Introducing the Women’s Leadership & Media Project Series
The Women’s Leadership & Media Project (WLMP)—or, as my colleague Rebecca says just to vex me, “Wulump”—is a professional training program for formerly incarcerated women facilitated by the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) and, more specifically, me.
As a direct service agency, most of the women who come to WPA are in crisis. Their priorities are to avoid prison, find safe housing, and satisfy urgent mental health needs. Their priorities are not to help us explain to the world why WPA’s services are important. That, however, would be the most effective method for raising awareness of the many issues WPA addresses, sharing our successes, and gaining support for our work.
Enter WLMP: a program we created with the belief that, as the adage goes, those who are closest to the problem are closest to the solution. WPA Program Director, Eric Grossman, said it best when he noted how with their urgent needs, “Our clients also come to us with a great deal of resiliency and many strengths which often include their insight and ability to reflect on life experiences; empathy for others; commitment to family and community; and a desire to help others and make meaning from life events.”
So, why not just seat them on that panel or put them on the phone with that reporter? Because as incredible as our clients’ stories are, they are not easy to tell. Eighty-six percent of women in jail report a history of sexual violence, 77% report experiences of partner violence, and 60% report violence by a caregiver. This is not to mention that all of our clients have been in jail or prison or are at immediate risk of going there — which is traumatizing in itself. In its development, we knew WLMP needed to be trauma-informed, designed for women with some hindsight to their experience of incarceration, and offer as many benefits to them as it did to WPA. So, we developed a curriculum, recruited women with the help of our staff, and secured funding to provide the women with stipends in addition to the professional development opportunities we hoped the program would deliver.
“There’s a difference between the story you live and the story you tell.”
This past fall I facilitated the first class of WLMP for five women who spent 12 weeks making me laugh, cry, and thank my lucky stars I’d pursued a degree in social work. My colleague Rebecca, three dedicated volunteers, and a host of guest speakers provided the critical support I needed to train the women on competent communication; self-identity and narrative development; policy and advocacy; media literacy; and trauma-informed storytelling.
We took a field trip to Mic Media where writer Jamilah King reminded the women, “There’s a difference between the story you live and the story you tell,” and her words became our mantra. We worked hard to create a safe space where the women could practice and decide which stories they would live privately and which they would share for the purpose of effecting change. We listened as they recounted waking up from comas after being beaten by partners, self-medicating with dangerous drugs and self-harm, overcoming miscarriages, being separated from their children, and more. We were reminded over and over again that women don’t go to prison for being bad people but because a whole host of circumstances lead them to one moment in time. We watched as the women supported one another and vowed to change the systems that had presented them with so much pain despite the challenges and risk involved.
All five women graduated in February and have since participated in three panel discussions and been referred for several media opportunities. Four of the five decided to stay on for our second class and joined 13 new women at our first meeting this week. We are thrilled to see WLMP growing and our first meeting indicated that the 13 new voices will be more impactful than ever. Starting with this post, Rebecca and our volunteers will be guest blogging as part of our special Women’s Leadership & Media Series. They’ll share their experiences as we learn from this new group what we can do about our broken criminal justice system. We hope you will follow our progress and be inspired to join the effort to create safer, more just communities while supporting these women in their courageous effort to lead the charge.
Learn more about the Women’s Leadership & Media Project here.
Diana McHugh is the Director of Communications at the Women’s Prison Association.
