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So hello everybody, and thank
you guys so much for coming.

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My name is Nialena Ali.

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And today, I'll be presenting
on "Finding Peace in Prisons,"

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particularly reflecting on
my internship experience

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with the alternative
surveillance project.

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So why prisons?

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I'm sure many of you are
wondering, as my mother did.

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So, I'll put it two ways.

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Firstly, I'm a double major
in international relations

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and Africana studies,
and much of my studies

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do focus on human rights,
politics, and black liberation.

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And mass incarceration
is an issue

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that pertains to
all of these things.

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So in the United States,
though we have only 4%

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of the entire world
population, we

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house over 25% of the
world's prisoners,

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and we incarcerate more
people than anywhere else

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on this earth, by far.

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And also, this issue
is highly racialized.

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So black people make up only
12% of this country, however,

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we make up close to
50% of the prisons,

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even though studies
show that in no arena

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are we more prone to crime
than any other people.

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So looking really at the
disproportionate reality

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of prisons, I knew that when I
could receive my Lynk funding,

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I wanted to go and work
in prison communities.

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And so I began interning with
the Alternative Surveillance

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Project.

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Before explaining what this
project is and what they do,

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I'll briefly just say how
I got involved with them.

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And it's a pretty simple story.

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So I was studying
abroad in Cape Town.

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I knew what I wanted to do, and
I knew where I wanted to do it.

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I wanted it to be in
the Massachusetts area.

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And so I really just
went on the internet

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to find an organization that
was doing the type of work

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that I was interested in,
because surprise, surprise,

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Mount Holyoke doesn't have
a whole ton of resources

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to get us girls going
in men's prison.

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So I took to Google,
found the organization,

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and was very pleased to be a
part of what they're doing.

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So the Alternative Surveillance
Project holds workshops.

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And workshops are
three days long,

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in prisons throughout
the country.

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So they operate in over 31
states and in over 100 prisons.

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And in these workshops, we
really just have a lot of fun.

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We play a lot of different
games that foster community.

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And also, we can get pretty
personal and share different

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stories about ourselves and
also become pretty vulnerable

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with one another.

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And it was very moving
to be a part of this,

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because you see
people connecting

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across different lines
that they might not

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have been communicating with and
interacting with one another,

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if they weren't in this space.

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So that was very powerful
to get to see and to get

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to be a part of.

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And also, there's an
element of peer mentorship

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in these workshops,
because after

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a certain amount of training,
after three workshops then

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incarcerated people, as
well as outside people,

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can have a workshop in
learning how to train and leave

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the next workshop.

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So that peer element
was very nice.

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It's also a very
egalitarial model,

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in that outside participants
are on the same level

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as inside participants,
because we all

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have things we can learn
about loving one another,

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and also ourselves.

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And also, ABP has been
proven to reduce recidivism.

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So recidivism is the rate
of returning to prison.

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And in the United States, if
you have been incarcerated,

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you're more likely
to go back than not,

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because our society doesn't
offer many resources for you

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to stay out.

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And so nationally, the
recidivism rate is 75%,

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and AVP cuts this in half.

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And participants who
participate in these workshops

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have a 40% less chance
of going back to prison.

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So we can see the
impact with numbers.

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So my work with
AVP, as an intern,

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I've had a lot of
administrative duties.

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And so mainly, I was
doing a lot of planning

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for their conference.

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So in 2017, they have
a national gathering.

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And my role, I did a
lot of budget planning,

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calculating transportation
costs, housing costs,

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comparing venues, food,
all those type of things.

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And I also did data
analysis for collecting

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the surveys of the last three
years, over 1,000 surveys,

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crunching the numbers, seeing
what people did and didn't

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like, and seeing how
can we implement that

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in the next conference to come.

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Of course, I also
participated in workshops,

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traveling across
the state a lot,

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going to different prisons.

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And then also, I did do the
T4T, Training 4 Trainers,

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and I am certified to lead
these workshops myself.

