Career Cheat Code
Welcome to Career Cheat Code, a podcast that explores the stories of everyday people making an impact in the world through their careers and loving every minute of it. Whether you're already on your path or searching for your purpose, this podcast is for you.
Join us every Monday as we uncover the secrets behind successful careers and inspire you to make your own mark. Formerly known as Thank God It's Monday | TGIM, don't forget to subscribe for updates and share with your friends!
Career Cheat Code
081 | From Prison To Purpose with Hernán Carvente Martinez
Hernán Carvente Martinez shares his extraordinary journey from juvenile incarceration to becoming Executive Director of Alianza for Opportunity, a national nonprofit dedicated to building thriving communities for Latino, Afro-Latino, and Indigenous groups. His powerful story reveals how one mentor's belief transformed his life trajectory and instilled in him the courage to never give up despite overwhelming challenges.
• Spent four years in juvenile prison at age 16 for attempted murder before finding transformation through a college program
• Met mentor James McCain who challenged him to develop writing skills, public speaking abilities, and see a future beyond his past
• Transformed after three "quits" when his mentor gave him tough conditions to return, teaching him persistence and accountability
• Graduated with 57 college credits while incarcerated but faced significant barriers in employment and education after release
• Became an advocate for juvenile justice reform through sharing his story at policy forums and national platforms
• Now leads Alianza for Opportunity with a focus on empowering emerging Latino leaders ages 18-25
• Embraces his Chicano identity to ensure Latino communities are represented in conversations that affect them
• Continues professional development through fellowships with organizations like Just Leadership USA and Forward Promise
• Survived mental health struggles to become an advocate for wellness and self-care while doing justice work
• Builds community connections as his form of "capital" to create meaningful impact for the next generation
Connect with Alianza for Opportunity on social media platforms @AlianzaForOpportunity or visit www.alianzaforopportunity.org to learn more about their work. Email admin@alianzaforopportunity.org to connect directly with the team.
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The views shared on Career Cheat Code are those of the guests and don’t reflect the host or any affiliated organizations. This podcast is for inspiration and information, highlighting unique career journeys to help you define success and take your next step.
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And ever since that it's been really hard to be honest, to look at anything difficult and just merely walk away, because I believe that if as long as I put my best foot forward, the best effort, that I'm going to do a great job, but that I really need to want it and believe in it. And I think that's the lesson, the turning point in my life, because after all of those trials and tribulations, I navigated life a little differently and I still made mistakes after the fact, right, like I'm not a perfect human being or a perfect leader, but that was my turning point, that led me to a path that felt a lot more wholesome than the one that I was living before, which felt like I was denying myself the opportunity to just be be a better human, for myself and for no one else. Welcome to Career G-Code.
Speaker 2:In this podcast, you'll hear how everyday people impact the world through their careers. Learn about their journey, career hacks and obstacles along the way. Whether you're already having the impact you want or are searching for it, this is the podcast for you.
Speaker 3:All right, welcome to the show. Thank you, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm excited.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm excited to have you here. But you know, let's dive right in. Let's tell the world who you are and what you do for a living.
Speaker 1:For sure. So, hey everyone, my name is Hernan Carvente Martinez. I use he, they, el, ella pronouns and I'm the executive director of Alianza for Opportunity, which is a national nonprofit really dedicated to building thriving communities for Latina, afro-latina and indigenous groups around the country.
Speaker 3:Got it. So what does that mean on a more molecular level, right? So like what's an example of something that the organization does for this youth.
Speaker 1:For sure. So at the present moment we have a training program that's dedicated to emerging leaders ages 18 to 25. I really prioritize trying to make sure that we're empowering another generation of leaders to not just lead us in the present work but also lead us in conversations in the future. As an organization, you know we really strive to support any conversations or narratives that are around the Latino, afro-latino and Indigenous diaspora, understanding that those terms don't fully capture all of our diaspora right. It doesn't always include Caribbean folk, asian folk, so shout out to those communities as well. We pick these terms because these are the terms that government tends to use or that folks in the nonprofit sector use, but I know that the diaspora is much bigger than that and overall, as an organization, we really strive to do work that centers that and that really is about uplifting what, for example, safety looks like for Latino communities, what healthy communities look like.
Speaker 1:And when we say that, what does it mean for our people?
Speaker 1:Not for what government officials, academics or other folk may say, unless they look like us right and come from our community.
Speaker 1:So it's like if it's not about us, if it's about us but without us.
Speaker 1:That's one of the conversations that I'm always trying to strive to challenge but also poke around and trying to make sure that our people are being included more effectively.
Speaker 1:So that's a little bit, and you know what I do on a day to day sometimes looks like getting up responding to emails or jumping right into a Zoom, and a lot of it is with partners that we have around the country in California, illinois, new Mexico, colorado, dc. So we are a national organization and that means that a lot of my life is oftentimes sitting in a computer, which, as you know, that might be bad for your back, but we try to do our best to work remotely. And the other half of my team, my other half, the person who completes this organization, is Julia Ramirez, who is based out in California, so we're a small and mighty team, and who completes this organization is Julia Ramirez, who is based out in California, so we're a small and mighty team. We also have a facilitator, yvonne Pulido, who is in Illinois, in Chicago, illinois. So, yeah, we're out here just trying to build with a small but mighty team.
Speaker 3:That's great. How long has the organization been around and how long have you been as the executive director?
