DAVID PENNY

David Penny is a Ph.D. student in Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine, with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He focuses on the intersection of re-entry and education, drawing on a lifetime shaped by the carceral system, having spent more than half of his life incarcerated, including a final 23-year term. As a member of the Research Advisory Board for the California Policy Lab at UC Berkeley, David contributes expertise rooted in lived experience, academic training, and a commitment to transforming systems that effect justice-impacted communities. As a re-entry expert, his primary focus is educational re-entry and expanding access to the information, strategies, and support that helped him succeed academically after incarceration.

Since his release in 2022, David has dedicated himself to giving back. He mentors and tutors incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth, driven by the belief that young people deserve guidance from someone who has stood exactly where they stand. He also works with re-entry programs, staff, and organizations that serve formerly incarcerated individuals, offering training grounded in his deep understanding of incarceration, rehabilitation, and educational pathways. His goal is to use his experience and academic training to empower youth and adults seeking to change their lives and to help build stronger, more effective pathways to successful re-entry.