It’s hard to imagine former executives, investment fraudsters, and insider traders gathering for weekly support meetings.
When I first heard about a support group for white-collar criminals, I was skeptical. It sounded like an SNL sketch: former hedge fund managers, insider traders, and embezzlers sitting in a circle, sharing their woes. However, Jeff Grant, the founder of the White Collar Support Group, doesn’t see it that way. After serving time for his crimes, Grant emerged with a mission—to help others like him rebuild their lives, one meeting at a time. “I was lost,” he admits.
After his release from prison, Grant realized there was no blueprint for people like him to re-enter society. That’s why he founded the White Collar Support Group, a space for those prosecuted for financial crimes to navigate life after prison.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
After battling opioid addiction and serving 14 months in federal prison for a white-collar crime, Jeff Grant rebuilt his life from the ground up. With a Master of Divinity in Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary, he went on to serve as a minister and co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry supporting the white-collar justice community.
With over 30 years of experience in crisis management, recovery, and leadership, Jeff helps individuals and families navigate white-collar prosecutions and rebuild meaningful lives. Known as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” Jeff shares his journey of redemption, offering guidance to those seeking second chances and new purpose.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Michele Weinstat Miller, Author & General Counsel, The Fortune Society on Zoom, May 14, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Start Here™.
We are honored to have Michele Weinstat Miller as our May speaker in our White Collar Support Group™ Tuesday Speaker Series. Open to all!
For those of you who don’t recall, Michele is a lawyer who spoke on our panel at the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Conference in Nov. ’22. She was incarcerated in Rikers and is now the General Counsel of the Fortune Society in NYC. Michele’s new novel, the Lower Power, released in the past few weeks.
The Lower Power is Michele W. Miller’s fourth published novel. She has lived most of her life in Upper Manhattan — Harlem and Washington Heights — where her novels often take place and where she currently resides with her husband, 20-year-old twin sons, two cats, and a large dog. Former chief government ethics prosecutor for NYC, she currently serves as General Counsel for a non-profit agency that provides re-entry services to the formerly incarcerated. She has herself overcome addiction, homelessness, and incarceration. She has a black belt in the Jaribu system of Karate and worked her way through law school dancing on roller skates.
“Michele Miller has had more lives than a cat, and they’ve made her a writer of passion and substance.” — Lawrence Block, New York Times Bestselling Author, Praise For The Author
White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Jason Bowles, Esq., Criminal Defense Attorney for “Rust” Armorer Hannah Gutierrez on Zoom, Apr. 2, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Start Here™.
We are honored to have Jason Bowles, Esq. as our special speaker in our White Collar Support Group™ Tuesday Speaker Series. Open to all!
Jason is the criminal defense attorney in Albuquerque NM who represented Hanna Gutierrez, the armorer in the Rust movie case. This should be fascinating and full of information about the criminal justice legal system!
He has been lead counsel in over 75 trials in federal, state and military courts, both criminal and civil trials. Most recently, Jason tried a medical malpractice case in state court in New Mexico, and achieved a multi-million dollar verdict for his client. Mr. Bowles has also handled over 40 appeals in state and federal courts in New Mexico, Texas and the District of Columbia.
Jason spent five years as a federal prosecutor and worked on complex fraud, smuggling and tax cases. Now as a private defense counsel for almost 20 years, he has represented individuals in some of the highest profile cases in the district of New Mexico, including prosecutions of the former Treasurer of the State of New Mexico, an individual charged in fraud in the building of the metropolitan courthouse, very significant and complex tax prosecutions, and several financial and banking cases, whether brought by individual U.S. Attorney’s Offices or the Department of Justice.
White Collar Support Group™ Tuesday Speaker Series: Jim McGreevey, Former NJ Governor & Chair of the NJ Reentry Corporation on Zoom, Apr. 16, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Start Here™.
We are honored to have Gov. Jim McGreevey as the April speaker in our White Collar Support Group™ Tuesday Speaker Series. Open to all!
Jim serves as the Chairman of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, which provides critically needed services to assist persons returning from incarceration to successfully reintegrate into society. Those services include the integration of addiction treatment, sober housing, employment and training, identification and legal services, and linkage to Medicaid and medical and behavioral healthcare for formerly incarcerated persons.
The NJRC has ten reentry sites, which are Elizabeth, Hackensack, Jersey City, Kearny (Community Resource Center and The Governor’s Reentry Training and Employment Center), Neptune, New Brunswick, Newark, Paterson, and Toms River. The clients of the NJRC have a 19.7 percent recidivism rate, 10 percent incarceration rate, and annualized rate of employment between 58 percent and 62 percent (seasonally adjusted).
