NARSOL is proud to announce its officers for 2025 and the new board member who have joined its ranks.

Organizational officers are Brenda Jones as executive director, Robin Vanderwall as board chair, and Paul Shannon as board vice-chair. Sandy Rozek is secretary, and Philip Kaso has the position of treasurer.

Last year, when NARSOL announced the opening for applications for board members, among those who applied were three who each possessed skills and abilities the board was seeking. They were each uniquely qualified to hold the position of a NARSOL board member, and, as none of the current board were resigning, we voted unanimously to extend our number to twelve and seat all three of these outstanding candidates.

Amanda ******, like a significant number of other board member, brings the first-hand experience of having been incarcerated. Even during her 18 years of imprisonment, Amanda focused on personal growth and community service. She was a hospice volunteer, completed two apprenticeships, and continued working toward her degree. As an ambassador for the Iowa Consortium for Higher Education in Prison (I.C.H.E.P), she gained essential advocacy skills that would shape her future endeavors. In May 2023, Amanda earned her associate degree from Iowa Central Community College.

In January 2024, she joined NARSOL’s affiliated organization Iowans Unafraid. She was elected executive director in September 2024 and has helped the organization launch support groups for families and individuals on the registry, enhance community outreach efforts, and expand its board. Amanda also is engaged in her local LGBTQ+ community and a variety of other advocacy and community organizations.

Matthew Snell has been involved with NARSOL for quite a few years; as copy editor of the Digest, he is a valuable member of the Digest staff and now is also on the board of directors. As a seminarian, Matt is deeply engaged with nonprofit and ecclesiastical communications. He has experience as a grassroots organizer, a former intelligence analyst, and a teacher. Matt completed two deployments during his Army career; his teaching fields were Government and U.S. and World History.

Matt considers a pivotal moment in his life when he joined the small percentage of individuals who take criminal accusations to trial. After nearly three years of pretrial incarceration for an alleged sex crime, he was found not guilty. This experience inspired his dedication to advocating for justice-impacted people and pursuing criminal justice reform. Matt’s extensive experience with public speaking, lobbying, fundraising, and grant writing will serve NARSOL well.

As a returning citizen and advocate for criminal justice reform, Christopher Sparks understands first-hand what enables a person to succeed as well as the barriers that lead to failure. He frequently shares his experience as a panelist at criminal and social justice conferences, dispelling misinformation about persons with past sexual offenses and raising awareness of the damaging impact that the registry has on families.

Chris is a native Floridian and holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Theological Studies, is a married father of four, and has twenty years of experience as a successful business manager in the building fabrication industry.  In his early adult years, a single decision changed the direction of his intended future, and he experienced a life of extreme restrictions placed on him by the criminal legal system.  Determined to prove his value to the community, he sought out opportunities, built relationships with decision-makers, and became a top-level company employee and eventual supervisor responsible for the safety and well-being of his staff.  Under Chris’ management, the company consistently exceeded annual sales projections and new business development goals. He brings that same drive, motivation, and vision to NARSOL, where his focus is on developing goals and projections for a NARSOL affiliate organization in each state.  Chris also serves on the board of Florida Action Committee (FAC) where he oversees the research and legal team and mentors regional coordinators who are the membership leaders of the organization.

NARSOL’s new board of twelve is excited about 2025 and the strides that can be made toward impacting laws and practices that affect our supporters.

The post NARSOL elects officers, adds new board members first appeared on NARSOL.

By Eastern University . . . In 2008, David Garlock ’17 found himself in a hopeless situation. He had served over 8 years of a 25 year sentence in prison, alongside his brother, for taking the life of their abuser after many years of abuse.

A client of the Equal Justice Initiative, David found himself in conversation with Bryan Stevenson ’81, PhD ’99 (HD). Bryan gave David hope for his future and encouraged him to apply to Eastern University to start fresh. David was inspired to consider how his passion for educating the next generation on rehabilitation could lead to advocacy for an effective and equitable justice system. In 2014, David’s parole was moved from Alabama to Pennsylvania, and his journey at Eastern began. . . .

From that point on, David has been an amazing example of how the past does not define the future.

This year, David has been named Eastern’s Distinguished Young Alumnus of the Year. David Garlock is a successful returning citizen, reentry professional, and criminal justice reform advocate. He has made an impact working on campaigns to abolish death by incarceration, create geriatric parole programs, and reinstitute Pell Grant funding for incarcerated students. He serves as a board member for the National Association for Rational Sex Offense Laws, the Pennsylvania Association for Rational Sex Offense Laws, the Pennsylvania Reentry Council, and the Eastern University Prison Education Program.

Read the complete piece here at Eastern University.

The post NARSOL director given award first appeared on NARSOL.

By Sandy . . . January 5 – 7 the board directors of NARSOL and its foundation Vivante Espero gathered in Boston, Massachusetts, for its annual strategic planning retreat. All of the combined fourteen directors were in attendance, eleven in person and three by Zoom. During these yearly events, the boards map out their advocacy priorities for the coming year, set deadlines, and assign tasks.

As a national civil rights advocacy group led by two boards of directors from thirteen different states, it’s vital to NARSOL’s long-term success that the directors meet face-to-face at least once a year in order to maintain the collegiality and professional cooperation that are hallmark principles of corporate governance.

NARSOL’s board retreats are anything but relaxing with sessions beginning at 9 a.m. each morning. The pace is grueling, exhausting, and sometimes intense as directors don’t always agree while discussing important matters on the agenda.

Friday was devoted to contemplating the future and where we envisioned this advocacy movement being a few years down the road. We scrutinized the statements of purpose and decided that, while we might want to do a little “wordsmithing,” they still reflect who NARSOL is and what it stands for, with both the vision and mission  statements making clear our desire and purpose to see dehumanizing registries abolished and, in the meantime, to fight for the constitutional rights of citizens affected by them. We also reviewed NARSOL’s membership model and thoroughly discussed various options and possibilities related to the topic. This went into the yearly and long-range goals and target areas that were the focus of Saturday’s work.

Saturday was the longest and most intense day. The morning was spent on a variety of topics that directors and state groups had introduced throughout the year, and they were added to the long-range planning documents developed in the afternoon.

Items such as advocate training programs, an enhanced attorney partner program, membership, a timeline for litigation, mental health support, an enhanced program of partnership with other organizations, and social media are just some of the goals that were thoroughly discussed and added or retained on our yearly work chart. Directors volunteered and were assigned “ownership” of the projects they were interested in, and deadlines were set for completion.

Sunday morning was devoted to budget, donations, and expenditures for 2023 and the development of a budget for 2024. After discussing and listing each activity needed to accomplish all of the agreed-upon goals, a 2024 budget was developed.

The planning retreat ended with NARSOL’s future goals firmly in the directors’ minds and their energy renewed for the tasks of the year ahead, stronger than ever in their resolve never to give up this fight. It is important because every man, woman, and child for whom NARSOL fights is important. Its organizational goals and beliefs are important. Fighting for the dignity and the constitutional rights of all is not only important; it is the most important thing this organization will ever do.

The post 2024 NARSOL and Vivante boards gather for plotting out future growth and success first appeared on NARSOL.