Experiences and Meaningful Conversations | Tolliny Rankins | Alamo |
| 9:15 AM | Break | — | — |
| 9:30 AM | WORKSHOP — How to Stretch a Dollar: Financial Stability | Ann Edenfield-Sweet | Concepcion |
| 9:30 AM | WORKSHOP — The Trauma–Incarceration Connection: Trauma & Healing | Ranae Van Roekel | Valero |
| 10:30 AM | Break | — | — |
| 10:45 AM | WORKSHOP — Reentry: A Hoax? Systems & Policy | Taylor Pickett Stokes | Concepcion |
| 10:45 AM | WORKSHOP — Tech, Trauma & True Colors: Technology & Innovation | Dr. Tiffany Simmons & Lea Douglin | Valero |
| Noon | Lunch | — | Alamo |
| 1:00 PM | Keynote: A Candid Conversation with Dave Dahl, Founder of Dave's Killer Bread | Dave Dahl & Kayla Victor | Alamo |
| 1:45 PM | Break | — | — |
| 2:00 PM | WORKSHOP — Parenting Inside Out | Sparrow Whitchurch | Concepcion |
| 2:00 PM | WORKSHOP — Building Workforce Programs That Work | Kate Lunger | Valero |
| 3:00 PM | Break | — | — |
| 3:15 PM | From Ideas To Opportunity | Terrence Sampson, Chuck VanRenterghem, Bryan Robert | Alamo |
| 4:15 PM | Session name to be added | Tolliny Rankins, Th.D | Alamo |
| 5:00–7:00 PM | Dinner on your own | — | — |
| 7:00 PM | SPECIAL SESSION — Documentary screening and shared conversation | Joshua Underhill & Carla Grant | Alamo |
| Time | Session / Activity | Speaker(s) | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | Breakfast opens for hotel guests | — | Dining Room |
| 7:30 AM | Registration opens in front of the Alamo Ballroom (downstairs) | — | Alamo |
| 8:00 AM | Conference Begins | Kayla Victor | Alamo |
| 8:00 AM | Lived Experience • Leadership • Community | Michel'le McDowell, Karley Kalinch, Richard Jones | Alamo |
| 9:10 AM | Rewriting the Narrative: Youth, Stigma & Public Perception | Shivam Nagawanshi, Tanveer Virdi, Mukesh Uvarasan | Alamo |
| 9:45 AM | Break | — | — |
| 10:00 AM | WORKSHOP — Healing, Building & Reimagining Justice | Leticia Longoria-Navarro & Victor Trillo | Concepcion |
| 10:00 AM | WORKSHOP — Beyond Reentry: A Whole-Person Approach to Reintegration | Joline Scott Roller & Scott McCune | Valero |
| 11:00 AM | Break | — | — |
| 11:15 AM | WORKSHOP — Make It Undeniable | Joe Watson | Concepcion |
| 11:15 AM | WORKSHOP — Healing Generational Trauma | Kelly Purselley | Valero |
| 12:15 PM | Lunch | — | Alamo |
| 1:00 PM | THINK TANK — DO TANK | Robin Davidson & Kayla Victor | Alamo |
| 5:00 PM | Break for dinner on your own | — | — |
| Time | Session / Activity | Speaker(s) | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | Breakfast opens for hotel guests | — | Dining Room |
| 7:30 AM | Registration opens in front of the Alamo Ballroom (downstairs) | — | Alamo |
| 8:00 AM | Conference Begins | Kayla Victor | Alamo |
| 8:30 AM | What Did The Cube Teach Us | Audience Engagement | Alamo |
| 9:00 AM | Integration Circles | Audience Engagement | Alamo |
| 10:00 AM | Break | — | Alamo |
| 10:15 AM | From Connection To Action — Taking This Home | Audience Engagement | Alamo |
| 10:15 AM | Commitment Wall | Audience Engagement | Alamo |
| 10:45 AM | Carrying The Cube Forward | Audience Engagement | Alamo |
| 11:15 AM | Closing Circle and Send Off | Audience Engagement | Alamo |
We Look Forward To Seeing You Next Year
Join us for a Dutch Treat Gathering on Tuesday evening before the conference! A "Dutch treat" simply means that each person pays their own way. This informal gathering is a great opportunity to connect with other attendees who have arrived early, make some new connections, and put a few familiar faces in the room before the conference officially begins tomorrow.
7:00 AM — Registration Opens. Breakfast & Connection: for those staying at the hotel, gather with us before the conference begins. Start your day with breakfast at 6:00 AM, conversation, and an opportunity to meet the people who may become part of your community, your next collaboration, or your next big idea.
