Larry White

Larry White is the Community Advocate and Policy Liaison for the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy (DRCPP) at The Fortune Society. In his role, he has worked to hold leaders of the Correctional system accountable, requiring that they are more responsive to the communities and the people that are most impacted by the criminal justice system. Furthermore, Mr. White works constantly to impact the lives of formerly incarcerated people by assisting in the development and advancement of Fortune’s criminal justice policy advocacy agenda. He is also active in creating various opportunities for staff, clients, and constituents to engage policy-makers to impact criminal justice policy reform.

Prior to this position, during his 32 years of imprisonment, Mr. White served as a founder and chairman of a number of reform organizations whose missions were to assist individuals within the custody of the New York State Department of Correctional Services (NYDOCS) in rehabilitation an efforts. As a program developer and facilitator with NYSDOCS, Mr. White developed correctional empowerment programs designed to address the problems of prison adjustment from a cultural perspective. Mr. White was also a primary advocate for prison college education; he sponsored study groups for both the elderly and the general community, and contributed to the creation of programs that included the Quaker-sponsored Alternative to Violence Program. The expanded number of organizations and study groups found in maximum security state prisons are a direct result of Mr. White’s dedicated efforts. He also worked to organize the first lifer organization and collaborated in the founding of the first prison chapter of the NAACP in New York State at Auburn Prison in 1970.
Mr. White played a key role in the success of the Annual Family Empowerment events hosted by the Prison Action Network (for which Mr. White serves as Primary Advocate), which work to mobilize the families and supporters of those incarcerated in New York state prisons. Organized around the burning issue of parole, the Fourth Annual Family Empowerment Day at Columbia University culminated in the founding of the Coalition for Fair Criminal Justice Policies, a community–based organization composed of the families and supporters who seek input in the development of state parole and correctional policies. Through the Doing Justice Coalition, he motivates interfaith groups to get involved in political action in order to minister more concretely to those in prison.

Mr. White currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Center for Law and Justice, Inc.; the Advisory Board of the Prison Action Network; the Advisory Board of the Exodus New Life Agenda; and as Primary Advocate for the Riverside Church Prison Ministry.  In addition, Mr. White serves as Advisor to the Religious Society of Friends Prison Committee and is the Director of Hope Lives for Lifers Project, a start-up program that provides guidance and direction to incarcerated individuals serving life, long-term and life-without-parole sentences, as well as for those who require special orientation programs and adjustment services that encourage them to live purposeful and productive lives while in prison.

Because of the scope of Mr. White’s undeniable passion and efforts to reform the criminal justice system, spanning almost four decades and affecting the lives of thousands of constituents, Mr. White is awarded the Citizens Against Recidivism Life Time Achievement Award.  Mr. White is an innovator, pioneer and a true catalyst for positive change. At the age of 76, Mr. White continues to selflessly dedicate his time and energy to assisting this population, working long days, and volunteering endless hours of his evenings and weekends, in an effort to affect meaningful change.