Speaker 1:there. So the organization actually has a really long history. We've been around for over a decade. However, challenges and other things that the organization went through really prevented its growth at a pace that maybe we wanted to as a collective. But I took over the organization literally almost three years ago now, so it's been around two years, eight months, who's counting.
Speaker 1:But I took it over when it was originally named Alianza for Youth Justice because we really focused on the juvenile justice system. But I took it over when it was originally named Alianza for Youth Justice because we really focused on the juvenile justice system. And I am now here for this amount of time where I rebranded the organization. I changed our mission statement. I really wanted to create an opportunity for us to be a little bit more versatile, more nimble, but also just more strategic in what conversations we got involved in. And it couldn't have happened at the best time because, walking into this administration and everything that's been happening, it's made us more flexible and able to survive the current tide of cuts in funding and other things happening in the world. So it's been hard, but two and a half years and plus running and hoping to be here until I can make sure that this organization is stable and successful.
Speaker 3:So what brings you to this work? Why are you doing this work? Why are you even involved in this?
Speaker 1:space for personal reasons, and then some of it also now has to do with just the passion for making sure that young people and families, you know, are included in the conversations that we're talking about. So I'm actually someone who's formerly incarcerated. I spent about four years in a juvenile prison in New York State for the crime of attempted murder. Not saying that to glorify it for anyone listening. I say that to acknowledge that it is a point in my life where I was at my lowest, but I was also at my youngest, making the worst mistakes and really not thinking about the consequences of those mistakes. And so I was 16 at the time of that offense and I went into the system and experienced what it was really like to house young people in spaces far away from community, far away from family, and really also saw just the gaps in services, support and the things that could really help a young people thrive. And so I got lucky, though, because I ended up in a college program while I was in the facility and I say luck I used to say luck. I think some part of me really wanted to find opportunities, and so I got my GED, took 57 college courses while I was incarcerated, and then I eventually came home after doing all of that and, you know, having had my life saved by a man in there his name is James McCain. He's no longer with us, but ultimately that man really helped me see a life beyond gang life, a life beyond drugs and just a life beyond everything that I had known up until that point. And when I came home, I'm out here trying to be an aspirational, you know, like let me go work at a restaurant or let me work at retail or let me just do something to put some money on the table. And I ended up realizing that nobody wanted to hire the formerly incarcerated kid from Queens with an attempted murder charge. Around that time, you know, we all had to check off that box that asked for the felony conviction. And so every time I checked off that box it was like an immediate what did you do? And the moment that I had to explain there's no light way to explain oh I, you know, attempted against someone's life. That is about the lightest way that I could frame it. And you know so people just kind of looked down on me because of that.
Speaker 1:And eventually I found the work of criminal justice, I found advocacy, I found people who were out there in reentry, folks who were also advancing these kinds of things, and I started getting involved by just like participating on panels sharing my story, talking about this kind of work. And then over time I started sharing my story not just in New York but nationally. So I started sharing it as part of national platforms, with the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, the National Academies of Science, you know, the Annie Casey Foundation, macarthur Foundation, right Like I started expanding the audiences to where my story was being shared and over time I just kept getting more and more involved. You know, I ended up being a part of advocacy campaigns to really include young people and families in state policy reform. I went on to then do work in abolishing youth prisons. So I ended up working at the Youth First Initiative, trying to close down youth facilities around the country and reinvesting that money into community alternatives.
Speaker 1:And I'm in this position after trying my own endeavor, which was Healing Ninjas, which really centered healing and wellness.
Speaker 1:It was a social enterprise, but it was really hard to build a social enterprise and you know, and I think that's one of the struggles and journeys that I'm still walking because I still haven't given up on that project. But Alianza was sort of a place where I went because I was asked by my predecessor, a good friend of mine, to come to the organization and support it in the transition phase. And so I came into this position merely because I really wanted to explore, hey, what would it look like for me to be an interim executive director? Right, could I get some skills there that I might then apply to the project that I was working on before? And, truth be told, what should have been a four-month contract is now a two and a half year period of my life. So you know, it's been a journey and there are so many things that I'm leaving out in that, but that's sort of like the fast track to how I ended up where I'm at in the present moment and some of the career journey that I've had.
Speaker 3:I think that's great, right, because you bring lived experience, real ability to relate to the work, real like innate love and passion for the people that you're serving, right, and you just show up differently, like that shows, right, this is not like just a job for you, right? Like it's not. It seems like you know you maybe went in there like, ah sure, let's take this contract and see where it goes, right, and it seems like you've now fallen in love with the work and you're like, oh no, I see it like a mission here.