See the pieces differently. The cube isn't just a symbol — it represents the barriers people encounter every day, and the systems that can keep those barriers in place. Today, we begin turning the cube. Look differently. Listen deeply. Connect intentionally.
Why are we here? Where do we go from here? We begin three days of connection, challenge, storytelling, and action. Together, we'll explore what becomes possible when we bring different experiences, perspectives, and systems into the same conversation.
Forget the usual conference introduction. Start with the people in the room. Your story. Your experience. Your questions. Your ideas. You are not just attending this conference — you are part of it.
9:15–9:30 AM — Break
When every dollar has to work harder, financial knowledge can become a pathway to stability, opportunity, and independence. This session explores practical ways to make the most of limited resources and create greater financial stability for individuals and families.
Behind every statistic is a person, a family, and a story. What happens when we understand incarceration through a trauma-informed lens? Explore the connection between trauma and incarceration — and what healing can look like for individuals, families, and communities.
10:30–11:00 AM — Break
We call it reentry. But what happens when the door opens and the barriers are still there? Let's challenge what we think we know about returning home and examine the systems, policies, and expectations that can make rebuilding a life so difficult.
Technology can connect, empower, and transform — but only when we remember the human being on the other side of the screen. Explore what happens when technology, trauma awareness, and authentic human connection come together.
Noon–1:00 PM — Lunch & Connection. Because some of the most important conversations happen between sessions.
What happens when someone is given a second chance? Sometimes they get a job. Sometimes they get to go home. Sometimes they rebuild a relationship. And sometimes, they build a company. Dave Dahl's story challenges us to see human potential where others see a record, and to rethink what economic opportunity can mean for people returning home. Dave and Kayla will explore second chances, entrepreneurship, fair-chance employment, economic mobility, and what becomes possible when we invest in people. Followed by Q&A.
1:45–2:00 PM — Break
When incarceration changes a family, parenting doesn't stop. Explore the connections, challenges, and possibilities for families navigating life on both sides of the walls — and the importance of keeping relationships, identity, and hope at the center.
Employment can be more than a paycheck. It can be a bridge to stability, dignity, purpose, and economic mobility. What does it take to build workforce programs that actually work — and create meaningful opportunities for people who have traditionally been left out?
3:00–3:15 PM — Break
What happens when systems, capital, leadership, and lived experience come together? This conversation brings the day's ideas into one room and challenges us to think beyond traditional solutions. Because economic justice isn't created by one person or one organization — it happens when we connect the pieces.
Before we close the day's sessions, we'll pause to reflect, connect, and identify the ideas and conversations we want to carry forward. What did you hear? What challenged you? What connection did you make? What piece of the cube might you help move?
Oregon nonprofit Open Hearts Open Minds, which brings arts programming into prisons, presents A Midsummer Night's Dream in Prison, a documentary exploring the transformative power of theater, creativity, and human connection.
Inside the locked walls of Two Rivers Correctional Institution near Umatilla, Oregon, cell doors slide open as a group of adults in custody begins working with visiting theater director Johnny Stallings. Over several months, they cast, rehearse, and perform William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream — a story of love, conflict, reconciliation, and transformation.
Iraqi-born Portland filmmaker Bushra Azzouz is there throughout the process, capturing costume fittings, meals around plastic lunch trays, rehearsals, and deeply personal conversations. Through her lens, we see barriers soften, meaningful relationships form, and personal stories begin to be reimagined.
The one-hour documentary concludes with an interactive Q&A featuring participants from the program, allowing audiences to engage directly with those who experienced the program and explore the impact of art, relationships, and belonging.
Cracking the Cube Through the Arts. At C4JI, Crack the Cube — Building Economic Justice asks us to look beyond the walls, labels, and systems that can limit human potential. This film offers a powerful example of what happens when we create space for people to express themselves, develop their talents, build relationships, and be seen for more than their incarceration. Sometimes, cracking the cube begins by opening a door — and inviting someone to step through it.
7:30 AM — Registration Opens. Breakfast & Connection: gather with us before the conference begins, starting at 6:00 AM.
We begin the day by bringing lived experience, leadership, and community perspective into the conversation. Different experiences. Different perspectives. One shared opportunity: listen, learn, connect.
Three young people. Three voices. One powerful question: who gets to tell the story? Hear from the next generation as they challenge assumptions and rethink the narratives surrounding justice, incarceration, and the people impacted by both. Sometimes changing the story is the first step toward changing the system.
9:45–10:00 AM — Break
Storytelling & Systems Change. Stories can reveal what statistics cannot. Explore how lived experience, authentic storytelling, and human connection can become catalysts for healing, understanding, and systems change.
