Recent/Upcoming Events & Appearances
Press Release: WHITE COLLAR SUPPORT GROUP TO HOLD MILESTONE 300TH MEETING. Online on Zoom Monday, March 14, 2022 7 pm ET, 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT.
White Collar Criminal Justice Community Continues to Expand Resources and Reach
Greenwich, CT (March 14, 2022): Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry devoted to serving the white collar justice community, will hold its 300th consecutive White Collar Support Group meeting online on Zoom this Monday, March 14, 2022. Co-founded by Connecticut resident/NYC white collar attorney and ordained minister, Jeff Grant, Esq. (Jeffrey D. Grant), the ministry’s mission is to help individuals prosecuted for white collar crimes to take responsibility for their actions and the wreckage they caused, make amends, and move forward in new way of life centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance and empathy. The support group was founded online in 2016 online as a way of reaching out to justice-impacted individuals and families suffering in isolation all over the country and providing them solutions in a supportive community.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. Its objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to be of service to this hugely misunderstood and greatly under-supported community,” said Jeff Grant. “When we held our first support group meeting in 2016, we had only 4 participants. Now, 6 years later, we are holding our 300th meeting with over 450 members.”
“For years, Jeff Grant has made it his mission to make sure that no one feels the isolation that can come from being a former inmate,” said Bill Baroni, former ‘Bridgegate’ defendant whose conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In addition to providing resources and community, Grant is the leading advocate for ensuring white collar-related issues are included within the ever-evolving debate around the criminal justice system. “When we started the ministry in 2013, people who had been to prison were pariahs with little opportunity to have a second chance,” said Grant. “A decade later, criminal justice reform is an important national conversation; we are proud of our work to enable white collar justice advocates to have a seat at the table.”
To date, the community has been a featured source surrounding white-collar related issues, including a recent profile of Grant and the White Collar Support Group in the New Yorker. Grant’s work has also been featured in major national media Entrepreneur, Bloomberg, 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 and how his 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.
According to former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who served time in a Federal prison, “Jeff created a network of welcoming, non-judgmental, and understanding men and women that share their similar experiences in an open and nurturing environment.”
The weekly Monday meeting is held online on Zoom beginning at 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT and last approximately 75 minutes. During the meeting, members are given the chance to reflect on their healing process as well as embrace those who are new to the group, which continues to grow with each weekly gathering.
Complementing the weekly meetings include an ongoing blog on Grant’s widely regarded site, prisonist.org, where meetings are recapped, dissected and materials are gathered for community members to continue to work on their own. Grant’s White Collar Week podcast has also become a critical source for his community, providing a platform for those that have gone through the journey to tell their story and provide personal insights into their healing. 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 the white collar justice community. More information is available on its website at prisonist.org and on its social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About Progressive Prison Ministries’ Co-Founders:
Co-founders husband and wife Jeff Grant and Lynn Springer were featured in a twelve-page article in Greenwich Magazine: The Redemption of Jeff Grant. After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost 14 months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Grant began his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City with a focus in Christian Social Ethics. In May 2021, Grant’s law license was reinstated by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
About GrantLaw, PLLC:
Jeffrey D. Grant, Esq., Private General Counsel/White Collar Attorney, 43 West 43rd Street, Suite 108, New York, New York 10036-7424, GrantLaw.com, [email protected], (212) 859-3512
For additional information, contact:
Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div., T: (212) 859-3512; Email: [email protected], www.prisonist.org, Media contact: [email protected].
‘Recalled’ Podcast: Fr. Joe Ciccone, Fr. Rix Thorsell & Rev. Jeff Grant Discussed Our White Collar Support Group’s 300th Meeting
I joined Fr. Joe and Fr. Rix on their podcast, Recalled, to discuss the 300th meeting of our White Collar Support Group, Mon, March 14th, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT. Please join us! – Jeff
White Collar Support Group: We are a community of individuals, families and groups with white collar justice issues who have a desire to take responsibility for our actions and the wreckage we caused, make amends, and move forward in new way of life centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance and empathy. Our experience shows us that many of us are suffering in silence with shame, remorse, and deep regret. Many of us have been stigmatized by our own families, friends and communities, and the business community. Our goal is to learn and evolve into a new spiritual way of life and to reach out in service to others. This is an important thing we are doing! To join our next support group meeting: [email protected].