Speaker 1:I do see it as a mission and, more importantly, what I failed to share was that when I walked into Alianza, you know and I mentioned this earlier, which is that this organization is really focusing on Latine, afro-latine and indigenous communities, and all that time that I was doing advocacy work that I mentioned at Youth First, killing Ninjas, you know, at the Vera Institute of Justice, all of these different positions that I've held, all the committees that I've been on, I've really failed to own my Chicano background, me being Mexican, me having undocumented parents, me being brown skin. I didn't own any of those things in like a very aggressive manner, for lack of better wording, right Like I stepped into spaces, holding that black and white paradigm and treating the issue of criminal justice just like many of the academics do, which is always listing out the black and white statistics which all the love to you know my black and African-American, you know brothers and sisters, because the system impacts them in a much more disproportionate way. The brown folk are also impacted and I never really bothered to think about it that way or bring it up. And so being at Alianza now really means I have to really think about that right, like, what does it mean for me to represent mi comunidad and then also understand that, as a leader of an org, as a Chicano leader of an org, as someone who represents predominantly the Mexican diaspora, I also don't want to get into this like rabbit hole of suddenly only pairing up or working with Mexican or folks who represent that diaspora and understanding that when we say Latina, afro-latina and indigenous, that diaspora is bigger, right? So really bringing in folk who are from the central, from Central America, from South America, and understanding that you know we have Guatemalans, honduranos, salvadoranos, cubanos, dominicanos, right Like, and even then, right Like, it's not representative there, right, because the folks that I just mentioned to some of them are actually on islands that are off the coast of the major continents. So it's important to me because it's making me learn more, but it's also helping me show up even more authentically.
Speaker 1:That I did in the past. It's like I'm a Chicano from the Big Apple, is what I say now, right, and that means that I don't carry the same Chicano swag or heritage that everyone does who are from the Southwest or from California, and that means I'm just a different kind of Chicano. I'm not trying to force myself to be the one that looks like the same ones from the West Coast or from the Southwest. All the love to my brothers out there. No me, maten despues, for saying that, but you know, it's just the truth. I'm trying to embody my own essence of who I am in the place where I live, which is the Big Apple you know, new York City and then also understanding that that impacts the work and how people see me and also how the work is represented, because as a leader, I have to make sure that I'm holding the space for everyone, not just for some of us. That's right.
Speaker 3:So you know, let's go back to kind of your earlier, your youth, right? So let's talk a little bit about where you were born, growing up and at age 16, did you have a vision of what you wanted to do with your career or with your life, or how did that look like at that point?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, so growing up. So I was born here in the US and at the age of two my parents actually decided to move back to Mexico. So most people don't know that I lived in Mexico from the age of two to eight and that during that period of time I actually witnessed what working in really poor and harsh conditions look like, because my parents lived in a home where you know, if it rained, which is this like little cover, that's like a metal cover, so when it rained you would hear those raindrops on that roof. If it was cold, that wind is going through, because the whole house wasn't fully cemented. And so there's just these pieces of, like my journey when I was in Mexico that most people don't know and that I never bothered to talk about, mostly because I was young, right, like it was the first six years of my life that I had consciousness. But eventually, you know, and through a lot of struggle, right, my parents just navigating a lot of domestic violence, you know, a lot of issues with alcohol, which spans the whole my family, not just my dad, but ultimately a lot of those issues led to me sort of internalizing that this is the way of life, right, that, like we live in poor conditions, that we have no other means but to work in the fields like and ultimately part of what happened in that one. That was the first time that I had ever flown on a plane, but never realizing that my parents never flown a plane, I didn't know that they crossed in a way that, again, was very different than the way that I did, because I was a US citizen, and so when I was here in the US, my mom used to work in sweatshops, right Like making clothes, just like really experiencing all that life that people talk about as like sweating in some of these really harsh conditions, creating clothes that, like you know, sense an hour. And my dad worked at a restaurant, you know, making pizza, and to this day the man still does and he makes him the bomb ass pizza. But that's all I thought that I could ever do, to be quite honest. And so up until 16, which is right around the time when I got incarcerated my only vision for literally what life was going to be like was either selling drugs on the street, which I was pretty efficient at doing, or just really doing, you know, some nine to five job that paid very little and just made ends meet. So I never really aspired to anything more.
Speaker 1:Did I have dreams of being something at some point? Yeah, I think by 16, I was really into computers and I really wanted to do tech at some point, before tech became a hip thing that everybody does now. And at some point when I was younger, I also wanted to be a firefighter. You know, I had dreams, but none of those were the ones that I pursued and I really want to make sure that I now strive to really think about what I want to do, because even in this present moment, I'm like I have I fully found a career that I want to settle on. No, and I feel like some of that is also why I call myself a social entrepreneur. I'm like I always want to find ways to do good and do well at the same time. I love that.
Speaker 3:I think that's very important, right, and I think, especially as, like, people see you now and they might say, oh, you're an executive director, you probably have worked in the nonprofit space for a long time and known exactly how this trajectory was going to go, and I just think it's important for people to realize, like, no, there were times when I literally sounds cool, right, but not like actively planning that roadmap, right, and then it takes for you to have that experience where you go in and get incarcerated. And then you mentioned the importance of mentorship, right, and how someone there, like helped you change your mindset, which would then lead you down this different path, right, can you talk a little bit about kind of what that transition, both physically and in mindset, look like as you're getting ready to come back home, like how does that? What did that mean to you? What did you think you were going to do when you got out and what actually happened?
Speaker 1:It's really I'm. Hopefully I don't go into rant about it, because you know, meeting Mr McCain in prison was the best thing that ever happened to me and to this day, you know, thinking about him does get me a little emotional because, you know, this man looked beyond the angry Latino you know, formerly a gang member kid who came into his program and saw potential that I didn't see in myself. Right, and I say that as someone who like realizing who he was right, he was a white man, ex-military, 22-year veteran and ultimately had this really hard persona to who he was. But in the core of who he was he was also very loving and caring and wanted all of us to succeed. And so there was just this tenacity that he had of not giving up on any of us, especially those of us who came in with the more serious felonies, because most of the guys who went into the college program had a lot more time to serve, which meant that he had a lot more time to work with us, and ultimately he spent a lot of time convincing me, to be honest, that I was worthy of opportunities beyond the ones that I was accustomed to.
