Our Story
The NYREN was founded in 2009 when a group of like-minded individuals committed to improving the quality of and access to educational programs for justice-involved people came together to problem-solve and learn more about each other’s work. Forged with the dual conviction that there was an urgent need to make education a more central part of reentry strategies and that effecting large-scale, sustainable change on this issue would require cross-sector coordination, the NYREN has been collaborating for over three years to share information, educate stakeholders in reentry education, and mobilize around common issues impacting formerly incarcerated individuals in New York.
NYREN's capacity has developed through gradually building strong relationships and trust across sectors and roles, and those relationships have created a foundation for the Network to become increasingly strategic and systems-oriented in its approach to making education central in reentry. Distinct characteristics of the NYREN include its grassroots/organic development, the partnerships between community-based service providers, government, and academic institutions, the involvement of people at multiple levels and in different positions within their organizations, and its work on multiple levels, from individual interaction to large-scale institutions. |
Over the past two years, the Center for Institutional and Social Change (CISC) has been collaborating with the NYREN to develop their capacity to pursue their mission with a Collective Impact approach. This project stems from the same conviction that drives other Collective Impact projects – that cross-sector collaboration, coordination and shared vision and goals are necessary for large-scale change. In this case, the NYREN coalesced because of the realization that changing the landscape of reentry and shifting resources and priorities from incarceration to educational access and success required a fundamental shift in the orientation of work – from individual organizations’ pursuits to collective goals and strategies.