With more than 23 years of lived experience, incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, Jon-Adrian Velasquez has worked tirelessly to redefine the humanity of the men living inside. For more than a decade, he served as the chairman of the Inmate Liaison Committee and became the voice of the incarcerated population at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. In that role, he established a unique rapport with the prison’s administration and implemented a host of programs to improve his life and the lives of those around him. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Mercy College, where he majored in Behavioral Science. He is also a Teacher Fellow of Columbia University. Additionally, Jon-Adrian is a certified Paralegal who has worked with NBC Producer Dan Slepian to help several innocent men obtain exonerations. Jon-Adrian has seized every opportunity to learn, to lead, to support, and to give, which earned him an early release via executive clemency—a rare and honorable accomplishment that attests to the moral fiber of his character. True to the terms of his clemency, he will continue the work he started inside on the outside with the Douglass Project.