Speaker 1:At some point, you know, I actually quit his program three times. The first time I quit because he gave me an F on a paper that I wrote right in the first time of meeting him and I literally got pissed off, you know, crumbled up the paper, threw it at him and I'm like I used to get an A's on this. I don't know how the hell you got me an F and then walked out with a fit, came at some point back to my cell in my unit and ultimately had a conversation with me and told me why did you walk out? And I was like because I deserved an A. I don't know why you gave me an F. Like that literally means this meant nothing, like I wrote it for no reason. He's like why did you think you deserved an A? And I was like because I wrote a similar paper in a different class that I got right at the beginning and I got A's for them. So I don't understand. And he looked at me dead in the face zero smile, zero, anything. It was just like whoever gave you those A's thought that you were going to amount to anything and that that's why you got those A's. And I was like why?
Speaker 1:And the main thing for him was one maybe they didn't think that you were going to go out and continue college. Two, maybe they felt sorry for you. Three, I don't know, but ultimately your writing level is that of a middle schooler. Your writing level is that of a middle schooler, and if you go out there and write a paper like that in college, you're going to get laughed at, and I don't want that to happen to you. So if you want to be a better writer, let me teach you how to be a better writer and set you up for success. And so I.
Speaker 1:You know I was baffled by what he said, but also found some level of connection to the reality that, like this, man genuinely wants to help me, and so I leaned into that right and went again back to the college program, quit a second time, this time for the exact thing that I'm doing with you right now, which is public speaking. Like I had to do a presentation for my English 102 course and it was supposed to be five minutes on any topic that I wanted, and I was terrified of speaking, just speaking out loud, speaking to a crowd. I was not capable of it, and again, that came from a lot of background, of just being silenced and not having space to be able to do that. But again walked into my cell. The same thing after I walked out and quit on this program and was like why did you do this now? And I'm like, well, I just don't want to do it. And he's like are you scared of presenting, are you scared of speaking? And I was like, no, it's not that I try to deny it.
Speaker 1:Eventually he got me to admit that that was the case and he told me again why do you do this? Who do you do this for? And I'm like would you be doing this for? And I got pissed off at him at first because I'm like how could you say that? Right, like I do have family. Like God forbid, something happens to them. And ultimately, at some point, you know, I realized what he was asking me and what he wanted me to say was that I was doing this for me. And so I did. You know, I went back with shaky legs and my hands literally sweaty and my frigging armpits, just like you know, just pulsating with sweat. I walked back in there and I gave a presentation for the first time in my life and that, I think, was the moment where I started seeing a shift in my personality and, like my charisma, my confidence.
Speaker 1:And then the third time that I quit was really the breaking point. Because I had quit, because I went to the parole board with about 40 something college credits, having been in the fatherhood program, having been in custodian maintenance, having worked in the kitchen, having worked in the library, having done every bit of programming that that facility could offer, and thinking that I might be released at two years, down the line of the sentence that I was given. And no, I walked in there and a day later was told that I line of the sentence that I was given, and no, I walked in there and a day later was told that I was denied parole and that I was a serious threat to the community, capable of violence. Like. The description of me was one that was different from the one that I walked in, thinking that I was going to get, and I came back and said F. This Started flipping everything, literally threatened.
Speaker 1:The facility director, did not care about it anymore. I was just like what was the point of doing all of this and also in believing in myself if, at the end of the day, other people are still going to look at me as the same monster that walked in and I quit the program again, but this time in the most cruel way, because I ended up spitting at him. I ended up cursing everyone else and my peers out, saying this is a waste of time. Everybody get out. And to this day you know I will never forget how bad I felt doing that in the moment, but how angry I felt and how much I didn't care, and that was always my history. Right Like when the going gets tough, I just kind of quit and eventually I ended up realizing while I was in my cell that this isn't the path that I wanted to take, that I had really fucked up for lack of better wording.
Speaker 1:Apologies for everyone listening, but I really messed up and I got staff to reach back out to him. I got you know all of them to try to get him to talk to me and he didn't want to. Eventually he did talk to me and he told me straight up he's like Hernan, I'm sorry but I can't allow you back into the program. If I allow you back after what you just pulled, I'm setting the bar lower for everyone else. I'm letting everyone else know that this is acceptable behavior and that they can come back whenever they want. And you have quit now for the third time. And it's not. It's, that's it. You can't just make a choice, make a mistake and expect that things are going to be the same after it.
Speaker 1:And that was the biggest lesson that I got taught about not only being accountable for my own actions, but also the reality that an opportunity that you don't take advantage of when you have it can be a missed opportunity that you will never have again. And so I begged this man for almost a week back and forth, like you know, just causing a havoc, just trying to get his attention, and then eventually getting tired of hearing. You know that I was like just trying to get his attention, to get me back. He came back to myself for the final time and that conversation rings very much in my ears to this day, because he told me straight up he's like, why do you want back? And I told him I'm like because I have another two years to serve here, maybe four. I don't know if I'm going to finish my whole sentence, but ultimately I would rather spend it trying to continue improving myself, doing better for myself and helping my peers than to sit in a cell playing spades all day and just wasting my time. And so he told me straight up, you know he was like okay, I'll let you back into the program with three conditions. The first condition was that I was going to mentor all of my peers, whoever the new ones were coming in, that I would have to be a mentor to them. Going forward, I was like, ok, I'm down, for that was Governor Patterson to essentially expand higher education inside of juvenile facilities.
