From Campaign to Organization: Growing the Second Chance Movement through the Clean Slate Initiative
Did you know that in June 2018, Pennsylvania became the first state in the nation to enact Clean Slate legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support? The effort is notable not only because it made a tangible impact on the day-to-day lives of millions of people — but it was also a moment that sparked a movement.
Shortly after Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate legislation was enacted, a coalition of over 25 bipartisan organizations came together and launched a campaign focusing on replicating Clean Slate’s success in PA and bringing those policies to other states.
Out of those partnerships, in late 2018, The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) was born. Our efforts focused on building power to achieve and sustain policy wins that expand and automate record relief so that more people could break free of their records, regain access to good jobs, housing, and education opportunities, and better contribute to their communities and our nation’s economy.
The spark that grew from Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law quickly caught fire. By 2020, four more states had enacted Clean Slate policies, and the issue was one of the few legal system reforms capable of garnering bipartisan support. In 2020, The Clean Slate Initiative hired its first professional staff members, starting us on the trajectory that led us to where we are today — leading the movement for second chances.
Under Sheena Meade’s leadership, CSI has built powerful grassroots campaigns in states, supported the passage of Clean Slate policies on the state level, and worked with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to build support for much-needed federal Clean Slate legislation.
By the end of 2022, our organization had grown to 11 team members, and Clean Slate policies had been passed in 10 states.
As we dive into 2023, we’re excited to continue the growth of our organization, build on the success of our work, and help fuel the Clean Slate movement on the state and federal levels.
Since the start of the year, we’ve
hired three new team members, adding depth and leadership to our legislative, research, and granting efforts,
established a monthly newsletter to ensure stakeholders across the country and political spectrums are in the loop as our movement grows in size, power, and influence (you can opt-in to our emails here),
identified the need to find a new office space to serve as our home base and meet the needs of a fast-growing organization, and
begun the important internal work to ensure that our professional infrastructure is worthy of serving the advocacy infrastructure we’ve built with partners while creating a movement dedicated to ensuring everyone has a second chance.
In a short time, we’ve gone from being an ambitious campaign to a rapidly-growing organization, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our partners, supporters, team, and donors. Thank you for being part of the Clean Slate movement.
In the coming months, we expect to share more exciting updates about the growth of our organization. Stay tuned!