About 2,000 people return home to the District from prison each year, and one in seven DC residents have a criminal record. 

The Reentry Action Network (RAN) member organizations are here to help returning citizens successfully obtain housing, find employment, receive healthcare treatment, and rebuild their lives and communities. The RAN is there to ease their transition from incarceration.

The Reentry Action Network (RAN) is the District’s leading voice on reentry issues, and the only coalition exclusively for reentry service providers and their clients. 

More specifically, RAN is a coalition of nonprofit organizations that provide direct reentry services to justice-involved DC residents. RAN gives its members a platform to exchange information, address issues of mutual concern, strengthen services, and act as a collective voice to best meet the complex and varied needs of incarcerated and returning citizens in the District. Ultimately, RAN strives to ensure that all justice-involved people in DC have access to high-quality reentry services to support their successful reintegration back into the community and promotes community-based alternatives to end DC’s over-reliance on the criminal justice system.

Leadership Council

RAN is governed by a Leadership Council. Current members are:

  • Paula Thompson, Founder and Co-Chair, Voices for a Second Chance
  • Chiquisha Robinson, Co-Chair, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
  • Sarah Spangler, RAN Administrative Fellow, 1L at Georgetown University Law Center
  • Alicia Horton, Chair, Policy Committee, Thrive DC
  • Kevin Petty, Returning Citizen Representative, Amazing Gospel Souls, Inc.
  • Katherine Sponaugle, Chair, Programs Committee, Community Family Life Services
  • Courtney Stewart, Chair, Community Engagement, National Reentry Network for Returning Citizens