Monday, June 24, 2019
Staff report
WARREN
At its June board of directors meeting, The Raymond John Wean Foundation awarded The Ohio Transformation Fund a multiyear grant in support of its work to address the impact of mass criminalization and incarceration in Ohio’s communities.
OTF efforts include community organizing, policy advocacy and civic-engagement programs designed to change the state’s justice system from one of mass jailing, particularly of young people and people of color, to one based on stable families, economic security and access to healthcare and education.
OTF, its partners and grantees tackle issues such as bail reform, law enforcement accountability and the school-to-prison pipeline, according to a Wean Foundation news release.
Supporting the development of local civic engagement, the Wean Foundation awarded additional funding for OTF’s Leadership NOW: Ohio, an eight-month cross-sector fellowship program for emerging social-change leaders developed through a partnership with Rockwood Leadership Institute.
Of the 24 statewide participants that make up the 2019 cohort, a representation from the Mahoning Valley includes four Wean Foundation Emerging Leaders Program alumni: Dionne Dowdy, United Returning Citizens (’18), Keland Logan, The Colony Youngstown (’17), Miles Johnson, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (’16) and Chris Tennant, Thrive Mahoning Valley (’17).