Welcome to our 2023 Virtual Fundraiser

Thank you for watching our 2023 Bridgebuilders fundraiser. We hope you are inspired to donate. We wanted to let the people appearing in tonight’s video who all volunteered their time and energy to support College Guild tell you about themselves in their own words. 

 

In order of appearance. 

 

Ana Silva

 

I am attending Marshalltown Community College, majoring in Broadcasting and Digital Media in my spare time, I like to spend time with family and friends or watch movies/series on Netflix. The reason I read this poem was because Amee was looking for volunteers, and I was willing to help. I like helping others, and when I read this poem, I could tell that the writer was expressing his feelings and thoughts about being somewhere that is not a happy place to be at. Poems are a way to let go of what we have been holding to speak out from our minds, and what College Guild is doing is great and that’s why I support them because they are giving these people a way to express their feelings. 

 

Alissa Moore

 

Alissa’s passion for serving incarcerated women inspired her to empower youth lifers by providing them with support in the Board of Prison Hearings process. Her efforts ensure that young individuals serving life sentences and their families have a voice and the opportunity to participate actively in the decision-making process that directly affects their lives. Her expertise and guidance has provided much-needed assistance to families who are seeking justice and fair treatment within the system. Alissa's unwavering dedication, combined with her diverse work in criminal justice reform, policy advocacy, youth empowerment, legal advocacy, and spearheading campaigns, has made her an inspiring force in bringing about positive change. Her remarkable efforts have helped create a more just and equitable system while uplifting and supporting those impacted by incarceration.

 

Nikita McNamee

 

Nikita is working toward her AA at Marshalltown Community College with plans to advance toward an English and Creative Writing major at the University of Iowa. While her career aspirations are currently undetermined, she is considering becoming an English professor. In her free time, she enjoys feeding the local critters in her hometown, writing stories, sewing, and spending time with her partner.

 

Nikita supports College Guild because she believes that no one deserves to have their right to learn and grow stripped from them. Long-term solitary confinement restricts these rights, which is why 'Imagine That' by Dan affected her so personally.

 

Jesse Clyde Burleson

 

Is the In-custody Program Coordinator at LSPC, Board Chairman at A Diamond in the Ruff, Founder of TIPP, The Incarcerated Peoples Party, Co-Founder of Abolish Bondage Collectively, and advocate against the 13th Amendment. 

 

Amee Schmidt

 

Amee Schmidt holds an MA in Creative Writing from Central Michigan University and has been teaching college English for over 15 years, focusing on academic and creative writing, academic reading, and Indigenous literatures of the US and Canada. In her spare time, she is a flash-fiction writer, aspiring novelist, occasional poet, publisher and editor, gardener, avid home cook, and competitive pool player.