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Friends Outside Welcomes New Executive Director

Hello, Friends!

I am honored to be your next Executive Director.  I believe in the mission of Friends Outside - to offer caring, evidence-based services to adults and youth who are incarcerated, reentering the community or at risk, so that they, their families and neighborhoods can be safe and thrive – and that as we pursue this mission, we change lives.

The idea that perspective makes the difference is one that resonates with me. My concern isn’t that “the glass is half-full” or “half-empty” but rather how we will fill it up. For me, this has meant finding meaningful work where I make a social investment in my local and global community. I have done this as a missionary where I learned American Sign and taught those with deafness, as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer where I led a literacy program at an elementary school, as a leader on local and national issues including health care access, poverty reduction, child abuse, high school completion, and HIV elimination. I am an advocate, a creative thinker, resourceful, and I come to this work with lived experience.  I want to be involved where lives change.

As of September 13, 2023, California’s adult prison population was 91,933.  Friends Outside is just that – a friend on the outside.  We help make rehabilitation possible.  We help make the transition to the community a little smoother.  We help keep families united.  We believe in second chances.  And we hope you do too. 

In Solidarity for Change,

Michael Sorensen, MPA
Executive Director

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