Events
Since 2009, IOI has shared mindfulness with thousands of people who have been incarcerated, transitioned from homelessness, in medical treatment, and who are in job training programs. Each year, we host an annual event to honor our work and community.
2024 ANNUAL EVENT
Our 2024 event was a big success! A dedicated volunteer recounted touching stories from her time spent leading classes. Longtime IOI Fellow Colie “Shaka” Levar Long told of his personal journey with mindfulness and the reward of sharing mindfulness with the residents in the DC Department of Corrections. We were inspired by new IOI Fellow Keontè Lewis telling of the life-altering experience of IOI’s mindfulness classes at the DC DoC and how his practice has benefitted him and his community as a returning citizen. A big thank you for the generous support of all the contributors!
2023 ANNUAL EVENT
A huge thank you to all those who attended our year-end 2023 fundraiser. Several volunteers shared heartfelt stories about their experience leading classes. The featured speaker, inspiring IOI Fellow Colie “Shaka” Levar Long, shared the benefits of IOI’s mindfulness classes in the DC Department of Corrections, how he has transformed his life as a returning citizen, and how IOI provides an opportunity to give back as he accompanies volunteers in the DCDoC. The many generous contributions brought us well above our fundraising goal!
2022 ANNUAL EVENT
Untold Stories: Release and Healing
Sunday, June 26, 5:00-7:00 PM
The Insight on the Inside’s (IOI) “Untold Stories: Release & Healing” event at Busboys & Poets was a big success! We absolutely loved hosting the DC community and hearing from guests Joel Castón, Raymond Dodd, and Ayesha Ali.
We have raised over $6,000 to support our paid Fellowship Program and to expand our organizational capacity and we aren’t stopping there!
We have a bold vision ahead of us:
Expand and deepen our Fellowship program that pays people with lived experience to help inform our work; and
Grow our organizational capacity by hiring paid staff people to support our organization through community engagement, grant writing, and social media engagement.
FEATURED GUESTS
Joel Castón is the first person in the history of Washington, D.C. to be elected to public office while incarcerated. In 2020, he won a groundbreaking election garnering local and nationwide attention. Drawing on the wisdom of 27 years of direct involvement with the criminal justice system, Commissioner Castón works closely with DC government, policymakers, advocacy groups, and organizations to change the culture of mass incarceration. Before assuming his role as commissioner, Castón was the co-founding mentor of the Young Men Emerging (YME) community at the DC Jail. In 2018, Castón self-published his popular investment modules titled, Currency Catchers, available on Amazon. The Commissioner will be releasing an updated version of Currency Catchers on Amazon with new iterations of his Currency Catchers curriculum and modules.
Since Castón’s November 2021 release, he has been appointed Treasurer of the ANC, Director of 7F Commission Re-Entry Program, and Co-Chair of DC’s Redistricting Task Force. He has also been contracted by That’s a Plug’s Guns Down, Hands Up program to implement a financial literacy program for their young adult population. Castón has been featured on ABC, BNC, NBC, NPR, Oxygen, Vice News, and a myriad of other broadcasts and publications. A hyper-polyglot, Castón is fluent in English and Spanish, speaks conversational French, introductory Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, and basic phrases in Italian and Hindi.
Raymond Dodd is President and Founder of Clusivity Justice Initiative, Author of Essays of My Journey Through Incarceration into Philosophy, Paralegal for Washington Lawyers Committee, a social and economic justice advocate, and consultant/strategist. Mr. Dodd has been involved in criminal and civil litigation and advocacy for the past 27 years. As a directly impacted person of the justice system after serving 25 years of a life sentence, he has the expertise in his area of practice that many do not possess.
Mr. Dodd has been featured in Kim Kardashian’s “The Justice Project”, Nick Cannon and Howard University’s Inside Out Program, and DC Councilmember Elissa Silverman’s Budget Hearings for continuation of funding for D.C Department of Employee Services (DOES). Mr. Dodd has previously been contracted by Georgetown University, Free Minds Book Club, Campaign for Fair Sentencing Youth, Solid Foundation, and a host of other organizations for consulting and advocacy work.
As of recent, Mr. Dodd was invited to consult and facilitate a simulation for re-entry with the United States Justice Department’s Re-Entry Coordination Council (RCC) where he was tasked with consulting on the importance of all federal agencies allocating part of the annual budget towards re-entry services.
Ayesha Ali is a storyteller, poet, writer, and mindfulness teacher whose work focuses on moving past the internal and external barriers that separate BIPOC communities from their lineage of competence, beauty, and spiritual power. She is one of the founders of the Heart Refuge Mindfulness Community for BIPOC people. She has been engaged in mindfulness practice and work for over twenty years. She is an Affiliate Teacher at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington and facilitates the Heartwidth Sangha, an all-inclusive community.