BREAKING STEREOTYPES BEHIND AND BEYOND THE WALL

"Every success that I have isn't just for me. It's disproving stereotypes." When Chandler Dugal entered the correctional system right after graduating college, few could have predicted what the next three years would look like. During his incarceration, Chandler earned a graduate certificate in Homeland Security Studies, completed a Master's in Public Administration through Penn State and became the first person at Maine Correctional Center to begin remote employment with a Manhattan law firm. And if that wasn't setting the bar, both literal and figurative higher, he competed in debates, via the National Prison Debate League, against some of the nation's top universities, and began building the foundation for what will soon be a legal career. In this episode Chandler shares his journey through incarceration, education, technology, family support, and personal accountability, and what can happen when correctional systems truly invest in preparing people for life beyond prison. Today, Chandler is a senior paralegal, Director of Operations for the National Prison Debate League, author of a growing Substack chronicling his incarceration experience, and an incoming law student at Northeastern University School of Law.