Jim previously served as the Executive Director of the Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP), an agency that administers Jersey City’s employment program. JCETP manages the “One-Stop” workforce training center in Jersey City, as well as administers the federal Workforce Investment Opportunity Act monies, which are targeted in support of employment training for single mothers, displaced workers, the historically disadvantaged, court involved, and unemployed persons.
Having pursued seminary education and training at the General Theological Seminary, Jim served his field education working with formerly incarcerated women and men at Exodus Transitional Ministry in Harlem, New York City. He completed his pastoral care at the former Cabrini hospice and long-term healthcare center.
Jim previously served as New Jersey Governor, State Senator, State Assemblyman, and over ten years as Mayor of Woodbridge, one of New Jersey’s largest municipalities. He also served as Regional Manager, Merck and Company; as Executive Director, NJ State Parole Board; with the NJ Assembly Majority Office; and as Assistant Prosecutor in Middlesex County.
Jim received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia College at Columbia University in 1978. He graduated from Georgetown University with a law degree and was admitted to the bar in 1981. He holds a Master’s of Education from Harvard University and a Master’s of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary. Sponsored by Progressive Prison Ministries/White Collar Support Group™. Start Here™. https://prisonist.org
Jeff Grant’s Remarkable Recovery from Addiction and His Return from Federal Prison, to the Life of the Law
NEW YORK, NY, USA, February 23, 2024. After overcoming a personal battle with addiction to prescription opioids and serving nearly fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime, Jeff Grant has emerged with a new purpose. He has founded GrantLaw, PLLC, a law firm in New York City that offers private general counsel services to clients facing or who have previously faced white-collar prosecutions and regulatory proceedings, as well as their companies and families.
Grant’s journey to founding GrantLaw, PLLC has been a long and challenging one. After struggling with addiction and serving time in prison, he has emerged with a new perspective and a desire to help others facing similar challenges. After earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, he co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. and the White Collar Support Group (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first support group devoted to people navigating the white collar criminal justice system. He was reinstated to the New York Bar in 2021. With his unique background and experience, Grant is able to provide a level of understanding and empathy that is often lacking in traditional law firms.
Grant recently was interviewed on the JustPod, the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Podcast hosted by lawyers Justin Danilewitz and Geonard Butler. “It takes about 3 hours to drive from Greenwich, Connecticut to the Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania. Jeffrey D. Grant knows this because he took that drive on an Easter Sunday in 2006. A lawyer whose life has taken a wrong turn on the road to addiction, Jeff Grant left the upscale life he had cultivated in Connecticut to enter what would be his new home for the duration of his 18-month Federal criminal sentence,” stated Danilewitz. He added, ” Jeff was released from custody in 2007 and was able to recover from addiction, obtain a divinity degree, co-found the world’s first White Collar Support Group and found GrantLaw, PLLC, a law firm providing general counsel services to people navigation the white collar criminal justice system and their families and businesses…”
GrantLaw, PLLC is not your typical law firm. It offers a holistic approach to legal services, taking into account the personal and emotional toll that white-collar prosecutions and regulatory proceedings can have on individuals and their families. The firm also offers support and guidance for companies facing these types of legal challenges, recognizing the impact they can have on the entire organization.
According to New Yorker Staff Reporter Evan Osnos, “Jeff Grant is the real deal… I can’t imagine there is a lawyer in this country more qualified to consider the complex issues facing people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families.”
Grant’s ultimate goal with GrantLaw, PLLC is to help individuals and companies navigate the complex legal landscape of white-collar crime and regulatory proceedings with compassion and understanding. He hopes to use his personal experience to not only provide legal counsel, but also to inspire and support others who may be going through similar struggles.
Grant is member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Social Impact Entertainment Society. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Legal Action Center (NYC), is Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Reentry & Collateral Consequences Committee, and is a member of the American Bar Association Advisory Committee on Legal Assistance Programs.
For more information on GrantLaw, PLLC and the services they offer, please visit their website at www.grantlaw.com. Grant is also available for interviews and speaking engagements to share his story and discuss the unique approach of his law firm.
White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Brent Cassity, Author, Public Speaker, Host of Nightmare Success Podcast on Zoom, Mar. 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT.
We were honored to have Brent Cassity as the March speaker in our White Collar Support Group™ Tuesday Speaker Series. Open to all!
Brent Cassity is an engaging storyteller that has a real-life transformational story. Everyone has built up prisons in their minds. Brent loves speaking to audiences about the 5 strategies he used to survive prison. These tools are excellent to use for your life and business!
Brent is the author of the Book Nightmare Success: Loyalty, Betrayal, Life Behind Bars, Adapting, And Finally Breaking Free: A Memoir. He is the host of the popular podcast Nightmare Success In and Out. He is energized about his new Non-Profit Reentry Company, Nightmare Success Solutions. Brent was a CEO of Forever Enterprises, a national family company, which he grew from a regional company to operating in 22 states. He has been recognized by the national media; TIME, CNN, FORTUNE, Forbes, WALL STREET JOURNAL, cover story of ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT to name a few. HBO even did a documentary The Young and the Dead that spawned the popular HBO Series Six Feet Under.
