Fortune Society Receives $10 Million Gift From MacKenzie Scott

The Fortune Society (Fortune) today announced that philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has awarded $10 million to the New York nonprofit in recognition of the organization’s longtime work supporting successful reentry from incarceration, promoting alternatives to incarceration, and advocating for reforms that protect and help individuals impacted by the criminal legal system.

“With this generous gift, MacKenzie Scott has chosen to invest in Fortune and in the inherent potential in people, regardless of their pasts,” said JoAnne Page, President and CEO of The Fortune Society. “This grant is an important acknowledgment not only of our success in supporting justice-impacted people with crucial services and innovative housing, but also of our advocacy leadership in advancing justice and equity, especially important at this time where we are seeing pressure to roll back reforms and to return to a failed policy of mass incarceration. We are enormously grateful to MacKenzie Scott for this grant, which will further our mission to strengthen the fabric of our communities and will anchor Fortune’s services and advocacy in the coming years.”

“Fortune’s work has become more important throughout its 55-year history as incarceration rates have increased, most heavily burdening communities of color disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system. MacKenzie Scott’s gift recognizes the efforts Fortune makes to not only mitigate but to eliminate the long-term harms that mass incarceration inflicts on individuals, families, communities, and society as a whole,” said Dennis Kozlowski, Board Chair at The Fortune Society.

The Fortune Society is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit service and advocacy organizations, serving approximately 9,000 impacted New Yorkers in a typical year. Its direct service programs have been recognized nationally and internationally for their quality and innovation. And, Fortune’s local and state advocacy efforts, through the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy, aim to protect and support justice- impacted individuals in the areas of housing, parole, incarceration, and the courts. For more information, visit www.fortunesociety.org.

ABOUT THE FORTUNE SOCIETY: Founded in 1967, The Fortune Society has advocated on criminal justice issues for over five decades and is nationally recognized for developing model programs that help people with criminal justice histories to build constructive lives and become assets to their families and communities. Fortune offers a holistic and integrated “one-stop-shopping” model of service provision. Among the services offered are discharge planning, licensed outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment, alternatives to incarceration, HIV/AIDS services, career development and job retention, education, family services, drop-in services and supportive housing as well as lifetime access to aftercare.