In this episode, Jacquie has a discussion with Bill Livolsi, who was released from a Federal prison camp a year ago due to Covid-19 protocols.
Jacquie and Bill are both members of ourWhite Collar Support Groupthat meets online on Zoom on Monday evenings.
Criminal Justice Cafe: Transparent conversations about controversial subjects within the Criminal Justice System… from the inside out.
Watch on YouTube:
Jacqueline Polverari:
Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW is the founder and Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Services, focusing on the needs of women who have been impacted by the Criminal Justice System.
Jacqueline has over 25 years’ experience as a professional with proven successes in business leadership, mentoring and therapeutic environments. Her experience working with trauma culminated after spending almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women and observing the trauma women experience related to being incarcerated. She has since dedicated herself to Criminal Justice Reform and Reentry services with a special focus on trauma and reentry services for women relating to incarceration. Jacqueline is an active member of the National Association of Social Workers, JustLeadershipUSA and #Cut50 and speaks at conferences and symposiums throughout the country. She most recently designed and hosted the first retreat for women convicted of a white-collar crime in the country in October 2019. Jacqueline is working diligently to continue her education and has returned to school to obtain her Doctoral Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Criminal Justice.
Jacquie Polverari is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets online on Zoom on Monday evenings. We will celebrate our 250th weekly meeting on Monday, March 29, 2021, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT; all Fellow Travelers are invited.
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I never thought of myself needing a support group of any kind, after all I am the one who gives the support and does not receive it or even seek it. But upon reflection for the upcoming 250th meeting of Progressive Prison Ministries support group in which I have been a part of since September 2016, I cannot imagine not having the support that has been given to me by this amazing group of individuals.
After living all my adult life as a people-pleaser, caregiver, “fixer” of problems for all my family, loved ones and friends I self-destructed hard in 2009. I was a business owner, wife, mother, daughter, and friend to everyone, except to myself as I lost my sense of self in all the expectations that I thought was expected of me wearing all those hats. I sold my morals and ethics to be a savior of a failing business because that is what I thought my worth was. No one told me that but that is what I believed and told myself when I took a mortgage out on my home and overstated my income. I told myself this is how I can fix my business, the company that employed all the people that were important to me as failure was not an option, so I used the funds to make payroll and operating expenses and self-destructed going down a rabbit hole into the darkest moments of my life.
For the next five years, after pleading guilty to mortgage fraud and while awaiting sentencing I isolated myself. I was embarrassed, ashamed and most of all I felt guilty of what I brought upon my family in making such poor choices. I thought there was no one else in the world who made such poor choices, I was all alone in my thoughts. I just wanted to go and do my 7 months in Danbury Prison and come home so I could never think if it again…I was wrong!
I self-surrendered to Danbury Federal Prison January 5, 2015 and when I walked out of there to “freedom” on July 22, 2015 I felt more chained and isolated that I ever have. When I was in Danbury, I was forced time…time to reflect upon the poor choices I made, time to look at myself for who I was and especially time to decide who I wanted to become. I met the most incredible women who also were forced that time, we had a bond and we felt part of a community of women working on themselves to seek out change, see evolution within ourselves. I was excited to start a new chapter of my life with a renewed sense of worth of myself. But what I found when I came home was a non-forgiving society with much judgement and was quite unwelcoming. I questioned the work I had done on myself because maybe I was not worth given a second chance. I again isolated myself and became flooded with guilt and shame, how dare I think that these poor choices I made would not define me because my neighborhood and community certainly thought that. Although I had an immense support system within my family, I could not face the world because I did not feel I was deserving.
The feeling of loneliness and isolation grew until I came across Rev. Jeff Grant’s website, prisonist.org. on an internet quest to find people that were going through something similar as me. The first Monday night meeting I joined I found that I needed support and I found a community where I was allowed a forum to be open and vulnerable without judgement. Reaching out to Jeff was one of the best choices I made because this group gave me community and the feeling of acceptance that I was so in need of.
