Getting to Know: Joanna Lehrer

Founder of LEDi / LEDout

In 2013–2014, there were approximately 38,000 people, both adult and youth, incarcerated on any given day in Canada. Unfortunately, these high numbers also leave space for many errors, including hundreds of prisoners who have yet to have a trial or plead guilty, and are simply waiting to go to court.

Joanna Lehrer, a criminal defence lawyer in Toronto, knows these numbers all too well. She also knows the downfall of housing assumed innocent individuals in jail, and its repercussions on society in the long run. “It turns out that’s not only when people in prison need it most, but when it benefits society: keeping people out of prison when they don’t need to be there and preventing them from returning will stop crime and save the province millions of dollars,” she states. Through her program LEDi, as well as a mobile application (LEDout), Joanna aims to connect people leaving prison to the services they need — such as employment, education, accessible legal information and more. “It’s my professional responsibility to convince them otherwise, even though these people have made the healthiest, most rationale decision. It’s an untenable situation, not only for people detained on remand, but for the integrity of the professionals working with them, and for the justice system as a whole. It’s no-one’s fault but it`s everyone`s responsibility — just like democracy,” she says.

Whether you’re interested in helping fund the re-entry app, or have the ability to employ a legal education peer mentor (someone who’s been through the justice system), you can read more about it on Joanna’s website, follow her on Twitter (@JoannaLehrer), or even speak to her in person at her office in the Annex Centre for Social Innovation.

Story Written by Erin Ashley

Joanna is a participant in the Hook It Up program delivered by Socent7. Hook It Up is a support program for young social entrepreneurs in Ontario. Learn more at www.hookitup.ca.

**END OF PROGRAM UPDATE** Joanna has created a series of prototypes for her app concept, tested them with key stakeholders, and built a coalition of partners to support her next steps. Her message to other young entrepreneurs: “Find ways to connect in person with leaders in the areas you need to integrate into your venture. They will move your work forward”.