Transformative Justice Center
The Transformative Justice Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the culture of incarceration and reentry through empathy, education, connection, and community healing. We believe that every person possesses inherent dignity and worth, regardless of past choices or circumstances, and that meaningful transformation becomes possible when people are seen, heard, supported, and given opportunities to grow.
Our center serves as a public education and community engagement hub, helping visitors better understand incarceration, rehabilitation, trauma, healing, and the human stories that exist beyond criminal convictions. Through immersive exhibits and educational experiences, visitors can explore an arts and crafts gallery featuring works created by incarcerated individuals; a library of books, essays, and writings by currently and formerly incarcerated people; a video storytelling space showcasing hundreds of personal narratives; and a life-sized replica of a 6x9 prison cell designed to foster deeper understanding of the realities of incarceration.
The Transformative Justice Center is also home to Empathy in Action, our nationally recognized rehabilitative dialogue program that brings incarcerated and non-incarcerated individuals together for powerful conversations focused on empathy, accountability, healing, human connection, and personal transformation. Since its inception, the program has engaged hundreds of incarcerated participants and community volunteers while helping build bridges across divisions that too often separate us.
Beyond prison programming, we provide a wide range of reentry and community support services for formerly incarcerated individuals and their families. These efforts include employment and career development assistance, higher education support, mentorship, community-building opportunities, referral services, volunteer engagement, internships, public speaking opportunities, wellness programming, and assistance navigating the challenges of successful reintegration. Through initiatives such as Transition with Purpose and our broader reentry support network, we help individuals build stability, purpose, belonging, and hope as they return home.
The Transformative Justice Center also serves as a gathering place for community dialogue, educational workshops, film screenings, restorative conversations, volunteer opportunities, cultural events, and healing-centered programming that brings together people from all walks of life.
Whether you are directly impacted by incarceration, interested in learning more, seeking opportunities to serve, or looking to support transformative change, we invite you to join us in building a more compassionate, connected, and restorative future.
Mission, Vision, Values
Our mission is to advocate for transformative justice, emphasizing empathy and understanding as we work with those incarcerated. We aim to break down the barriers of social stigma, creating a platform for personal growth and change. At the Transformative Justice Center, we see past the person’s history and focus on their potential. At its core, transformative justice works to transform relationships, institutions and systems historically founded in oppression, marginalization, and violence into ones grounded in restoration, respect, and responsibility.
We believe that everyone deserves a chance to be seen, heard, and understood regardless of background, race, class, socio-economic status, political or/and religious views. We know that most if not all people in prison come from painful, traumatic backgrounds, from victims to victimizers. We work to transform prison spaces into places focused on higher education, healing, whole body wellness, accountability and respect. We see that within every human being there exists the possibility to grow, to change, and to transform with the right tools and interventions. We are committed to building bridges between the public and our incarcerated community in order to learn, understand and humanize those most impacted by familial and societal harms.
Meet the Team
-
Founder and Executive Director, Board Director
Megan McDrew is the founder and executive director of The Transformative Justice Center which houses the inside-out prison educational exchange program, Empathy in Action : Bridge to Redemption. Megan has been teaching sociology at a variety of universities and colleges the last 7 years including UCSC, UC Merced, Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College. She also works with the Santa Cruz Public Defender's office assisting with juvenile offender's social history statements. Megan is a certified yoga practitioner, with a background in teaching trauma-informed yoga at the Marina VA. Twice a week, she teaches a similar type of yoga at CTF Soledad North yard, combining her passion for yoga and working with the incarcerated.
Megan does this work because she believes in the power of transformation—both for individuals and for society as a whole. She sees the humanity in people that the system often dehumanizes, and she recognizes that justice is not just about punishment but about healing, accountability, and redemption.
Megan’s work with the Transformative Justice Center and Empathy in Action isn’t just about helping people re-enter society—it’s about shifting the way we as a culture understand harm , responsibility, and repair. Through the Heart-Beat of Re-Entry program, she is bridging the gap between incarcerated individuals and the outside world, reminding people on both sides of the prison walls that connection and true community are essential for true rehabilitation.
At her core, Megan believes that no one is disposable. She sees the deep flaws in our criminal legal system and understands that many who are incarcerated have been failed long before they ever committed harm. Megan works toward a future where justice means healing—not just punishment—where people have the opportunity to grow beyond their worst moments.