Watch on YouTube:
Father Joe Ciccone Opens Up the Inaugural Interfaith Service in Honor of N.J. Governor Phil Murphy, Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver and Their Families:
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Family Support Group: Sponsored by Evolution Reentry, Online on Zoom, Thursdays, 7 pm ET, Starting Feb., 3, 2022
Join Evolution’s team of justice impacted family members for our first meeting on Thursday, Feb. 3rd via Zoom from 7:00pm ET – 8:00pm ET for a brand-new support group dedicated to supporting family members of incarcerated men and women… you are no longer alone in your personal journey while your loved one is navigating through the criminal justice system.
Feb. 3, 2022
Thursday Evenings from 7:00 pm ET – 8:00 pm ET via Zoom
bringing families together…one family at a time
RSVP
Do you have a loved one incarcerated or going through the criminal justice system? If yes, then join us Thursday, Feb. 3rd for our first online support group devoted to supporting justice impacted family members, one family at a time. Lead by family members who are walking in your shoes, we understand the needs and isolation that often comes with having a family member navigating the criminal justice system. You are no longer alone!
Podcast: Jeff Grant on the Energy Stoners Cafe with Toni Quest, Jan. 21, 2022
Attorney and minister, Jeff Grant, is this week’s guest on the Energy Stoners(TM) Cafe Podcast. He discusses his journey from successful lawyer, to opioid addiction, to convicted felon to minister. Jeff is now the founder of prisonist.org, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar crime community. After years of recovery and self-discovery and ministry, Jeff Grant is finally reinstated as a lawyer and continues his ministry. His story is truly enlightening and inspiring.
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/energy-stoners-cafe-podcast/id1498166333?i=1000548596074
Listen on Player FM:
https://player.fm/series/energy-stoners-cafe-podcast/worlds-first-ministry-serving-the-white-collar-crime-community-guest-jeff-grant-host-toni-quest
Guest: Jeff Grant:
Rev. Jeff Grant, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc./White Collar Support Group, Rev. PO Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798-0001, (212) 859-3512, [email protected], prisonist.org
Jeff Grant, Esq., GrantLaw PLLC, 43 West 43rd Street, Suite 108, New York, NY 10038-7424, (212) 859-3512, [email protected], grantlaw.com
Host: [email protected]
Energy Stoners (TM) Cafe podcast is the intellectual property of Toni Quest and James H. Brooks, producers
Guest Lecture: Jeff Grant to Speak at BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway, Weds., Feb. 23, 2022, 9 am ET, 3 pm CET
Big thanks to Professor Petter Gottschalk for inviting me to speak at the BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway on Weds., Feb 23rd, 9 am ET, 6 pm CET. This is all virtual, of course – details to come.
In 2021, Petter wrote a treatise titled, Trusted White-Collar Offenders: Global Case Studies of Crimes of Convenience, that features case studies of some of our White Collar Support Group members, including Jacqueline Polverari and myself. Petter’s book is available on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Trusted-White-Collar-Offenders-Studies-Convenience/dp/3030738612.
“This book uses global case studies of white-collar crime to examine offenders in top business positions and their motives. Drawing on the theory of convenience, this book opens up new perspectives of white-collar offenders in terms of their financial motives, their professional opportunities, and their personal willingness for deviant behaviour. It focusses on three groups of privileged individuals who have abused their positions for economic gain: people who occupied the position of chair of the board, people who were chief executive officers, and female offenders in top positions, and the related white-collar crimes. Convenience themes are identified in each case using the structural model for convenience theory. The case studies are from Denmark, Germany, Japan, Moldova, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. This book speaks to those interested in white-collar crime, criminal justice, policing, organizational behaviour and business administration.”
