Incarceration Nations Network

Dan is co-Director of DWRM Consultants, a community-interest company that works with universities to offer a wide range of degree courses to students in prison. 

Dan dedicated himself to establishing DWRM Consultants while navigating the challenges of leaving prison. He has led on the creation of a peer-mentor support programme offering education and employment coaching and support for people leaving prison, based on personal understanding of the gaps in provision. From a starting point of no educational attainment, Dan achieved undergraduate and postgraduate degrees while in prison and is now studying for a PhD in criminology.

Keketso Jabari is a 32-year-old African formerly incarcerated male residing in Cape Town, South Africa. Born and raised in the Langa township, he is on the path of not letting his past determine his future Having earned his LLB degree, which he began while incarcerated, he is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Family Law and is an active, enthusiastic member of the Ubuntu Learning Community, a prison-university partnership with Stellenbosch University. He strives to encourage change by sharing his past experiences fighting drug abuse with the safety patrol of his home town.

Daniel, an Afro-Latin American, is 26 years old and lives on the outskirts of Manguinhos. He is a teacher, a pedagogical trainer for the organization Elas Existem, and a student of Pedagogy at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, where he belongs to the Human Rights Defenders Network.

Thulani Derrick Ndlovu is a dedicated person and human being who—while serving an 18-year sentence in Johannesburg and later Boksburg Correctional Centre—had a long and hard conversation with himself. There, Thulani was instrumental in founding the Siyanakekela Support Group, peer educators on HIV and TB in prison. In 2013, they took on the prison administation to secure antiretroviral treatment for those living with HIV at Boksburg Correctional Centre. Since his release in November 2014, Thulani registered and co-directed the nonprofit organization he co-founded while in prison, Zonk`izizwe Odds Development (‘ZOD’), which educates incarcerated people about HIV and AIDS, advocates for their rights and encourages community youth to stay away from crime. Thulani has represented ZOD in the Human Rights Advocacy and Communications Working Group on the National Task Team on TB and HIV in Prisons, as well as on the South African National AIDS Council. He has published several academic articles, including one co-authored with Dr. Chris Hoffmann from John Hopkins University and one titled “‘Nothing About us Without Us!’ The Need for Inclusion of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals in Prison-Related Policymaking,” delivered at the 2017 edition of the University of Johannesburg’s International Conference on Incarceration and Social Justice. Thulani is currently doing a bridging course towards a BA in Sociology at University of Witswatersrand and works for The Aurum Institute as Research Assistant, collaborating with the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated on a daily basis.

Canaan is a lawyer and social worker by profession. He finished his LLB with the University of London, which he started while in prison in 2022. Canaan spent four years and six months in prison, having been initially sentenced to suffer death by the court martial. Currently, he works as a legal volunteer at Justice Defenders, which represents indigent prisoners to courts of law and trains people in prison and prison staff as lawyers and paralegals who can represent indigent prisoners. He loves cows and spending free time on the farm, and, as a practicing Christian, loves spending some time at the church. He also loves people and music.

Married and blessed with three children, Boxten is a paralegal officer with nine years experience working with non-governmental organizations promoting human rights and rule of law, being a voice for the voiceless in marginalized communities. He currently works with Centre for Human Rights, Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA), heading their Mwanza and Neno districts and establishing community legal clinics where community paralegals interpret common laws and statute. This work is especially critical because Malawi's laws were written in a foreign language and almost 78 percent of the population cannot read or write. 

Wesley is a PROUD FATHER OF two CHILDREN WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN BY his SIDE. His GOAL IN LIFE IS TO ENJOY EVERY MOMENT. BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN his THOUGHTS, PEOPLE in his life and ORGANISATIONS he is connected with IS his BIGGEST MOTIVATION. "KEEP LEARNING" IS his daily FOCUS; BY PLANTING POSITIVE SEEDS he TRies TO CONTRIBUTE TO OTHERS' WELL BEING. He is KIND, HUMBLE AND GRATEFUL--ASSETS he CONSTANTLY SHAREs WITH OTHERS. Wesley is a committed volunteer at Touche, an organization that uses boxing to engage with justice-involved individuals in Belgium.

Beatrice Hangwende, an Executive Administrative Officer with 25 years experience in nonprofit and government agencies as well as the private sector, holds a higher diploma in business administration from Peterborough College in the United Kingdom. In 2007, this mother of three children was arrested and charged with murder. She spent seven years attending court sessions between 2007 to 2013, when she was finally sentenced to death. In 2018, she received a presidential pardon for good behavior and her death sentence was reduced to 20 years; on September 4, 2020, she was released from prison. While in prison, Beatrice was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by the Zambian government, working in conjunction with the Ministry of Gender to champion women's rights in all of the female correctional facilities in the country.She then founded her own organization, Restorative Justice for Women Association. Beatrice is an avid advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, which the current government has accented to and implemented.

Joel Castón is the first person in the history of Washington, D.C. to be elected to public office while incarcerated. In 2020, he won a groundbreaking election garnering local and nationwide attention. Drawing on the wisdom of 27 years of direct involvement with the criminal justice system, Commissioner Castón works closely with the DC government, policymakers, advocacy groups, and organizations to change the culture of mass incarceration. Before assuming his role as commissioner, Castón was the co-founding mentor of the Young Men Emerging (YME) community at the DC Jail. In 2018, Castón self-published his popular investment modules, Currency Catchers, available on Amazon.

Since Castón’s November 2021 release, he has been appointed Treasurer of the ANC, 7F Commission Re-Entry Program Director, and Co-Chair of DC’s Redistricting Task Force. He has been contracted by the That’s a Plug’s Guns Down, Hands Up program to implement a financial literacy program for their young adult population. In June 2021, he became a consultant for the Justice Policy Institute, a renowned national research organization. Castón has been featured on ABC, BNC, NBC, NPR, Oxygen, Vice News, and myriad other broadcasts and publications. A hyper-polyglot, Castón is fluent in English and Spanish and speaks conversational French, introductory Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, also knowing basic phrases in Italian and Hindi.

At the tender age of 17, Nicholas Khan was sent to prison for multiple charges. It was there, with the help of a fellow incarcerated person serving a life sentence, that he learned to read. After being introduced to the book “The Rose That Grew From Concrete,” by the late Tupac Shakur, he found a passion for poetry. Using an illegal phone inside the prison, he began to share his stories and words, gaining recognition for his work. Through this he met his book publisher and published two books of poetry. Nicholas's success caught the eye of the Commissioner of Prisons at the time, who, instead of getting Nicholas into trouble, provided him with the opportunity to mentor youth in schools and promote his books on local television and radio stations. Finding a passion for spoken word performance, Nicholas became the first incarcerated person in Trinidad to have a public book launch and perform in a spoken word slam. He also started a T-shirt printing business with his younger brother, Dreamstar Branding, to prevent him from ending up on the wrong path.