COMMON MAPS
Map version new-york activity top-down
Main site Contact
Menu
↑ parent activity group ·
research dossier

PRISM REFORM INC
BROOKLYN, NY · EIN 884115514 · Form 990EZ · FY2024 · NTEE I40 · Crime & Legal-Related · Micro (<$100K) · prismreform.org
revenue
$0
expenses
$2K
net assets
$-6K
employees
—
mission · from form 990

TO CREATE PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO JUSTICE IMPACTED PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES.

profile · synthesized from sources

PRISM REFORM INC is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit advancing transformative justice reform through creative, cross-sector initiatives that center justice-impacted individuals. The organization challenges stigmatizing narratives by promoting equitable language, designing experiential public art, and creating economic pathways via social enterprise. Its projects integrate community engagement, policy advocacy, and entrepreneurial models to support reintegration, reduce recidivism, and shift public perception.

named programs · 6 · from sources

What they call their work

A Show of Hands
Art-based team-building activity fostering empathy and inclusion by inviting participants from diverse communities to paint each other's hands on reclaimed materials.
Chords That Bind
Program pairing incarcerated parents with music instructors to create personalized songs for their children, delivered via stuffed animals made by formerly incarcerated individuals in sewing workshops.
Home For Good
Consumer-facing retail brand selling handcrafted home and fashion goods made by justice-impacted artisans from salvaged materials; includes brick-and-mortar storefronts with Maker Stations that serve as commerce boot camps.
JusticeConnects
National membership association initiative providing access to programs, best practices, and forums for justice stakeholders, including e-commerce and job listing platforms for justice-impacted entrepreneurs.
New Justice Lexicon
Thought leadership initiative promoting language reform in the justice system by replacing stigmatizing terms with equitable alternatives such as "justice-impacted" and "returning citizen."
Spatial Justice Project
Public art exhibit featuring a traditional Jewish Sukkah alongside a replica solitary confinement cell to provoke dialogue on how designed spaces shape identity and equity.
activities · 13 groups

