Kandra Clark

Kandra Clark grew up in a small town in Illinois. She arrived in New York City in 2008 and lived in East Harlem. She spent several months on Rikers Island in 2010 before being sent to state prison. She describes her attempts to build community with other incarcerated women amidst Rikers' culture of dehumanization and violence. She was sexually harassed every day at Rikers by male officers, and she estimates that 90% of the women she met while locked up experienced physical or sexual abuse as children. Following her release from prison in 2011, Clark began working in a variety of re-entry positions with The Fortune Society and JustLeadershipUSA. Clark is now the Vice President of Policy and Strategy at Exodus Transitional Community, a re-entry organization in New York City. She is actively involved in the campaign to close Rikers Island. (Summary written by: Annie Anderson)