Jeremiah's journey from justice offender to justice defender has been nothing short of miraculous. Prepare to be inspired. Coming from a broken family, Jeremiah turned to the streets for love and joined a gang at 13. He did not have an education or job skills before entering prison at 19. Jeremiah lost all his closest friends and a younger brother to gun violence, so he decided to denounce his former lifestyle and now uses his influence to reform criminal organizations from the inside out.A social justice visionary who advocates ways to build redemptive and equitable prison reform policies that bridge the gap from corrections to community, Jeremiah believes in restorative justice as a path to greater public safety. He has been developing a gang-intervention module called EMBODY, for which he is seeking accreditation and implementation in the VA DOC to mitigate gang violence through public safety awareness, treatment, and education/job provision. While incarcerated, Jeremiah has earned a GED; plumbing, masonry, and culinary trade skills; a biblical seminary degree; and paralegal certification. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx