Welcome to
Justice Initiative
USA
Welcome to
Justice Initiative
USA
We express our mission with one sentence and one word - RESTORE.
R - Reform
E - Exploitation
S - Statues
T - To
O - Officially
R - Restore
E - Equity
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About Us
Michael Fortino, Ph.D.
Michael Fortino, Ph.D. has spent much of his career as an inter-nationally acclaimed keynote speaker on the subjects of Leadership and Change. He has presented before audiences as large as 14,000. Fortino has been featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and in TIME, Newsweek, and Psychology Today. He has appeared on ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, Good Morning America, and has been featured on The Tonight Show. Fortino was the host of the PBS Business Channel Broadcast, "The Leadership Series" where he had the honor of interviews with two United States Presidents.
In 2012, Fortino presented his original draft on prison reform and re-entry to the Judiciary and Sentencing Committees entitled FIRST STEP (Federal Inmate Re-entry Success Through Strategic Transitional Employment Prepared-ness), the original precursor to today's FIRST STEP Act.
Michael Fortino is currently serving a 20-year sentence, a $250,000.00 fine, and Lifetime Supervised Release following his conviction of a "non-contact" computer-related charge involving the possession/receipt of illicit images.
Fernando Rivas
Fernando Rivas is an Emmy and Grammy award winning Cuban-born musician, composer and writer. He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music after studying with composers David Diamond and Vincent Persichetti.
He composed music for various television programs, for film and theater. In 2016, while incarcerated, he received an honorable mention from the PEN America prison writing program for his poem '300 Min.' In 2019 and 2020 he won the American Short Fiction Insider's Prize award and an honorable mention on the Texas Observer short story contest.
He considers himself at present an activist for prison reform and sentencing reform and an advocate for a more rational judicial system.
Fernando Rivas is currently serving a 15-year sentence and Lifetime Supervised Release following his conviction of a "non-contact" computer-related charge involving illicit images.