I thank Jeff Grant and every individual who I crossed paths within our support group over the past five years because if not for them I am not quite sure I would not have had the courage or strength to pick myself up, dust myself off and take a breath. A breath to realize that people are not defined by their pasts and we could change our behaviors and thoughts.
Fast forward to today, almost 250 meetings later, this group helped me find my way again. It has been such an essential piece of my healing. I am so grateful for every individual in the group, especially Fr. Joe and Rev. Jeff for hosting this weekly and giving so much of yourselves to make others feel whole again.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
White Collar Week Podcast: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group. The support group meeting on this podcast is different than most, because all of the 16 group members appearing have agreed to share their names, faces and very personal stories in an effort to reach out to individuals and families suffering in silence. All on the podcast are post-sentencing or back from prison. Watch on YouTube, Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud,link here.
Criminal Justice Cafe: Transparent conversations about controversial subjects within the Criminal Justice System… from the inside out.
Watch on YouTube:
Jacqueline Polverari:
Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW is the founder and Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Services, focusing on the needs of women who have been impacted by the Criminal Justice System.
Jacqueline has over 25 years’ experience as a professional with proven successes in business leadership, mentoring and therapeutic environments. Her experience working with trauma culminated after spending almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women and observing the trauma women experience related to being incarcerated. She has since dedicated herself to Criminal Justice Reform and Reentry services with a special focus on trauma and reentry services for women relating to incarceration. Jacqueline is an active member of the National Association of Social Workers, JustLeadershipUSA and #Cut50 and speaks at conferences and symposiums throughout the country. She most recently designed and hosted the first retreat for women convicted of a white-collar crime in the country in October 2019. Jacqueline is working diligently to continue her education and has returned to school to obtain her Doctoral Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Criminal Justice.
Congratulations to our friend and colleague, Jacqueline Polverari, on her new podcast Criminal Justice Cafe. In this episode, Jacquie has a discussion with Holli Houghton, Executive Director of Pink Lady Prison Consultants, about women feeling isolated and alone while incarcerated as their families and loved ones live their lives on the outside.
Criminal Justice Cafe: Transparent conversations about controversial subjects within the Criminal Justice System… from the inside out.
Watch on YouTube:
Holli Coulman
Holli Coulman a college-educated professional spent the better part of her career carving out a name for herself in highly competitive corporate arenas. While in her well-earned role at a strategic tech company, Holli’s integrity became compromised as she soon would become the target of a federal investigation. Coming under direct fire for financial fraud-related charges, she was forced to accept a guilty plea and subsequently, was convicted of one count of wire fraud. She spent the next 15 months in the Women’s Camp at FCC Victorville, California, 2 months in the Solitary Housing Unit (SHU) at the San Bernardino County Jail, and the final 3 months at a Halfway House.
Though steeped in a whirlwind of life-altering change and hardship, Holli did not spend her time unwisely. She earned her American Bar Association Paralegal Certification and in April of 2017 was given the opportunity to work for a reputable law firm, and is now working at the Dallas County Public Defender’s Office. Finding power in the written word, Holli started a popular blog on big issues such as women’s safety while incarcerated and related subject matter. This act of civil advocacy resulted in a Bureau of Prisons retaliatory- based punishment of two months in solitary confinement. These and other experiences will be chronicled in her much-anticipated book debut, “True Injustice” that will be published in December 2020.
Presently, Holli Coulman is one of the most notable and respected Women’s Prison Consultants. Through various prison consultancy platforms, she navigates families and individuals through the difficulty of incarceration. Her services stretch far beyond education and awareness. Holli’s services include prison pre-and-post release strategies, clemency procedures, appeals, coursework, and compassionate releases. Known for leading the dialogue for women’s prison reform, Holli is often requested to be a speaker at many leading women’s conferences. Holli maintains an active presence in organizations that champion her causes, including the WPA, and also the Voice of Women.
Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW is the founder and Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Services, focusing on the needs of women who have been impacted by the Criminal Justice System.
