Our Mission & History
The Partakers Mission
Through a unique mentoring model, Partakers supports the education and advancement of incarcerated women and men and Returning Citizens. Within this transformative experience Partakers also bridges the divide that separates people impacted by incarceration with those outside of the carceral system. Through its College Behind Bars Mentoring Program, Partakers provides vital mentoring support to incarcerated students. Partakers Mentors not only help to enhance skills critical to completing academic and degree programs, but also provide life-changing support networks while building long-term vital and trusting personal relationships. This support is essential to not only academic success but also for a sense of self-worth, connection,empowerment, and the belief in the possibility of a real future. Partakers mentor support is foundational to increasing chances for success when returning to society. Through the Partakers re-entry initiative, the Partakers Empowerment Program (PEP), Partakers continues this critical support system by working with Returning Citizens. The Partakers PEP program and its mentors provide critical skills, training, knowledge and personal connections as Returning Citizens navigate the difficult path of re-entry. The work of Partakers is to build vital partnerships and programming opportunities, and to provide essential resources, education, skills, and foster affirming relationships to individuals and communities impacted by the carceral system. The Partakers mentor experience is the key to achieving long-term sustained transformation, significantly reducing recidivism, with an impact that ripples out to the community beyond, and extends generationally.
The extraordinary people in this organization changed my life so much. I will graduate in January with my BA and I owe a tremendous thank you to Partakers for their continued support and positive energy… I want everyone to know that these busy people, with lives and problems of their own, spend a great amount of time making sure others feel cared for. And without a hint of judgement.
~Partakers Graduate
Our History
Partakers is a small non-profit organization helping to reduce recidivism by promoting higher education and providing community mentoring for incarcerated women and men.
In 1997, Partakers, Inc. was founded by Jeannette Hanlon as a non-profit organization with the following principal purposes:
to provide mentoring to women and men in prison who are enrolled in the Boston University Prison Education Program (BUPEP), or people in prison taking Distant Learning correspondence courses,
to bridge the divide between those inside and outside of prison.
In 2000 Partakers’ College Behind Bars program and the Boston University Prison Education Program (BUPEP) began an official relationship that helped anchor our effort and that over time, established Partakers’ respected position with the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.
In 2008 The Partakers’ Extended Learning Program (ELP) was established
In 2016 Emerson College established the Emerson Prison Initiative and became a partner with Partakers
In 2017 Partakers became a community partner of The Boston Mayor’s Office of Returning Citizens.
In 2017 The State Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issued an Official Citation recognizing the work of Partakers.
In 2017 Tufts University created in-prison degree-granting programs and became community partners with Partakers.
In 2018 Partakers was chosen as a community partner by the Longwood Symphony Orchestra for their Healing Art of Music Initiative. Partakers was the first non-medical not-for-profit to be chosen.
In 2019 Partakers Executive Director Arthur Bembury was selected by the Zakim Foundation to be a part of their Transformational Leadership Cohort.
In 2021 Partakers began a partnership with Brandeis University’s Educational Justice Initiative to establish the Partakers’ Empowerment Program (PEP)
In 2022 Partakers celebrated 25 Years of Transforming Lives and Building Futures.
In 2023 Partakers marked over 90 graduates of our PEP program, and 95% have been successful in obtaining employment and housing.
In 2024 Partakers launches The Reading Circle Program connecting readers inside with community readers.
A Partakers Story
The Partakers Model
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Partakers is a small non-profit organization helping to reduce recidivism by providing community mentoring for incarcerated women and men and Returning Citizens. Through our unique Mentoring Programs, Partakers profoundly impacts the lives of our students, their families, communities, and mentors.
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The power of the unique Partakers model can be seen in the success of our many graduates and the trusting, caring, relationships they build with their mentors.Students who have graduated from the Partakers College Behind Bars Program show a 2% recidivism rate. Past studies show a 6-year national average of 79% (Burueau of Labor Statistics) Graduates of The Partakers Program are ensured a wider reach of opportunities available to them when they re-enter their communities. For returning citizens the Partakers’ Empowerment Program (PEP) provides critical training and services with mentor support to help students navigate theri way through the complications of returning home. with over 90% obtaining employment and housing.
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Partakers is supported by an extraordinary and growing group of over 400 volunteer mentors.Our mentors dedicate their time and hearts to their students, often over a period of years. Volunteers come to us from diverse faiths, occupations, and socio-economic backgrounds. They are the bridge to our students’ achievement and the core of Partakers’ success. The long lasting benefits of our College Behind Bars Program are evident in the achievements of our students. As they build the skills, self-confidence, and critical knowledge necessary to obtain a degree they’re success also impacts the communities and families they return to.
The Partakers Board Structure
The Partakers Board of Directors can be comprised of up to 15 board members. The board meets monthly but typically not in July and August. Our public Annual Meeting is held during the second week of November. Partakers’ Annual Appeal is launched at the end of Fall. We are grateful for the continued generous support from volunteers and friends of Partakers, including our corporate, civic, and faith-based partner communities.
Partakers Vision
Our vision is to ensure that the impact of mass incarceration is alleviated long-term and that the societal view of those who have been a part of the carceral system is transformed. We aspire to be an integral part of this change as we work to provide resources to those inside prison and those who have returned home, and ensure they can partake in every societal opportunity and benefit. Our goal is to see the trajectory and promise for returning citizens change along with transforming the narrative surrounding women and men impacted by incarceration.
Partakers envisions its role as pivotal to fostering and building long-term and life altering mentoring relationships. Our hope is to reach every spoke of the carceral system with support and advocacy from juveniles to adults and for those navigating re-entry, as well as providing support for their children and families. Partakers aspires to create systemic and generational change for individuals, families, communities, and society, while inviting key stakeholders to become agents of change.
Partakers has played a major role in molding me into the man I have
become today. I gave up on my life and myself, but Partakers taught
me I was not a quitter by not quitting on me and pushing me to be the
best me.
~Partakers Graduate
Partakers’ Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Partakers is committed through our work to advancing racial and gender equity and inclusion, economic mobility, and the chance for a real future for those impacted by the carceral system. This commitment is reflected in over 25 years of transforming lives and building futures for so many who may never have realized their potential without the support, care and hope our mentor program and educational opportunities provide. The impact of our programming goes beyond the individual students and returning citizens we support, extending to their communities, families, and generations to follow. Our work creates true change and transforms the narrative in a unique way through our mentors; providing long lasting and powerful relationships between communities who otherwise may have never have had the opportunity to encounter one another. Our commitment to strive toward equity and inclusion is also reflected in our organizational operations as we endeavor to measure the impact of our work, pursue a diverse work environment, and grow our mission serving communities who have been marginalized and forgotten for far too long. Our commitment on this front is steadfast and integral to who we are as an organization. We are dedicated to ensuring that our policies, everyday practices, materials, communications and resources foster and support equitable opportunity for all.