Speaker 1:And talking about my journey and the work of the Brookwood College program is what that program was called. I'm like okay, easy. And then the third one was you're going to take four college courses, do all of the classwork and participate fully in class, and you will get no credit for any of those classes. And that one, that one, I stumbled on. I'm like what do you mean for classes? Like that's a lot of credits. And he's like take it or leave it. That is my offer. We're not negotiating it. This is your way of making amends and coming back.
Speaker 1:And I sat there and really debated the whole process. In a span of like a minute I had to decide and I'm like you know what? Fine, I want to do this and I deserve to do this. And you know, maybe not get credit for it, but at least I'll have the learning under my belt. And I still remember he gave me a smile, he's like, all right, I'll see you tomorrow, man, and went about his way.
Speaker 1:But I ended up doing all of those things, I ended up finishing the four courses, and he still gave me the credit. He just wanted me to actively decide to want it and finish it through, no matter what. And ever since that it's been really hard, to be honest, to look at anything difficult and just merely walk away, because I believe that if, as long as I put my best foot forward, the best effort, that I'm going to do a great job, but that I really need to want it and believe in it. And I think that's the lesson, the turning point in my life, because after all of those trials and tribulations, I navigated life a little differently and I still made mistakes after the fact. Right, I'm not a perfect human being or a perfect leader, but that was my turning point, that led me to a path that felt a lot more wholesome than the one that I was living before, which felt like I was denying myself the opportunity to just be a better human, for myself and for no one else.
Speaker 3:You know, I appreciate stories like that because sometimes it takes people believing in you to help you see something differently in yourself. Right, and this person while in the moment you may not have always realized how good this person was in your life or how good this program was for your life and your trajectory. Right, and you quitting on it and this person allowing you back and then doing that over three times right, like three times. And then the fourth time. Now he's like all right, dude, like this is literally it.
Speaker 3:Uh, but the lessons that you, that you came away with from that and the trajectory, and even someone at that moment in your life talking to you about like no, when you get out and go to college, when you do this and like just setting your mindset up for like this is why you're here now, but like you have so much further to go, and I want you to make sure that when you get into these college courses, you're able to write well, you're able to like articulate yourself, you're able to present yourself, and just setting you up and giving you the tools at that point like real, active, intentional mentorship. You know that most of us only wish we have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, and I think after that that's that's part of the reason why I became so adamant about helping young people and or just supporting those who other people tend to walk away from because they're hard to deal with or just don't don't have it in them to approach.
Speaker 1:I've never been one to do that because of LeCain, but again, it's also influenced my leadership style, right, like I'm a pretty adamant and I speak my mind and I don't have a problem, you know, really being outspoken about something that is unjust for my community or just feels like it's a dynamic that's preventing certain people from stepping into their light, right, and I always say this about spaces that say they're about young people but there's no young people present, or the young people that are there are merely there, just listening, never being asked to speak or never, you know, having had their opinions taken, turned into an actual idea or project and then executed in some way, shape or form that's meaningful.
Speaker 1:So I'm always about coming into spaces. Now, because of of like Kane, to be honest, and that journey he put me through, of, yeah, I'm going to speak my mind and I'm going to make sure I advocate for my peers and make sure also that sometimes I just challenged the powers that be to create more opportunities for people like me and others who've gone through the system so that they can be successful, because we all have the potential for change, absolutely.
Speaker 3:And when you think about it's not just the words, right, that were said to you, but like literally putting you in a leadership position and maybe without you noticing, right, which is like all right, cool, everyone else that comes to this program. You're going to mentor them and now you're going to become a policy advocate, without knowing it right, you're going to write a letter to the governor and like in the moment, you're just like sure I'll write a letter to the governor, but like, in practicality, like what that really means is that you are now advocating for policy change in the state of New York and you are using your experience to change the lives of others and to use that narrative as a vehicle and as a tool for change. Right, and like I feel like that's really powerful because it's not just mentorship through what is said, but the positions that they're putting you in.
Speaker 1:That's absolutely true. Actually, that's the first time, roddy, that anyone has dissected it at that level, and you just made me appreciate Mr Lucan more, if that was even possible, than before. I didn't. Yeah, I never thought of it that way. Actually, when you break it down, like just the different elements of setting me up to be the leader and person that I am now right, because that's essentially what I do full time, you know, I do still advocate for policies, I do still go out there and give public speaking opportunities a chance and I just really try to take all of those skills and lessons that I took from those moments and apply them to my day-to-day life every day forward, you know, and that's that's been a journey. But thank you for saying that, that you just made me appreciate Mr Lakin even more.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. Tell me about what happens when you're getting ready to transition out of incarceration system and, like, do you have a plan in place? Do you know where you're? Like, are you going back home? Are you, do you have a job lined up? I know you mentioned earlier kind of applying to different jobs and that being a challenge, but like, were there programs in place to support that? Like, what was that? What was that? What did that look like at the top?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no so. So the sad part is that, no, I wasn't fully prepared to come back home. I literally my experience was getting $50 in cash, a pat on the back and being told good luck, as I was stepping into a van to be dropped off at the Amtrak in Hudson and literally drove that train wearing the clothes that I had. Mr LeCain gave me a shirt with the Brookwood College Program logo, so I wasn't wearing the red and white khakis that the facility used to have us wear, so at least I didn't look like I had just come out fresh from that facility. But yeah, I came into Grand Central Terminal and for those of you who've ever been in Grand Central Terminal, it's overwhelming, when the trains are coming, how many people step out of those trains, and it was the first time in four years that I had been around that many people. I remember coming out of the train feeling like I was getting pushed left and right, that I was just like the slowest person walking. And again, I am now 20 years old. You know it's been four years.
