Babs Rawls Ivy
Babz Rawls Ivy is currently Editor-in-chief of The Inner-City News, a 25 year old Black owned weekly print publication in Greater New Haven, CT; and Liaison, Corporate Affairs, Penfield Communications, Inc., the publishers of the Inner-City News. She is a Certified Spiritual Director, with a growing practice under her ministry Path Illuming.
She is Co-Online Editor/Content Curator of Justice Imperative blog. She is a popular on-air Radio Personality on CT’s oldest African American Affairs radio program, The Electric Drum, WYBC 94.3 Yale Broadcasting, as well as her own successfully produced internet radio show Lovebabz LoveTalk.
She holds a BS in marketing from a Historically Black College, Barber-Scotia College in NC (Mary McCloud Bethune was educated there) and is a National Urban Fellow with a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Baruch College, City University of New York.
Babz has been elected to public office twice, serving two terms on The New Haven Board of Alders and has served as a Mayoral appointment to the New Haven Board of Police Commissioners; Served on various local and national boards for music, public governance and social supportive services. She has just recently been appointed by Mayor Toni N. Harp to The Citizens Television Board of Directors.
She happily serves as the parent representative on the Common Ground High School board. (Can you believe she finds time?! She does!)
A thought leader and expert in personal development and personal crisis recovery, Babz uses her experiences to support women entering and exiting the federal prison system. Armed with first hand knowledge of the hardships and struggles of maneuvering the world with the complications of being labeled a felon, Babz serves on The Editorial Board for the book Justice Imperative How Hyper Mass Incarceration Hijacked The American Dream. And for the past 5 years she has facilitated a monthly support group Eat Drink Divorce, for people in various stages of divorce.
Her family life is hectic, challenging and joyous raising four brilliant and amazing children who are thriving and becoming strong, independent well-rounded individuals.
As a popular social media maven and social media strategist you will find her on any given day holding court on various social media platforms, cuttin’ up and raising hell; always speaking truth to power. She is a master at allying like-minded folks against intolerance, ignorance and raising social consciousness. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., the largest Black Greek Women organization in the world.
She is currently writing her memoirs, slated to be published sometime in 2015.
She serves on several boards both in New Haven and across the country. Her commitment to New Haven is unwavering.
Jeff Grant
Executive Director, Motivational Speaker, Author, Minister, Advocate, Social Ethicist, Elizabeth Bush Award, Nantucket Project Fellow, JustLeadershipUSA Fifteen National Leaders in Criminal Justice.
Jeff is the Executive Director of Family ReEntry, Inc. He is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white-collar crime to be appointed as CEO of a major criminal justice nonprofit.
He also serves as Executive Director of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the first ministry in the country created to provide confidential support and counseling to individuals, families and organizations with white-collar and other nonviolent incarceration issues.
After serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime committed during his career as a lawyer, Jeff earned a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Christian Social Ethics.
He has served on a number of criminal justice related Boards including the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Reentry Affairs, Bridgeport, CT (co-Chair); Family ReEntry, Bridgeport & New Haven, CT; Community Partners in Action (formerly the Connecticut Prison Association), Hartford, CT; , and Healing Communities Network, New York, NY. Jeff has also served on the Editorial Board of the book, The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-Incarceration has Hijacked the American Dream, Southport, CT, and on the Advisory Boards of Creative Projects Group, Los Angeles, CA (Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” ) and Reentry Survivors, Bridgeport, CT. Jeff was the recipient of the Elizabeth Bush Award for Volunteerism and the Bridgeport Reentry Collaborative Advocate of the Year Award ’13, ’14, ’15 & Professional of the Year ’16 & ’17. JustLeadershipUSA recognized Jeff as one of fifteen National Leaders in Criminal Justice. Jeff has also been recognized by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence as a First 100 Plus Leader.
Jeff has spoken at The Nantucket Project, the Greenwich Leadership Forum, the Corrections Ministries and Chaplains Association (CMCA) Correctional Ministry Summit, Salons at Stowe – Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, TNP Library, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, Yale Divinity School and many houses of worship and other venues.
He has been the subject of articles in national and regional media including Forbes, Inc., The Huffington Post, Absolute Return/HedgeFund Intelligence, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Greenwich Magazine, Fairfield County Business Journal, Nonprofit Quarterly, Reentry Central, Weston Magazine Group, Weston Forum, Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, Connecticut Post, Greenwich Sentinel, Greenwich Time, Greenwich Free Press, The Hour and others.
Jeff is also the editor of the important and widely read blogsite, http://prisonist.org, at which he authors, edits and curates content around national and international criminal justice advocacy/ministry themes, including exclusive articles and guest blogs written by some of the world’s foremost experts in their fields.