Returning home is more than walking through a gate. What happens when we look beyond the moment of release and address the whole person — their relationships, health, housing, employment, identity, and hopes for the future?
11:00–11:15 AM — Break
Advocacy & Communications. If people don't understand the story, they may never understand the need for change. Explore how powerful communication can transform an issue into a movement — and turn awareness into action.
Community Support. Trauma doesn't always end with one generation. Explore what it takes to interrupt cycles, create connection, strengthen families, and build communities where healing can take root.
Noon–1:00 PM — Lunch & Connection. Make room for the conversation: some of the most important moments of a conference don't happen on stage.
Now it's your turn. This is where the conference changes. There is no front of the room, no spectators, no expectation that one person has all the answers. Instead, the room becomes the resource. Bring your questions, your experience, the problem you've been trying to solve, the idea you've been carrying, your successes and your failures. Learn. Teach. Challenge. Collaborate. Build.
Interactive Think Tank Breakouts — small-group conversations designed to move from ideas → to possibilities → to action. Participants will explore challenges, share solutions, identify opportunities, and build connections across the boundaries that too often keep us working in silos. Because the person sitting next to you may have the experience you need, the organization across the room may have the connection you've been looking for, and the idea you've been holding onto may be exactly what someone else needs.
7:30 AM — Registration Opens. Breakfast & Connection, starting at 6:00 AM. One last morning with your reflection circle — come ready to share what's changed since Wednesday.
10:00–10:15 AM — Break
We extend our deepest gratitude to our extraordinary presenters for generously sharing their knowledge, experience, and valuable time.
Many may not realize that our presenters register well in advance of the conference, and a portion of their registration fees helps provide scholarships for prison family members.
Reach out to us for more details on how you can become a speaker and share your insights on a global stage. Contact Kayla@Connecting4Justice.org.
Event Location: Drury Plaza Hotel Stone Oak, 823 North Loop 1604 East, San Antonio, Texas 78232
Breakout Room locations: Concepcion (Main Level) and Valero (Lower Level). See the map above for hotel entrance, elevators, registration, vendor tables, and stairs between levels.
Thank you for being here every step of the way — for all the countless emails, calls, and helping us get here.
The AIAC Task Force is committed to providing resources that empower families, giving validity and credibility to advocating for criminal justice reform. The resulting research and documentation is posted publicly to be available to use as talking points when advocating with legislators and criminal justice officials.
Dr. Avon Hart-Johnson, C4J, AIAC Chair
Michel'Le McDowell, AIAC Co-Chair
Ms. Kayla Victor, Chair, Connecting 4 Justice International
To be included as an Advocacy in Action Coalition member, please send your request for further information to kayla@connecting4justice.org.
Thank you to our vendors for their support.
Prison Families Alliance strengthens families impacted by incarceration through peer support, trusted resources, and compassionate guidance. Learn more at prisonfamiliesalliance.org.
Hired After Bars is the world's first youth-founded international organization, reducing recidivism through connecting formerly incarcerated individuals to employment.
Offers workshops (youth support, arrest/court/incarceration, trauma recovery, empowerment, family reentry), webinars led by peers and professionals, and a podcast featuring stories from people impacted by incarceration, law enforcement, and legal counsel. Learn more at PrisonTheHiddenSentence.com.
Dedicated to advocating for the wellbeing of children with incarcerated parents. Learn more at inccip.org.
Provides programs and educational opportunities to marginalized populations. The Art Inside Out program makes better neighbors out of the formerly incarcerated.
JAM is OJN's flagship program designed to prevent youth misconduct through support and mentorship provided by people with lived experience of the juvenile and criminal legal systems.
A nonprofit organization that works to empower children of incarcerated parents in South Carolina and Florida by providing educational enrichment, social support, and positive mentoring.
Together, we can make a lasting impact. Connecting 4 Justice International invites organizations, advocates, and community leaders to join us in building pathways toward safer, stronger, and more compassionate communities.
Partnerships are at the heart of our work — uniting voices, sharing resources, and creating innovative solutions for justice reform and community well-being. Let's collaborate to amplify change, support families, and reimagine what true justice can look like.
Join us in this movement. Let's connect, collaborate, and create a safer future — together.
Call or email us to find out more: 915-861-7733 or Kayla@Connecting4Justice.org
Special thank you to Sarah Slomovic and the Houston Starbucks Team for your donation.
For being here every step of the way. All the countless emails, calls, and helping us get here.
Questions? Reach out to Kayla@Connecting4Justice.org.
Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you next year.
International Prisoners' Family Conference
dba Connecting 4 Justice International
503-799-7084 · Kayla@Connecting4Justice.org
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