Just when he thought he had it all, he lost it all and found himself standing at the Gates of Leavenworth to serve a 5-year sentence. What happens when your worst fear becomes your reality? He has coined the phrase “Nightmare Success” because everything you want is on the other side of fear. How did the one thing that Brent most feared…the one thing he said would never happen to him…happen?
White Collar Support Group™ 400th Meeting, Mon. Feb. 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Info at Http://prisonist.org
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
Watch Our New Start Here™ Video. White Collar Support Group™ 400th Meeting, Mon., Feb. 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families, will hold its 400th weekly White Collar Support Group™ meeting online on Zoom this Monday, February 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. It is open to those directly justice-impacted only. Newcomers should register at prisonist.org/contact.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL, February 13th: Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families, will hold its 400th weekly White Collar Support Group™ meeting online on Zoom this Monday, February 19, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. It is open to those directly justice-impacted only. Newcomers should register at prisonist.org/contact.
Co-founded by husband and wife, ordained minister and white collar attorney, Jeff Grant (Jeffrey D. Grant, Esq.) and Lynn Springer in Greenwich, CT, the White Collar Support Group™ held its first meeting online in 2016. Since then, over the past 8 years, the support group has had over 900 participants from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, South America and the Caribbean.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide practical information, and spiritual and emotional support, to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless while navigating the white collar criminal justice system. Its objective is to provide guidance in finding a path to a healthy, reinvented life on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems.
Meetings are held online weekly on Mondays on Zoom beginning at 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT and last approximately 75 minutes. Each meeting is centered on a relevant topic such as preparing for prison, family issues, finances, careers after prison, conquering fear, mental health and substance abuse, etc. Members are given the opportunity to reflect on and share their experiences, to ask questions, and are encouraged to embrace group newcomers. The support group continues to grow with each weekly gathering.
“The White Collar Support Group™ ’s purpose is bring people out of the isolation that is destroying them, and into a supportive community that provides solutions. At the end of the day, if we can help people untangle themselves from their myriad problems and find a clear path to a successful, productive and joyous life, that’s a success story,” said Grant. “We have found that things go much easier, and better outcomes can be reached, when people with white collar criminal justice issues reach out to us early in their journeys – when they make us their first call – before they’ve made too many mistakes and used up too much of their precious resources. It’s the reason why, to celebrate our 400th meeting and the beginning of our ninth year, our new outreach initiative is called, ‘Start Here™’,” Grant added.
White Collar Support Group™ Deputy Director William Livolsi (Bill) agrees. Livolsi pointed out, “we don’t give advice; we share our collective experience. We have hundreds of support group members who give of themselves freely and share their time and resources with each other. It’s a beautiful, and extremely helpful, way to learn, grow, and get through the most difficult times of families’ lives.”
The support group and community have been featured in many national and regional media, including the New Yorker, Entrepreneur,Reuters, Forbes and Greenwich Magazine, as well as major podcasts such as The Rich Roll Podcast. Grant has also been a Main Stage presenter at prestigious conferences such as The Nantucket Project. In addition to being a popular interviewee, Grant has helped thousands of his community members navigate their past and push towards re-establishing themselves as productive contributors to society.
With both Law and Master of Divinity degrees, Grant provides a unique perspective of understanding about what community members are coping with and facing ahead of them. Grant himself spent almost 14 months in a Federal prison for a white collar crime he committed in 2001. In 2021, Grant’s law license was reinstated by the New York Supreme Court (GrantLaw.com).
According to Evan Osnos, writer/reporter for The New Yorker, “Jeff Grant is the real deal… I can’t imagine there is a lawyer in this country more qualified to consider the complex issues facing people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families.”
Former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who served time in a Federal prison and is a member of the White Collar Support Group™ , said, “the group is a network of welcoming, non-judgmental, and understanding men and women who share their similar experiences in an open and nurturing environment.”
Complementing the weekly meetings is a blog on the ministry’s widely regarded site, prisonist.org, where materials are published for community members to learn more about white collar criminal justice issues. Its White Collar Week podcast has also become a critical source for this community, providing a platform for sector experts and for those that have gone through the journey. Guests have included current and former politicians, financial executives, white collar criminal defense attorneys, federal agents, judges, Hollywood producers and more.
About Progressive Prison Ministries: Established in 2013 in Greenwich, CT, Progressive Prison Ministries is the world’s first ministry devoted to serving people prosecuted for white collar crimes and their families. More information is available on its website at prisonist.org. Start Here™.