Speaker 1:I went in at 16, came out at 20 and had no clue what I was getting myself into. I didn't have a job lined up, which is why I had a hard time finding one. To begin with, I had applied for colleges. The only college who has sent me a letter of acceptance without you know asking me for my background or just in general having sent me a letter, was John Jay College of Criminal Justice. I had a couple of SUNY campuses give me a preliminary acceptance, but all of them wanted to ask me about my criminal conviction or wanted me to get my rap sheet, like a whole bunch of other steps, before I could even get an acceptance. And John Jay was the only school that didn't ask about that and gave me a chance, which makes sense. John Jay is a school of criminal justice, so shout out to my bloodhounds out there, fellow John Jay people. But yeah, I ended up just not really knowing what I was going to do.
Speaker 1:Roddy, I was afraid. I was terrified, to be honest. Even that moment walking out of the train, I remember I had a borderline, an anxiety attack because it was just too much, and I went to like a little corner and kind of gathered myself. I was like literally shaking. I was giving back everything that I had been stripped of. So imagine that for some of my brothers and sisters who are in there for 10, 20 years, and then coming home to the reality of the world or technology that's further advanced.
Speaker 1:So at that time, you know, it felt like I was set up to fail and I was on parole, which meant that my parole officer was also on me. Luckily, I had a really nice one, pio McRae. I won't forget her name because I ultimately also went through so many challenges trying to find anger management programs or substance abuse programs that I could do that were close to my school or close to the internships that I found after the fact. And luckily she was flexible and gave me time and if it wasn't for that, I would have likely violated parole and been right back in the facility, potentially an adult one, because I would have been over age as well. But yeah, things were not easy.
Speaker 1:Walking home, I had no plan, no real anything lined up. I didn't have a vision for what I wanted to do. I did know that I wanted to come out and do something at some point to, you know, support my community or just be more outspoken about the issues that I witnessed in there, but I didn't think that I was going to do that right off the grip I thought I was going to like get a job, have some stable kind of income, you know, be OK first and then kind of get involved in that, not get involved in it, because off the grip I was going right into other issues. You know that the system put on us which included, you know, lack of reentry opportunities, lack of services that could really support formerly incarcerated young people and adults who had been convicted of violent felonies the violent felony topic is a whole conversation in and of itself, because it seems that everywhere around the country we are more comfortable with offering support to people who've been convicted of a nonviolent felony and we've always forgotten or thrown under the bus in policy or just completely ignored folks who've been convicted of violent felonies because we deemed them as people who should be serving the time because they did the crime.
Speaker 1:And I don't believe in that right, because, if I believe that, I believe that I shouldn't have come out, that I shouldn't have gone through college while in there, that I shouldn't have been afforded a lot of the opportunities that I have up until now, but even despite that, I hustled, made things happen, sold my story for a bit, played along the dog and pony show of policy as a formerly incarcerated person and eventually just realized like hey, that's, that's not who I am anymore and I can be more. I can be more, and that means increasing my skills and stepping into other opportunities. So eventually I did plug into fellowships and other things down the line, but this was long after graduation Right, I came home in 2012. The first fellowship that I ever fully got was with the New Leaders Council, which is a social political entrepreneurship program that sets up people for potential pathways into politics or just to accelerate their career growth by, you know, putting you in touch with a group of other people from other sectors.
Speaker 1:At some point in 2017, I also went through the Just Leadership USA Leading with Conviction program, which is a leadership development program specifically for formerly incarcerated folks, particularly those who've been out for five plus years and who have a track record of being in advocacy and policy, and it was the first time that I ever received professional coaching out to David Mensah, who was our trainer and facilitator at that time.
Speaker 1:But I learned something really important during that program, which was how to be responsible for my leadership, how to reflect on my leadership and, more importantly, how to invite feedback on my leadership, which, again, we don't tend to do often, and that's why, as leaders, sometimes we continue to make the same mistakes, because we either do it from a place of ego, from a place of feeling like we can't make a mistake, or just realizing that at some point we just forget to invite the very people who we're working with to tell us how we can be better leaders or better people for them and for the work that we want to do.
Speaker 1:So JLUSA was really supportive in a lot of that. And then, yeah, I just kept going into different opportunities beyond that to really excel myself, which is advisory boards, boards like actual professional boards, or be involved in other things that I was interested in. Like, at some point I took a podcasting course, which is why I also have this mic here. At some point I did, you know, python coding, because I was like really trying to also do that on the side. So, like I said before, I'm a hustler man.