Jacqueline has over 25 years’ experience as a professional with proven successes in business leadership, mentoring and therapeutic environments. Her experience working with trauma culminated after spending almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women and observing the trauma women experience related to being incarcerated. She has since dedicated herself to Criminal Justice Reform and Reentry services with a special focus on trauma and reentry services for women relating to incarceration. Jacqueline is an active member of the National Association of Social Workers, JustLeadershipUSA and #Cut50 and speaks at conferences and symposiums throughout the country. She most recently designed and hosted the first retreat for women convicted of a white-collar crime in the country in October 2019. Jacqueline is working diligently to continue her education and has returned to school to obtain her Doctoral Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Criminal Justice.
Host Jacqueline Polverari is joined by defense attorney Norm Pattis to discuss his philosophy on the prison system, judges, and what makes a good defense attorney.
Host Jacqueline Polverari is joined by defense attorney Norm Pattis to discuss his philosophy on the prison system, judges, and what makes a good defense attorney.
Jacqueline Polverari and Jeff Grant will be the presenters at Albertus Magnus College’s spring 2020 Justice Panel, which is now scheduled for Monday, October 19th, at noon and at 5 pm in New Haven, CT. Details to come!
For the last five years, a semi-annual event at Albertus Magnus College has been a presentation by the Pursuing Truth and Justice Student-Faculty Panel, or “Justice Panel,” for short. The Justice Panel is a student-faculty collaboration aimed at addressing contemporary instances of institutionalized injustice. Themes in the past include police-community relations, human trafficking, access to mental health services, the role of the prosecutor, racial privilege and exclusion, immigration policy, racial justice in the NFL, and the status of Puerto Rico.
The Justice Panel lasts one hour, and allows for each presenter to speak, followed by a respondent, additional remarks by the speakers, and comments from the floor. As we wish to include the students in the evening program, the Panel makes two presentations, one at noon for the day students and one at 5:00pm for evening students.
The themes of incarceration and re-entry are intended to branch out to other elements of criminal justice reform and to other topics that bear on justice. For instance, there is an interest on campus in the topics of mass incarceration, restorative justice, and the loss of civil rights by felons who have completed their sentences.
The Justice Panel is open to the entire Albertus Magnus College population and the community at large.
Justice Panel
“Incarceration and Re-Entry: A View from the Inside” Presenters: Jacqueline Polverari, MSW, Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Service Jeff Grant, M.Div., Director of the Progressive Prison Project, Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries Respondents: Cecilia Sebastian, Ph.D. Candidate in German Studies, Yale University Tracy Bowens, ’19, Masters in Leadership Program, Albertus Magnus College Please note: This program will be offered twice Monday, October 19, 2020, Virtual Event
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
and 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. To reserve a space please email (akilbride@albertus.edu) or call 203-401-2024
Sponsored by the Preaching Truth and Justice Panel Committee and the Criminal Justice Program
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Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW is the founder and Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Services, focusing on the needs of women who have been impacted by the Criminal Justice System. Jacqueline has over 25 years’ experience as a professional with proven successes in business leadership, mentoring and therapeutic environments. Her experience working with trauma culminated after spending almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women and observing the trauma women experience related to being incarcerated. She has since dedicated herself to Criminal Justice Reform and Reentry services with a special focus on trauma and reentry services for women relating to incarceration. Jacqueline is an active member of the National Association of Social Workers, JustLeadershipUSA and #Cut50 and speaks at conferences and symposiums throughout the country. She most recently designed and hosted the first retreat for women convicted of a white-collar crime in the country in October 2019. Jacqueline is working diligently to continue her education and has returned to school to obtain her Doctoral Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Criminal Justice. For more information or to schedule a speaking engagement you can reach Jacqueline Polverari: evolutionreentry.com, jpolverari@evolutionreentry.com
Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.is an ordained minister with over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law, reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive & religious leadership. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide people faithfully forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Christian Social Ethics. He is Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice/economy exiled community. Jeff is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white collar crime to be appointed as CEO of a major criminal justice organization.
As an ordained minister, conversations and communications between Jeff and those he serves fall under clergy privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with Jeff while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW is the founder and Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Services, focusing on the needs of women who have been impacted by the Criminal Justice System. 
