EPISODE · Sep 14, 2026 · 26 MIN
Each One, Teach One: Cheryl Wilkins on Building Hope Behind Bars, Ep. 558
from Take it from the Ironwoman · host Susanne Mueller, Cheryl Wilkins
Cheryl Wilkins graduated as the 2000 valedictorian of Marymount Manhattan College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude. She later received her Master’s degree in Urban Studies from Hunter College.Cheryl is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Columbia University’s Center for Justice (CFJ), where she works to end the nation’s reliance on incarceration, advance new approaches to safety and justice, and contribute to national and global conversations on transformative justice policy. Through research, advocacy, and leadership development, she partners with directly impacted communities to reimagine systems of justice and accountability.She also serves as Co-Director of Columbia University’s Social Intervention Group (SIG), where she supports the development and implementation of evidence-based solutions to emerging health and social challenges, while mentoring the next generation of scholars from underrepresented and directly impacted communities.Cheryl’s leadership is deeply rooted in expanding access to higher education. She was among the advocates and organizers who helped restore college programming for incarcerated women at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, work that contributed to the reestablishment of educational opportunities for women and was later documented in the film Degrees of Freedom. Her commitment to educational equity continues to shape her work today.She is also the driving force behind Center for Justice at Columbia University’s annual Beyond the Bars Conference, one of the largest academic conferences in the country centered on justice, incarceration, and community-led solutions. Under her leadership, the conference convenes formerly incarcerated leaders, scholars, advocates, policymakers, and artists from across the nation to advance new visions of safety and justice.Cheryl’s community leadership includes serving as an Advisory Board Member of the International Network of Formerly Incarcerated Women and as a Senior Advisor with the Women & Justice Project. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Jumpstart Retreat Center and is an Advisory Board Member for Step Beyond Women and Girls. Cheryl is a founding member of Women Building Up.She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Brian Fischer Award, the Kathy Boudin Award, the Davis Putter Fellowship Award, the Sister Mary Nerney Visionary Award, the Alliance of Families for Justice Leadership Award, the FreeHer Award, the Architects of Power Award, the Pan African Global Award for Women in Leadership, and the Citizens Against Recidivism Award.Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-wilkins-69761045/ ***********Finalist "Women in Cloud - Podcast of the YEAR" - #empowHERaccess Global Prestige Awards 2026Susanne Mueller / www.susannemueller.biz TEDX Talk, May 2022: Running and Life: 5KM Formula for YOUR Successhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT_5Er1cLvY Join Substack: https://substack.com/@susannemuellernyc?Enjoy one coaching session for free if you are a yearly subscriber. 800+ weekly blogs / 500+ podcasts / 1 Ironman Triathlon / 5 half ironman races / 26 marathon races / 4 books / 1 Mt. Kilimanjaro / 1 TEDx Talk
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Cheryl Wilkins's story starts at Bedford Hills, where she became part of a movement that brought college back to women's prisons 🎓 at the exact moment federal Pell Grants had been stripped away by 1990s "tough on crime" laws 📜. What began as a handful of private colleges banding together — with Marymount Manhattan conferring the degrees — turned into a culture shift inside the prison itself: women who couldn't speak English pushing toward ESL classes, GED prep turning into college-credit courses, an "each one, teach one" philosophy passing flashcards from cell to yard 📚. Now co-founder of Columbia University's Center for Justice, Cheryl channels that same model nationally — funding professors and books at five prisons including Rikers Island ⚖️, running a writing workshop called Right to Heal that gives incarcerated women space to process trauma and find their voice ✍️, and leading a Collective Leadership Institute that has graduated over 150 formerly incarcerated women now driving policy change across 30 states 🌍. Her documentary, Degrees of Freedom 🎬, captures the project's origin story and travels the country sparking talk-backs that humanize a population most people forget exists — women, the fastest-growing group entering prison over the last 40 years. The numbers tell their own story: Marymount's program dropped recidivism from 67% to just 2% 📉. For Cheryl, the proof shows up every time a graduate knocks on her door, or a family asks for guidance before a loved one comes home 🏡 — living proof, as she puts it, that people are so much greater than the worst thing that ever happened to them ✨
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Each One, Teach One: Cheryl Wilkins on Building Hope Behind Bars, Ep. 558
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