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The Center for Equity and Restorative Justice

College Unbound’s Center for Equity and Restorative Justice brings together a range of existing programs, combining theory and practice to bring our learning to the larger community. All activities of the Center focus on bringing issues of equity to the community and repairing family and community relationships. 

Prison Education Program at College Unbound

The Prison Education Program at College Unbound is designed to increase post-secondary graduation rates for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated adult learners looking to complete their bachelor’s degrees. The framework is rooted in our innovative interest-based/ project-based curriculum combining students' academic work with their passions and interests. CU integrates the students’ own purposes for learning with the needs of their communities, improving the lives of the students and the lives of those they touch. Students work through a-15 credit curriculum inside the prison with the support of CU mentors and professors. Once outside, students continue to receive support through a case manager, a gateway transition course, and enrollment in CU’s Bachelor Degree program.

Rhode Island Welcome Back Center 

The Rhode Island Welcome Back Center focuses on helping international professionals enhance their abilities, become employable and achieve their dreams. These trained professionals are highly skilled and internationally trained but need assistance with adapting their skills to the local workforce and a higher level occupation. The RIWBC provides a comprehensive continuum of services including career planning and English Language instruction.  The partnership with College Unbound enables the Welcome Back Center to expand the range of services offered to immigrant professionals. 

The Center will also be home to our advocacy work, research and publications in order to share our learning and provide a national model for returning adult education. The work of the Center focuses on a simple belief: “Do It Just.” We will honor the great work already in progress to advance equity and restorative justice both at our center and beyond. We will bring together the best minds in America and abroad, to talk about, write about, and implement what these scholars and practitioners have learned in their own settings through conferences and publications. The result will be a nation best able to use their people at all stages of life in the new economy and in the complex dynamics of life in America in the years ahead. 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In order to honor high school students and adult learners who are committed to equity and restorative justice in their life and work, we have established The “Do It Just” Award. In August we presented our first two “Do It Just” Awards to Leila Alves, current Met student, and Rosa Rosario, current CU student, for their work in fighting for a more just world.

 

Layla’s work at The Met has revolved around helping other find justice, opportunity and equality as she has discovered her own voice. She excelled interning with pre-school students, helped fight for an ethnic studies program in the Providence school system and documented its pilot year, and organized a city wide Inauguration Day student walkout with 150,000 views on her Facebook Live feed of the event. Layla has also shown leadership as a 3 year member of Met student government, founding a chapter of the national anti-gun violence organization Students Demand Action and training advisories across The Met in designing websites to showcase their internship work.