Speaker 3:I will go out and find ways to get involved, but there is no way you're going to limit me and my opportunities, and so that's, that's been the name of the game Hustle, hustle, that's great and you have such a beautiful story of kind of what it means to make mistakes when you're young, learn from them, and now it's like no, that's who that person is and like the person that's speaking to me today seems so far removed from that right, and, like you've done, you've gone through this journey of learning and unlearning and growing and even coming out with that mindset of all right, I'm going to, I don't know what's happening in this world, I'm about to have a panic attack and, at the same time, feeling like I'm going to enroll in college, I'm going to figure out what school to go to, I'm going to put my head down and figure out how to get internships.
Speaker 3:I'm going to figure out what fellowships are and which ones to apply to and how to get something from them. Right, and I think you've done such a good job at professionally developing yourself. So, like, consistently, you've done multiple fellowships, you've done different things to actually like, continue to like, progress, right, and that's just something that is super admirable, right, because while earlier in the story you mentioned, you didn't know what you wanted to do when you were younger and even today you might still be refining that Like you've grown into, like a very successful, successful leader, right Like leading an organization now that does national work, that is impacting the lives of others, and it's just I'm in awe of. You know some of what you're sharing here, so thank you for that.
Speaker 1:No, thank you. Yeah, and I and I agree, and I agree I think it's been a hard journey to get to this point. I did mention earlier that, despite the success, despite the fellowships I've had, they've come at the right time, and I think that that sometimes is a conversation that, as leaders, we forget to have. Sometimes you need alignment with things and the right opportunities come to you when a need for realignment needs to happen. And so, whether it was NLC, just Leadership USA, or even now in my more recent, like the last year, I went through two other fellowships with Forward Promise, which really focuses on this concept of rest as a form of liberation for leaders, particularly those working in communities where trauma and violence is very real, and it was the first time in a long time that I was actually forced to think about like, what are my methods of care and rest for myself? And I realized last year I ended the year pre-diabetic, burnt out, not in the best place, and I only realized that because I went through this program. That forced me to think about what does rest as a form of liberation look like for me as a leader, but also for my organization and the work that we do and how we take care of the very people that are doing the work. And then I also went through the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, which shout out to IMP, because they came at a time when I did not know.
Speaker 1:First of all, I think people assume that because I went through a lot of opportunities, that I was set up to be an executive director of a nonprofit. I had no fucking clue how to run a nonprofit, let alone manage a books, do programming, I've done, strategies, I've done, you know, implementation of that. But it's usually been me following the vision of a different leader and being like I see what you're doing, I got you with the young people, end of things. But to hold your own organization, your own vision, and actually build the vision, the strategy, find the finance, the budget for it and make it happen is a whole other beast that can get very lonely. And so having that community from IMP, having these like opportunities to upskill around you know, fundraising board development, building effective teams, just having these really in-depth conversations with other leaders who would also say the same thing Half of us don't know what we're doing and half of us are still know some of what we're doing but still need to figure out other things, because we don't know everything, and I think that it's important as leaders to always recognize your limitations, to always recognize when there's a need for realignment, and also to recognize when it's time to walk away from an opportunity because you've learned all that you could or because it's not making you happy anymore, and that neither one is quitting that.
Speaker 1:It is an opportunity to move forward or move on to something that actually fills your spirit, that lights you up and that, more than anything you know, gives you an opportunity to do impactful work. And if impact isn't just your thing but also you want to do well, an opportunity that does both right, because you can do both, and I really emphasize that now because I've seen other amazing leaders in different spaces do that and not be ashamed of it. You know, and I really want to get to that point too.
Speaker 3:What are you most proud of in your career to date?
Speaker 1:I think what I'm most proud of right now is recognizing that, despite all of the struggle that I've gone through, I've been hella resilient and hella adaptable and, more importantly, just hella courageous to get this far. I think at some point people don't realize that I was struggling a lot. I am a survivor of a suicide attempt, I was in the darkest points of my life and my career all at once and at one point I wanted out and that somehow I went through that, still came out of it, still got the help that I needed, still grew out of that even more right, Like I became even more of a leader and an advocate for wellness and mental health, but more importantly, to take care of myself while doing this work. And I think that's what I'm most proud of that no matter what struggle, what challenge has been put in my way, I keep sometimes going a little too headfirst into it, right and, like you know, slamming right against the wall. But then I recognize I pull back and I'm like, okay, I can go around this wall, Like I don't need to be bashing my head into the same wall over and over. And I think for me that's been the biggest thing that I'm grateful for and that I'm glad that I've been able to do and I'm proud of myself for that, and it's been really hard to say that in the past. So I'm really glad that I can say it now and that I feel it and that I know what it means to myself. Because other people have said I'm proud of you, I'm really proud of all you've done. You should be proud.
Speaker 1:But it's a completely different thing to sit there and actually be proud about the growth, the leadership and the person that you've become, and to be able to reflect on your mistakes and not feel like you're grabbing a whiplash and just like smacking yourself over it with it because you can't accept those mistakes or just because they're mistakes that you think you thought that you would never be able to do better for. And here I am still still making mistakes on the occasion, not as big, but you know I'm a lot more wholesome and a lot more human and that's the biggest thing that I'm proud of, along with, like, the reality that I've made impact in different spaces. You know, when you talk about the justice field, when people talk about compensation for young people, treating young people as experts, youth adult partnerships, you know these models that have existed with you know some of these foundations, coalitions, like I was there as like a seed. You know, for a lot of it I don't go around, you know, taking credit for anything, because I don't really care about credit, I don't care where my name is.