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However, I wasn't able to
do this over the summer,

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due to bureaucratic limitations.

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And I was actually--
there is a lot of value

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in not being able to do
it, but making the calls,

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doing the footwork, and
finding out the reasons why.

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So maybe you can
schedule something

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to be in a prison
for whatever reason,

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but there could have been
a riot the night before.

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It's locked out.

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And you drive there,
and you can't come.

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Or the director of
treatment, who lets you in,

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they're not around.

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No one's really there
give you the green light

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and open the door for you.

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So I really appreciate it.

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Though I didn't get to
do the trainings myself,

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I got to experience the
behind the scenes work.

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Also, my experience
with the Alternatives

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to Violence Project
was quite unique,

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and that I was the only staff
member who was of color,

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and also the only person
under the age of 50.

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So it was an interesting
feeling, like an outsider,

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while within this organization,
but also, recognizing

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what really brings us together.

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So though I did experience
a lot of microagressions,

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I was able to understand
a lot of the people

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that I was working with and
really see their dedication.

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And that's what tied
us all together.

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We were dedicated
to the same work

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and seeing how committed
they were to drive hours away

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to spend their entire
weekends in prisons.

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And so I appreciated that.

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And also, I was able to make
connections with the people

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that we were working with.

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So once we get inside, most
of the men look like me.

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We're around the same age.

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We can joke, laugh,
relate with one another,

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talk like we do back
home from California.

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So my Spanglish is pretty good.

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And so that was
really great too.

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And overall, the
uniqueness of my experience

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made me really able to
learn how to navigate

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two different spaces
simultaneously with dignity,

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poise, and respect.

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So the lessons I learned--
professionally, I

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gained insight into what it is
like to work with a nonprofit.

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And I also saw, what
is it like to have

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prison your place of work?

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So instead of reporting
to an office every day,

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you'd be reporting to a prison.

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So that was great to see.

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And personally, I
also gained insight

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into the emotional
burden of helping others.

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So to hold space
for other people,

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sharing a lot of painful
stories or different issues

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that we're going through, and
that has an impact on yourself

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too.

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And how do you leave
that space, knowing

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those men aren't
going to be leaving

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to go watch Netflix that day?

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So I had to engage in a lot of
self-care in calling my mom.

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And that was important,
to learn that balance.

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And then my future goals-- so my
internship experience with AVP

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and what Lynk
provided me-- so it

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made me realize that
I came in thinking

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I wanted to do a job
in prison teaching,

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but I actually left realizing
I'm a lot more interested

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in prison policy.

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And so it really came down to
a macro versus micro approach.

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So AVP, they are experts
at the microapproach,

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having 10 people in a room,
acknowledging their humanity

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as individuals.

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But reporting to these prisons
everyday to do this work,

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I just couldn't get over.

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So when you go into most
prisons in the United States,

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you have white guards with
guns and German shepherds,

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and then you have black and
brown people in shackles.

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And I just can't live with
that reality in my country.

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And so it made me a lot
more interested in how

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we change this visual dynamic.

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So I became a lot
more interested

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instead of being
inside the class,

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maybe on the larger
scale, in the courtrooms,

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or in the places that
these policies take place.

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So I'm currently
applying to law school,

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and I wouldn't have come
to these conclusions,

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if it wasn't for the Lynk
funding and my work with AVP.

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To wrap up, I would just like
to thank Lynk-UAF, the Mount

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Holyoke faculty, who made me
passionate about these issues

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over my 3 and 1/2 years here.

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The AVP staff, particularly
Nancy [INAUDIBLE],

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my mentor, and Chris
[? Campbell, ?]

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the CEO of the organization,
the men of Essex County

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Correctional Facility, and
Massachusetts Correctional

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Institution at Shriley.

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And lastly, I want to give
a special thanks to my mom

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for all of those
long phone calls.

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Thank you.

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[APPLAUSE]