About Petter Gottschalk:
Petter Gottschalk is a Professor Emeritus – Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour at the BI Norwegian Business School at its Institute for Leadership and Organizational Management.[1]
He is educated Diplom-Kaufmann from Berlin Institute of Technology, Master of Science from Dartmouth College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Doctor of Business Administration from Henley Management College and Brunel University.
Gottschalk has previously been CEO of Norwegian Computing Center, ABB Datakabel, Statens kantiner and Norsk Informasjonsteknologi (NIT).
In recent years, Gottschalk has done research on the police and their use of IT. He has also done much research on knowledge management, and he has published a number of books on that subject, as well as books about the police. He has also worked as an advisor to the police. His research on the police and their use of information technology has resulted in his appearance in the news media when this topic has been in the news. Gottschalk also researches crime as seen from the police perspective, in particular organized crime and financial crime. In recent years, he has published many articles as well as a number of books in English about organized crime, financial crime and criminal entrepreneurship. Gottschalk was an active participant in the Norwegian public discourse about EU’s Dataa Retention Directive in 2010 expressing his opinion that the police ought to make better use of the sources they already have.
About Jeff Grant:
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison (2006 – 07) for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001 when he was lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, majoring in Social Ethics. After graduating from divinity school, Jeff was called to serve at an inner city church in Bridgeport, CT as Associate Minister and Director of Prison Ministries. He then co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community.
On May 5, 2021, Jeff’s law license was reinstated by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Jeff is once again in private practice and is committed to using his legal expertise and life experience to benefit others. He provides a broad range of legal services in a highly attentive, personalized manner. They include private general counsel, white collar crisis management to individuals and families, services to family-owned and closely-held businesses, plus support to special situation and pro bono clients. He practices in New York and in authorized Federal matters, and works with local co-counsel to represent clients throughout country.
Jeff Grant full bio: https://grantlaw.com/bio
Save the Date: White Collar Support Group 300th Meeting — Online on Zoom. Monday, March 14, 2022, 7 pm ET, 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT
Save the Date: White Collar Support Group — 300th Meeting Online on Zoom. Monday, March 14, 2022, 7 pm ET, 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT. Open to directly justice impacted only. Referrals welcome.
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Dear Fellow Travelers,
Progressive Prison Ministries and St. Joseph’s Mission Church invite you to join our Confidential Online White Collar Support Group. We hold our group meetings on Monday evenings, 7 pm ET. 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT.
We are doing something truly groundbreaking! This is the world’s first Confidential Online White Collar Support Group. As this support group is run by ordained clergy as part of a program of pastoral care and confession, we expect and believe it falls under clergy privilege laws.
We are a community of individuals, families and groups with white collar justice issues who have a desire to take responsibility for our actions and the wreckage we caused, make amends, and move forward in new way of life centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance and empathy. Our experience shows us that many of us are suffering in silence with shame, remorse, and deep regret. Many of us have been stigmatized by our own families, friends and communities, and the business community. Our goal is to learn and evolve into a new spiritual way of life and to reach out in service to others. This is an important thing we are doing!
Over 400 Fellow Travelers have participated in our support group meetings from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin — and Canada, South America, Europe and the Caribbean. All have agreed this has been a valuable, important experience in which everyone feels less alone, and gratified in the opportunity to talk about things in a safe space only we could understand.
We have formed agreements as to confidentiality, anonymity and civility, and have a basic agenda for each meeting:
1. Welcome
2. Serenity Prayer:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
3. Short Member Introductions, if we have new member(s)
4. Announcements & Resource Sharing
5. Guest Speaker and/or Lead on Topic
6. Member Sharing
7. Closing
Login Instructions and Link are sent out weekly. We have set up an account with Zoom for our group, and you can log in via video on a computer, tablet or smart phone that is equipped with a camera, or audio only via phone. Please use headphones if you can so that we can minimize feedback and background noise. Each meeting will have a different meeting number to best provide confidentiality.