What they do

  • Workforce Readiness Training 4 activities
    • Advocates for business engagement with incarcerated talent pools
      Positions incarcerated individuals as an underutilized talent pool and advocates for businesses to engage in pre-release hiring and training partnerships.
    • Advocates for co-designed in-prison training programs aligned with labor market needs
      Promotes collaboration between businesses and correctional institutions to co-design vocational training programs that meet current labor market demands.
    • Promotes onboarding toolkits and mentoring for employment transitions
      Advocates for the development and implementation of onboarding toolkits and in-house mentoring programs to support successful employment transitions for formerly incarcerated individuals.
    • Trains formerly incarcerated individuals in repurposing materials into furnishings
      Provides training and mentorship to formerly incarcerated individuals in repurposing discarded materials into home furnishings, supporting career or business-track job placement.
  • Community-Engaged Public Art Projects 4 activities
    • Facilitates collaborative hand imprint art activity for empathy and inclusion
      Hosts team-building art sessions where participants from diverse or opposing communities imprint each other's hands on reclaimed materials to build empathy, trust, and inclusion, with public exhibition of results.
    • Facilitates interactive programming at public exhibits
      Hosts on-site educational presentations, performances, testimonials, and calls to action at public art exhibits in collaboration with partner organizations to foster dialogue on justice issues.
    • Hosts public art exhibits contrasting freedom and incarceration
      Creates and hosts public art exhibits that juxtapose a traditional Jewish Sukkah with a replica solitary confinement cell to explore spatial design’s impact on identity and status, accompanied by interactive programming.
    • Supports host sites for Spatial Justice Project exhibits
      Provides capacity-building support to external host sites for the design, construction, programming, and implementation of Spatial Justice Project public art installations.
  • Justice System Innovation & Inclusion Programs 3 activities
    • Creates projects and initiatives for justice-impacted communities
      Designs and implements programs and initiatives specifically targeted at supporting justice-impacted people and communities, as part of core organizational operations.
    • Operates e-commerce platform for justice-impacted entrepreneurs
      Runs an e-commerce platform that sells goods and services produced by businesses owned by justice-impacted individuals, supporting economic reintegration.
    • Operates multi-channel engagement platforms for justice stakeholders
      Manages three main engagement portals serving justice-impacted individuals, justice workers, and civil society organizations through forums, resources, and collaboration tools.
  • Criminal Justice Policy Advocacy 3 activities
    • Hosts moderated forums for justice policy discussion and collaboration
      Convenes and moderates forums where members share experiences, discuss criminal justice policies, and collaborate on reform initiatives.
    • Produces op-eds on criminal justice reform
      Authored by founder Tommy Safian, these opinion pieces advocate for systemic changes in criminal justice policy and practice.
    • Provides access to criminal justice research and best practices
      Aggregates and provides members with access to research-based best practices, programs, policies, and legislation related to criminal justice reform.
  • Legal Profession Standards Advocacy 1 activity
    • Advocates for equitable, dignity-upholding justice language standards
      Champions the creation and adoption of universal standards for justice-aligned language that promote equity, personal dignity, and balanced accountability.
  • Professional Certification and Continuing Education 1 activity
    • Aggregates life-skill and professional development resources
      Maintains an online catalog of life-skill and professional development training resources for use by members of the organization’s network.
  • Distribution of PPE and Crisis Supplies 1 activity
    • Distributes reusable face masks during public health emergencies
      Distributed over 7,000 washable, reusable fabric face masks to staff and residents at Rikers Island and homeless individuals in Los Angeles during the pandemic.
  • Reentry Support Services 1 activity
    • Generates internal revenue to support reentry programs
      Produces internal revenue through sales and other activities to fund reentry program operations and provide financial security for participants.
  • Artist Marketplace Operations 1 activity
    • Operates retail brand and training sites using repurposed materials
      Runs a retail brand that sells handcrafted goods made by justice-impacted artisans from repurposed materials, with physical storefronts serving as hands-on commerce training environments.
  • Vocational Sewing and Tailoring Training 1 activity
    • Operates sewing workshops for formerly incarcerated individuals
      Runs sewing workshops that train formerly incarcerated people to design and sell stuffed animals and consumer products, providing stipends and sales commissions to support financial security.
  • Support for Families Impacted by Incarceration 1 activity
    • Produces and delivers musical stuffed animals from incarcerated parents to children
      Facilitates creation of personalized stuffed animals containing recorded songs from incarcerated parents to their children, with animals handmade by formerly incarcerated individuals in skill-building sewing workshops.
  • Student Career Readiness and Internship Placement 1 activity
    • Provides internships and mentorships for justice-impacted individuals and young professionals
      Offers structured internships and mentorship programs focused on life skills, professional development, financial security, and civic engagement for students, young professionals, and justice-impacted individuals.
  • Uncategorized 1 activity
    • Collaborates with institutions to advance criminal justice reform
      Partners with foundations, government agencies, civic groups, and businesses to advance shared mission goals using cost-effective models and collaborative strategies.
financials · form 990EZ · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$0
Contributions & grants$0—
Program service revenue$0—
Investment income$0—
Other revenue—
expenses
Total expenses$2K
Program expenses—
Admin / overhead—
Fundraising—
Salaries & benefits—
Grants paid out—
balance sheet
Total assets$2K
Cash—
Investments—
Liabilities—
Net assets$-6K
2 years on record · 2023–2024 · YoY revenue -100.0%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

