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Kimberly Woodson
Safe & Just Michigan

Kimberly Woodson, Fund Development Fellow

Kimberly Woodson joined Safe & Just Michigan as a Fund Development Fellow in 2022. It is not the first time she has had a working relationship with the organization — in 2021, the nonprofit she founded, Detroit-based Redeeming Kimberly, was named the beneficiary of SJM’s Giving Tuesday fundraising effort. Woodson plans to use the skills and knowledge she learns through the fellowship to develop and grow Redeeming Kimberly, an organization that helps people transition from prison back into their home communities.

Transition is something Kimberly knows firsthand. After being sentenced to life without parole at the age of 17, she returned home 30 years later after a series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings required the resentencing of people sentenced to life without parole as juveniles. While she was thrilled to come home, it was jarring to step back into a world that had advanced 30 years in her absence. It was that experience that convinced her that people who had already come home from prison were best positioned to help others now making that same transition.

“I’m trying to give them the foundation that they can use to make it on their own,” she said. “Give them enough tools so they can make decisions about their life better.”

By being in the Fund Development Fellows program, Kimberly hopes to gain the knowledge she needs to take Redeeming Kimberly to the next level. She would like to hire employees so that she can reach even more people and make an even greater impact on her community.

Kimberly lives in Detroit.

Read more about Kimberly HERE.