Her work is about dignity. About breaking cycles of harm. About proving that change is possible when people are given the right support. And maybe, on some level, its also about hope—the hope that we, as a society, can do better
-
Lead Program Assistant and Social Media Co-Manager
Jessica McGlaze is the program assistant and social media co-manager of the inside-out prison educational exchange program, Empathy in Action: Bridge to Redemption. Jessica has worked alongside founder and executive director Megan McDrew of The Transformative Justice Center, for approximately 6 years. She has been actively involved with the CA public school system for over a decade, with a dedication to education equity. She holds a degree in Sociology as well as a certification in Trauma Informed Care. Jessica is devoted to reformatting a system of punishment into one focused on healing, respect, and accountability.
-
Internal Corrdinator
Henry Miles serves as Empathy in Action’s coordinator inside the prison walls. He is responsible for the processing ad organizing of inmate sign ups, which have now reached a capacity of 70 per 8 week session! Within our program, each family group is facilitated by a Brother in Blue who has completed and graduated the program previously. In order to obtain this role, Brothers must submit a written essay on their experiences within the program, their skills sets, and their intentions and goals as a future facilitator. As internal coordinator, Miles both reviews these essays and interviews those interested in the role. Each week, he obtains the responsibility of organizing count (attendance) for prison security and our grant, and ensures that all necessary information is relayed to our team on the outside.
Advisory Board
-
Board Member
Greg Hamilton, a liberated, restored citizen, served numerous years incarcerated. Prior to imprisonment Greg's background was in distributive marketing, and sales management; he also spent years in executive recruitment, including many successful entrepreneurial enterprises.
While incarcerated Greg worked over twenty years as a Chaplain's assistant, and spiritual advisor. He also volunteered as a mental health counselor aiding men with PTSD, and was the chairperson for a veteran's group. Greg committed the majority of his incarceration working with at-risk-youth, and facilitating reentry based programs; he was the co-founder of the Folsom State Prison Youth Diversion Program, and he designed a self-help program (Logo Mentoring) aimed at aiding and inspiring participants to find meaning, purpose, and fulfillment despite their condition.
Currently Greg is retired, but recently worked as a pastor at a homeless shelter, and served on their Board of Directors; Greg has a Bachelor's degree in Theology, with emphasis in Christian Care and Counseling from Oral Roberts University, and a Master's degree in Psychology from California Coast University!
Greg is eternally committed to life change, via restorative and transformative justice to help incarcerated persons to successfully transition back into society and to encourage societies members to embrace those dedicated to change
-
Board Member
Elizabeth Darovic is a lifelong humanities educator, teaching at both the high school and university levels for nearly 40 years. She holds master's degrees from the University of London, University of York and DePaul University. Darovic is trained in grounded, principled and process leadership through the Wright Institute of Chicago. She has been volunteering in prison programs for over a decade!
-
Board Member
Sam Cunningham was born and raised in Los Angeles. At a young age Sam was exposed to a lot of violence in his community as well as his home which contributed to Sam making some not so healthy decisions. After joining a gang and several contacts with law enforcement Sam found himself as a teenage father. At 18, Sam joined the United States Marines Corps and was honorably discharged. Unfortunately, after being discharged Sam continued to make unhealthy decisions which led to a lengthy incarceration. But, this is also when Sam was exposed to the transformative experiences that bring him to our board today. Sam is a case manager/life coach at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, working with formerly incarcerated youth, young adults, and adults. Sam also started a Mentoring program in 2018 in Monterey County, “I Am My Brother’s Keeper” (IAMBK). Sam also provides classes at Correction Training Facility (Soledad), and is married to Marian “Mae Mae” Cunningham.
-
Board Member
Rosalyn Green is a proud graduate of Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) and California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), where she earned a B.A. in Liberal Studies on the Teaching Pathway track.
Inspired by her family dynamics, Rosalyn became a care provider, serving as a counselor for marginalized youth in Monterey County and working with organizations such as the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, The Village Project Inc., and Building Healthy Communities. She gained experience in governance and land use through her time at the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA). Rosalyn is a Silver Life Member of the NAACP and actively engages in community meetings, including MPUSD School Board and Seaside City Council meetings. Passionate about education, she promotes higher learning on local campuses. Deeply rooted in her faith, she believes, “All things are possible and nothing is impossible.” Rosalyn is guided by the belief that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”