OUR PROGRAMs

Our origins and base of operations continue to be in Sacramento and Northern California, where our inside circles have been running continuously for over 20 years. We currently run participant-led ongoing weekly circles inside New Folsom and in Vacaville.

Join Inside Circle’s Penpal Program and help foster healing and transformation through heartfelt letters with incarcerated individuals. Inside Circle matches outside writers to pen pals on the inside, and provides a virtual mailbox to ensure personal safety for outside pen pals. We have a straightforward set of guidelines to help you get started. Click below to learn more.

Inside Circle maintains a newsletter sent to inmates inside facilities sharing news, writing, and inspiration to ensure they feel part of a community.

For the last several years, Inside Circle has been adapting our approach to Our Young Adult Empowerment (YAE) adapts our Inside Circle approach to meet the needs of incarcerated and justice-involved youth in the community before and after they are released from detention.

YAE offers fluid life skills training modules to help address the root causes of problem behavior, and builds capacity for young people to gain a sense of confidence, social connection, relational connection, and a strengthened sense of self-worth, personal and cultural identity while building tools and healthy coping mechanisms.

YAE is currently based in New Jersey, supported largely by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, but is expanding to include support in Washington, DC, Dallas, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. We run circles inside juvenile facilities, and provide life skills support for youth after their release, twice weekly, via zoom. This has enabled us to remain connected to youth as they are released—and often relocate — across the east coast.

Are you a returning citizen? Find support and resources to help you in your journey. You’re also welcome to join our virtual drop-in circles.

Our drop-in circles are virtual versions of our healing circles, and are free and open to all. You’re welcome to join any time: we only ask that you respect the circle.

Outside Circles bring members of the community into circle with formerly incarcerated leaders. This builds direct connection, understanding, and compassion, creating a ripple effect of a growing number of ambassadors and advocates for our work. We find this has also demonstrated the skill of our Circle-trained facilitators, enabling us to establish a growing reputation as trainers and facilitators.

We are increasingly being sought out to provide technical assistance and facilitate meaningful partnership-building between justice systems and community service organizations, between thought leaders and local partners, and simply as effective team-building and communication/trust building consultants within organizations and corporations who are seeking to do things differently and connect their work to a sense of purpose and connection. This work requires certain criteria to be met, makes use of Inside Circle facilitators, and integrates ongoing training for local organizations to eventually take over the circles.

We are increasingly being sought out to facilitate meaningful partnership-building between justice systems and community service organizations, between thought leaders and local partners, and simply as effective team-building and communication/trust building consultants within organizations and corporations who are seeking to do things differently and connect their work to a sense of purpose and connection. This work requires certain criteria to be met, makes use of Inside Circle facilitators, and integrates ongoing training for local organizations to eventually take over the circles. Click below to request additional information.

Eldra is a skilled facilitator, able to work with groups and individuals to forge connection, and a powerful keynote speaker on topics including toxic masculinity, racism, cultivating emotional intelligence, leadership development, criminal justice reform, and DEI work. His TedTalk has had over 1.6 million views, and he remains a sought-after speaker across the country.

Inside Circle provides guidance, facilitation, and training for communities, organizations, and agencies seeking to work together, to help foster lasting change, and to grow local capacity.