For Newcomers, I (or the night’s host) will be online fifteen minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting. Zoom works wonderfully, however, it might take a little time to get comfortable with on your end if you’ve never been on this platform.
Thank you for referring other justice-impacted people and families: [email protected]. Fellow Traveler volunteers handle information requests and intakes with empathy and compassion.
Email for Trulincs/Corrlinks: [email protected].
Press & media inquiries: [email protected]. A Fellow Traveler volunteer who is a public relations professional handles these inquiries.
If you have suggestions for other Fellow Travelers to join this group, please contact us to discuss. Our goal is to be inclusive.
IMPORTANT!: If you are currently on supervised release, probation or parole, it is important that you first discuss this with your P.O. To assist in this regard, information about our ministry is available on prisonist.org.
Please feel free to contact us if you would like to join in our next meeting, or with any questions you might have regarding this group, its meetings, or anything else whatsoever.
For more information: [email protected]
Media inquiries: [email protected]
Innovation in Compliance Podcast: Host Tom Fox Interviews Jeff Grant, 12-Step Program for White Collar Defendants, Nov. 30, 2021
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Big thanks to Tom Fox for having me on his podcast, Innovation in Compliance. Tom is a leader in the compliance world; kudos to him for seeing the relationship between corporate compliance and transformational services to support the defendants and their families, and help them to find new ethical pathways. In this conversation, we discussed in depth our online White Collar Support Group that meets on Zoom on Monday evenings. A must-listen if you are a regulator, compliance professional, attorney or someone in the throes of these problems. – Jeff
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Tom Fox read about Jeff Grant’s work in The New Yorker and was intrigued, so he invited him on this week’s show. Tom describes Jeff’s work as “an unusual professional passion”. Listeners will be inspired by Jeff’s story: what led to his arrest and prison sentence, his redemption, and how he now helps others recover.
Listen on Megaphone:
Show Notes:
“I Was the Problem”
Becoming a lawyer was the perfect fit for Jeff’s skill set and attitude, he tells Tom, but it was “very bad for me in terms of bipolar disorder and my alcohol and drug abuse.” He describes his descent into white-collar crime, his subsequent arrest and resignation from his law practice. A suicide attempt, intervention, and a stint in rehab all contributed to his ‘aha moment’ and the road to recovery. “I was the one who had been doing things wrong, and I didn’t really realize that the whole time,” he recalls. “…that was the turning point that I realized that I was the problem.”
Progressive Prison Ministries
Tom asks Jeff what led him to found Progressive Prison Ministries. Going to prison sober was the catalyst, Jeff replies. He stayed sober throughout his sentence, and on his release, he started to volunteer at criminal justice and drug and alcohol nonprofits. He also went to seminary and became an ordained minister. “I just wanted to help people who were in the same situation we were in,” he tells listeners. He had to go it alone, but he wanted others like him to have someone to turn to for support. “We started this ministry to serve and support people who have been prosecuted for white-collar crimes and their families… It’s people in isolation all over the country who have no one to talk to and no one who understands their plight… We offer them a helping hand both emotionally and spiritually, and also a lot of practical information as well.”
12-Step Approach
Jeff’s approach to helping white-collar offenders recover is based on the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program. Unlike AA meetings, however, his meetings are facilitated by leaders. The act of sponsoring someone is ministering to them, he says; your sponsor gives you a lot of advice, in a 12-step sort of way. “The spirit of the steps are there,” he tells Tom. What’s more powerful to him, however, is the fellowship. The Monday meeting is only a small part of it, he tells Tom. He explains how they match members together, and that they keep in contact throughout the week. “It’s like being a cop,” he remarks, “you’re on the job 24 hours a day, and being in recovery is being in recovery 24 hours a day… So this is really a 24-hour a day support network.”
Supporting the Families
Tom asks, “How does the family work into white-collar recovery?” They often have it worse than the defendant, Jeff answers, because they are usually unaware of what the defendant has been doing, and reality hits them “between the eyes with something like an arrest or the FBI showing up at the door.” He comments on the high incidence of divorce and family estrangement and laments that recovery is not advanced even in his network. However, they welcome everyone who needs them, he points out. “We want to provide a place of support and comfort for anybody who doesn’t have a built-in support network or is estranged from their support networks.”
Supporting Attorneys and GrantLaw PLLC
“I was really intrigued by some of the information on your website, one of which was that the white-collar support group can help attorneys struggling to cope with a broken justice system,” Tom comments. He asks Jeff to explain more about this. We try to help attorneys understand the humanity of white-collar offenders, Jeff responds. “We try to bring a full picture to a very complicated situation that people tend to want to paint with a very broad brush.” He is happy that more defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and probation officers want to learn how to integrate Jeff’s theology to be “more just and more merciful and perhaps more lenient” in their dealings with white-collar defendants. He and Tom discuss his own law practice. His entire practice now is with white-collar attorneys, he says. He shares examples of how he helped defendants revise their strategy by asking the right questions. Tom asks him to advise attorneys who may be struggling themselves with the same problems he did. The first step is to admit you have a problem, he says. He outlines the avenues – both personally and professionally – where help is available.
Resources
Jeff Grant on LinkedIn | Twitter
Grant Law
Prisonist.org
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Rich Roll Podcast: MasterClass on Addiction & Recovery, feat. Jeff Grant, Ep. 644, Nov. 25, 2021
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Huge thanks to Rich Roll for including my visit to his podcast (Ep. 440) in his MasterClass on Addiction & Recovery. What a gift and blessing to be among these incredible interviewees to share our stories and offer hope to others suffering from the disease of addiction. – Jeff
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Watch on YouTube:
The third in an ongoing series of curated deep dives, today’s show is a masterclass on addiction & recovery, featuring personal stories of sobriety from past guests & wisdom from lauded mental health experts.
Guests featured in this episode (all hyperlinked to their respective episodes) include:
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RRP 623: Anna Lembke, MD On The Neuroscience Of Addiction
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RRP 505: Dan Peres: From Opioid Slave To Sober Salvation
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RRP 593: Jessica Lahey On The Addiction Inoculation
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RRP 626: David Choe On Beauty & Brokenness
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RRP 471: Dr. Judd Brewer On Treating Addiction With Mindfulness
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RRP 341: Amy Dresner On Getting Dirty & Staying Clean
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RRP 440: Jeff Grant: From Addiction & Incarceration To Prison Ministry
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RRP 188: Dr. Gabor Maté On Why Addiction Is Not A Choice
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RRP 248: Charlie Engle: From Crack Addict To Running The Sahara
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RRP 326: The Misadventures Of A Professional Struggler: Mishka Shubaly Just Wants To Be Better
To learn more & peruse the full show notes, go here 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/richroll644 ✌🏼🌱 – Rich
LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/rrpitunes Spotify: http://bit.ly/rrpspotify Google: http://bit.ly/rrpgooglepods Meal Planner: http://meals.richroll.com Voicing Change Book: http://richroll.com/vc Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RichRollPod… Newsletter: http://bit.ly/rollcallemail CONNECT WITH RICH ✩ Website – http://richroll.com ✩ Rich Roll Podcast – https://richroll.com/all-episodes/ ✩ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/richroll/ ✩ Twitter – https://twitter.com/richroll ✩ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/richrollfans ✩ Strava – https://www.strava.com/athletes/14443… ✩ Memoir: Finding Ultra – https://www.richroll.com/shop/books/f… ✩ Meals – http://meals.richroll.com ✩ Cook – The Plantpower Way – https://www.richroll.com/shop/books/t… ✩ Italian! – The Plantpower Way: Italia – https://www.richroll.com/shop/books/t… ✩ Support – https://www.patreon.com/richroll
VIDEO PRODUCED AND EDITED BY DAN DRAKE https://www.dandrake333.com/ ORIGINAL PODCAST CLIPS FILMED AND EDITED BY BLAKE CURTIS & MARGO LUBIN https://www.blakecurtis.net/
00:00:00 – Intro
00:04:12 – Anna Lembke
00:13:44 – Dan Peres
00:23:56 – Jessica Lahey
00:33:24 – David Choe
00:39:55 – Judd Brewer
00:49:30 – Amy Dresner
00:57:50 – Jeff Grant
01:07:31 – Gabor Mate
01:19:05 – Charlie Engle