Speaker 1:What I care about is that opportunities are laid out for the next generation of young people that are coming in and to challenge the adults sometimes to shut the fuck up and listen to young people. Apologies to all my fellow adults, but that's what I'm most proud of too, which is that people know what I'm in the room I am going to speak my mind that my integrity is above all else to young people and that I'm never going to change who I am, just to you know, suit, a vision, a mission of some foundation or a government agency, and that's just the reality. So when you get me, you get what you get. You know this is who you get and I'm proud of that. You know that I can stand on my own two feet now, with financial stability, with you know, an apartment, living with my daughter, and be able to do all of those things without feeling like I'm still in that survival, unstable place that I was before.
Speaker 3:That's great. Aside from the fellowships and other programs, are there any other resources or forms of media books, podcasts, anything that have helped you along your journey, personally or professionally?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, you see all the books in the back. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I mean, I've literally spent a lot of time just absorbing different content and material from different places. Right, all the books by Bell Hooks, I've read all of them. Emerging Strategy by Andrea Marie Brown powerful book around strategy and movement building.
Speaker 1:I've also listened to different podcasts along the way. I started recently listening to yours too now, and I'm listening to some bad-ass people you know who are out here just doing amazing work. But I've also listened to the Latinx therapy podcast and that one really centers on, like, the stories of folks who've gone through mental health struggle and what are that, what that means, and it's given me a lot of hope for different parts of this work. But also feature some professionals that talk about the different elements of therapy and what it, what, what it looks like for different communities. And that's my, my friend, adriana Alejandrez, who who runs that. Shout out to her, she's a badass leader in this work.
Speaker 1:And then, you know, I really try to find spaces where I feel like I'm in community a lot, and that to me just feels like oftentimes. I'm constantly looking for places like that, right, so I haven't married myself to one, but you know there's. There's other spaces out there Latino Dad Connection, modern Macho. There's other spaces where I try to find men too All Kings, which is out here in New York City doing dope work with men around healing. So, yeah, these are places where I also go for further character and personal development, because it's not just about professional development. For me these days it's like how else can I improve who I am as a person by further cracking open some of the other parts of me that I thought had already been cracked open but have not, and really finding places to do that. So if you want a list of things, for sure hit me up. Y'all I have things, but sometimes I have a hard time remembering names off the grip. But there's a lot more than just those for sure.
Speaker 3:How can people connect with or learn more about partnering with Alianza for Opportunity?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you can totally find us on most social media platforms as Alianza for Opportunity, as our tag, literally on LinkedIn, instagram, x, everything. We're on most platforms. And then, in terms of our website, it's also wwwalianzaforopportunityorg, and we just rebranded the website last year, so it's fresh, it looks new, it really shares a lot of what we're aspiring to do and some of what we're already doing. And, yeah, if you ever want to get in contact with me as well, it's literally Carvente Hernan on all platforms as well, and I really try to merge what I'm doing in any organization together with my personal platform, because they're all parts of me, you know, and I really want to make sure that Alianza is also getting the due visibility that it deserves.
Speaker 1:But those are the main ways and if you want to email us, for sure, admin at alianzaforopportunityorg and me and my colleague Julia well, either of us will be the ones to reply back. But yeah, and soon enough, soon enough, young people in our emerging leaders cohort that just graduated are actually thinking of starting a podcast on behalf of Alianza, so you all might find those out here to bring in Rady in talking about his work and the Latino community and, like you, know what his impact has been. But, for sure, stay tuned for that, because we're excited to have young people leave that and I'm just going to be a supporter and facilitator with them. I ain't going to be the. You know, this is my podcast, it's their podcast, but it will be Alianza sponsored and we will be doing that together.
Speaker 3:That's great. Is there anything else we haven't spoken about today that the world should know about?
Speaker 1:No, haven't spoken about today that the world should know about right now. No, I think the main thing that I would love for folks who listen to this is to consider if, after you've heard my journey or the work that I'm doing at Alianza, that if something calls you to reach out or to connect with me, please do. I'm actively looking for folks to continue building community with, to continue building the vision of Alianza with and, more importantly, people who can come and speak to the emerging leaders that are going through our programs. Right, like I want them to meet leaders from different sectors, from different backgrounds, to show them the beauty of the tapestry that is our Latino diaspora and like what it really means, and then also just like connecting with me on an individual level, like I thrive on people connections. That's how I've made it this far.
Speaker 1:Without network or people capital, as some like to call it, I wouldn't have made it this far because I don't come from wealth, as I, as I shared with you all, I literally come from uh, you know, the crops and in the field, with my family in mexico. So I'm out here just kind of building my own type of capital, and that means just knowing the right, the right amazing people in the world who want to make a difference and staying connected to them. So please, please, please, do reach out, connect in whatever way. And then the last thing would be to the emerging leaders or to the young people who listen to this other amazing people that Roddy has brought in. And just remember, you know, it's all about the future and young people are going to be the future of our world, and so we should keep investing in them. Awesome.
Speaker 3:Thank you, I appreciate that. Thank you for joining us today and for sharing your story with us.
Speaker 1:No, thank you, brother. I appreciate you. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did and believe on the mission we're on, please like, rate and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're using, and share this podcast with your friends and your networks. Make sure you follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at career cheat code and tell us people or careers you would like to see highlighted. See you next week with some more cheat codes. Peace.