board members · 1
  • THOMAS SAFIAN — MANAGING DIRECTOR
relationships · 23

Who they work with

  • A Show of Hands Partner — Partner organization linked in connection with programming or initiatives related to the Spatial Justice Project.
  • AAA Partner — JusticeConnects draws inspiration from AAA's membership association model.
  • AARP Partner — JusticeConnects is modeled in part on AARP's membership-driven structure.
  • ACLU Partner — JusticeConnects is inspired by the ACLU's national advocacy and membership structure.
  • Brooklyn District Attorney’s Community Resources & Re-Entry Bureau Partner — Collaborates on the pilot implementation of the Chords That Bind program.
  • Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections Partner — Provides music program graduates as instructors for incarcerated parents in the Chords That Bind program.
  • Chords That Bind Partner — Partner organization linked in connection with programming or initiatives related to the Spatial Justice Project.
  • Cisco Home Partner — Partner organization in launching the Chords That Bind pilot program in New York State.
  • Freer Records Partner — Collaborates on recruiting musicians to record original songs and donate licenses to support Chords That Bind.
  • Home For Good Partner — Partner organization linked in connection with programming or initiatives related to the Spatial Justice Project.
  • Interfaith Prison Partnership Partner — Partner organization in launching the Chords That Bind pilot program in New York State.
  • JusticeConnects Partner — Partner organization linked in connection with programming or initiatives related to the Spatial Justice Project.
  • Materials For The Arts Partner — Provides donated materials for use in the Chords That Bind Sewing Workshops.
  • Music On The Inside Partner — Partner organization in launching the Chords That Bind pilot program in New York State.
  • NRA Partner — JusticeConnects references the NRA as an example of a membership-driven national organization.
  • NYS Department of Corrections & Community Supervision (DOCCS) Partner — Collaborates on the pilot implementation of the Chords That Bind program.
  • Opportunity Justice Partner — Tommy Safian serves as Managing Director of both Opportunity Justice and Prism Reform, indicating an organizational partnership.
  • PEN America’s Prison & Justice Writing Program Partner — Partner organization in launching the Chords That Bind pilot program in New York State.
  • Second Chance Business Coalition Network — PRISM REFORM INC references the Second Chance Business Coalition as a relevant network in the space of hiring formerly incarcerated individuals.
  • The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office Partner — Collaborating agency in launching the Chords That Bind pilot program in New York State.
  • The Moth’s Community Justice Program Partner — Provides storytellers for the Chords That Bind program to work with incarcerated parents.
  • The NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Partner — Collaborating agency in launching the Chords That Bind pilot program in New York State.
  • Tommy Safian Partner — Contact person for inquiries and sponsorship related to the A Show of Hands project.
strategies · 5

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Co-Creative and Reciprocal Practices to Build Cross-Community Empathy
    methodology: co-creative_empathy_building
    By engaging divided communities in reciprocal acts like hand-painting and craft co-creation, PRISM REFORM Inc builds trust and inclusion, because shared creative experiences disrupt power hierarchies and foster mutual recognition more effectively than one-directional service models.
  • Family Reconnection and Rehabilitation through Creative Arts
    methodology: creative-arts-for-family-reintegration
    By using music, storytelling, and craft-based activities, PRISM REFORM Inc strengthens emotional bonds between incarcerated parents and their children, because maintaining familial connections improves rehabilitation outcomes and supports successful reintegration into society.
  • Language Reform to Reduce Stigma and Systemic Barriers
    methodology: language-reform
    By changing the language used to describe justice-impacted individuals, PRISM REFORM Inc reduces societal stigma and shifts public perception, because language shapes policy, identity, and opportunity — thereby improving reintegration outcomes.
  • Market-Driven Reentry through Business Integration and Social Enterprise
    methodology: market-driven_reentry
    By aligning in-prison training with real employer needs and framing second-chance hiring as a strategic business advantage, PRISM REFORM Inc improves post-release employment outcomes, because workforce programs grounded in market demand and mutual benefit are more sustainable and scalable.
  • Spatial and Symbolic Art Interventions for Public Empathy and Justice Awareness
    methodology: symbolic_juxtaposition_for_justice_awareness
    By juxtaposing symbolic structures like a Sukkah with a replica solitary confinement cell, PRISM REFORM Inc provokes public reflection on systemic injustice and architectural exclusion, because visceral, embodied experiences generate deeper empathy and critical awareness than data alone.