Project 180 and Gulf Coast Community Foundation 

present the

2025 Strong Voices/Strong Subjects Luncheon Lecture

Constructing A New Workforce

Our 2025 season explores Project 180’s work as a prisoner reentry nonprofit where we turn dreams of a purposeful life into reality.

March 7, 2025. The Impact of Education

Join us March 7th to join national expert, Craig Miller, PhD as he addresses how we can “Construct A New Workforce” in the U.S. by expanding prison education programs.

Dr. Miller teaches at Penn College of Technology, the premier public college affiliated with nationally renowned Penn State University. Penn College of Technology offers hands-on, career-focused, applied programs in engineering, technology, business, and more.

Dr. Miller founded a state and federally funded post-secondary, in-prison education program in upstate New York and is replicating it in Pennsylvania as a co-founder of the Pennsylvania Higher Education in Prison Consortium. His thoughtful approach attracts million-dollar grant investments. Dr. Miller also teaches at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.

According to the RAND Corporation, “incarcerated people who participate in education programs are 48 percent less likely to recidivate than those who do not. The odds of recidivism decrease as incarcerated people achieve higher levels of education.” These findings are based on a recently updated, comprehensive study that analyzed rigorous research published from 1980 through 2017.

TBD 2025. “The Light They Cast”

Join us for our public premiere of “The Light They Cast,” a documentary film about the men of Project 180, pending acceptance at the Sarasota Film Festival

“The Light They Cast” is the powerful story of nine men and their inspiring journey on the road to recovery as they navigate the realities of prisoner reentry. Through raw and personal accounts, they reveal some of their darkest moments measured against how far they’ve come with the love and support of Project 180.

From their first week out of prison or jail to celebrating milestones of sobriety, employment, and even marriage, they highlight the importance of having someone believe in you until you can believe in yourself. Courageous, vulnerable, and determined to unlock their potential, the men of Project 180 are nothing short of inspirational.

Produced by Miles Larsen and Janice Shelton.

The length of the film is 1 hour, 11-minutes.

Strong Voices is held annually and features national, regional and local experts. Over the past ten years, the series has explored

• Barriers to Successful Reentry (2014)
• The Implications of Disadvantage for Crime and Punishment (2015)
• Addiction, Reentry and Recidivism (2016)
• The Prison Experience (2017)
• The Effects of Incarceration and Reentry on the Family (2018)
• Models for the Future at Work Today: Successful Strategies in Incarceration and Reentry (2019)
• Celebrating Second Chance Employers (2020)
• The Intersection of Trauma, Addiction, & Incarceration: Implications for Mental Health and Well-Being (2021)
• The Disease of Addiction: Filling Our Prisons and Jails (2022)
• A Look Behind the Scenes: The Realities of Prisoner Reentry (2023)
• The Transformative Power of Project 180 (2024)

In 2013, Project 180’s national media audit reflected that prisoner reentry was not a topic of public discourse. In order to bring the issue of prisoner reentry out of the halls of justice and academia and into the public domain, Project 180 began the Strong Voices/Strong Subjects lecture series.

Since its inception, the series has drawn over 2,450 attendees.