01:28:29 – Mishka Shubaly
NEW TO RICH? Hi I’m Rich Roll. I’m a vegan ultra-endurance athlete, author, podcaster, public speaker & wellness evangelist. But mainly I’m a dad of four. If you want to know more, visit my website or check out these two the NY Times articles: http://bit.ly/otillonyt , http://bit.ly/vegansglam
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Podcast: Lessons on Life from Former White Collar Criminal Jeff Grant on The Sydcast, with Prof. Sydney Finkelstein of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Oct. 19, 2021
This is perhaps my most incisive podcast ever (at least I think so). How could it not be, as I was interviewed by Prof. Sydney Finkelstein of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. A must-listen if you and/or someone you care about have been prosecuted for a white collar crime. – Jeff
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Episode Summary:
He is addicted to prescription opioids, he attempts suicide, he’s found guilty of white-collar crime and serves 13 months in prison. Now he’s out, free, and has a chance to do something good for others, and himself, with the rest of his life. This was, and is, Jeff Grant, and on this episode of The Sydcast we hear his story. Link to Sydcast on Art19.com: https://art19.com/shows/the-sydcast/episodes/b6473d6d-3cc5-4484-b4ba-42ddad226991.
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/76SiZJYqWMu9ka9Sx2aPfT?utm_source=oembed
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
Sydney Finkelstein
Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.
Jeff Grant
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison (2006 – 07) for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001 when he was lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, majoring in Social Ethics. After graduating from divinity school, Jeff was called to serve at an inner city church in Bridgeport, CT as Associate Minister and Director of Prison Ministries. He then co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community.
On May 5, 2021, Jeff’s law license was reinstated by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Now again in private practice, Jeff is an attorney and counselor-at-law providing private general counsel, legal crisis management, and dispute strategy and management services to individuals and families, real estate organizations, family-owned and closely-held businesses, the white collar justice community, and special situation and pro bono clients. He practices in New York and in authorized Federal matters, and works with local co-counsel to represent clients throughout country
For over 20 years Jeff served as managing attorney of a 20+ employee law firm headquartered in New York City, and then Westchester County, NY. Among other practice areas, the firm engaged in representation of family-owned/closely held businesses and their owners, business and real estate transactions, trusts and estates, and litigation. Jeff also served as outside General Counsel to large family-owned real estate equities, management and brokerage organizations, in which role he retained, coordinated and oversaw the work of many specialty law firms, including white collar defense firms.
Insights from this Episode
- Why Jeff wanted to become an attorney
- Family struggles Jeff went through during his auto-medication addiction problems
- How Jeff ended up in prison and what his experience was
- The steps of Jeff’s return journey to life after prison
- How Jeff supports white-collar criminals
- Patterns of white-collar crimes
- Institutional challenges towards fraud
Quotes from the Show:
- “I became addicted and slowly I started to deteriorate where I couldn’t show up at work anymore and I couldn’t run my firm even though it was continuing to be successful” – Jeff Grant [12:11]
- “I was betting my livelihood and health of my family and my future in ways that were just reckless” – Jeff Grant [17:02]
- “I learned more about human nature and respect and care and character in prison than I’ve learned in my entire life.” – Jeff Grant [24:48]
- “[About his early life as a successful attorney] Positional power and money bought me the illusion that I had anything important to say and that anybody ever cared what I had to say, and the truth was that I was just a narcissistic mess” – Jeff Grant [27:18]
- “I’m afraid that what we are doing is that we are teaching business leaders and political leaders…we are teaching them the wrong values” – Jeff Grant [50:17]
- “[About people who make fraud] It’s not okay to take advantage of the system so long as you, either don’t get caught or if you do get caught, you won’t get prosecuted for it” – Jeff Grant [50:34]
