About the Wisconsin Prison Partnership

Cathy thinks that being part of a Restorative Justice circle inside the prison walls is one of the greatest gifts that she has ever been given. The lessons and the learning just keep on coming. She has facilitated groups at Fox Lake, the Wisconsin Resource Center, Waupun, and Columbia Correctional Institutions. Currently, she is working with DOC staff at Columbia to expand what is offered and build on the Restorative Justice experience.

Paul has been active in First Congregational United Church of Christ for many years, including supporting the Prison Ministry Project. He retired in March 2026 from a career as a corporate lawyer in San Diego, Appleton and Madison.

Janet has worked in the Prison Ministry Project for 20 years: leading Restorative Justice programs inside prison walls, serving on the PMP Leadership Team, and now as treasurer of the Wisconsin Prison Partnership. She is a retired librarian and has volunteered with several other organizations.

Dant’e is the Reentry and Outreach Support Specialist for the Frank J. Remington Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he supports individuals returning from incarceration and advances prison-based legal education. After serving 27 years in prison as a juvenile lifer sentenced at age 17, he now uses his lived experience to advocate for justice, reentry, and human dignity. Dant’e is the creator and instructor of the University of Wisconsin Law School course Criminal Justice System: A Lived Experience Perspective and an international speaker whose work focuses on fostering understanding and meaningful change within the criminal legal system.

Shanita is the Peer Support Program Coordinator at JustDane and a Case Manager with Safe Haven and Molina Healthcare, supporting justice-involved and unhoused individuals with behavioral health needs. She also is a Certified Peer Specialist, Parenting Inside Out Facilitator, and trained prison doula with the Wisconsin Prison Birth Project of the Ostara Initiative.

Peg has been a PMP/WPP restorative justice victim/survivor volunteer for many years. Her experience both inside and outside of prison has reinforced her conviction that community safety and health are best assured through restorative justice practices that emphasize personal and civic empathy, responsibility, and accountability. Peg is a mother and grandmother and is retired from her professional role as Associate Director of the Wisconsin Humanities Council.

Dan is a Research Assistant Professor at the UW-Madison Center for Healthy Minds, where he conducts community-engaged research on wellbeing and the criminal legal system. He has volunteered as a mindfulness and restorative justice practitioner with WPP both in and out of prisons since 2023. Dan is an avid gardener, fermentationist, cyclist, and curler who loves the state of Wisconsin and wants to see all of its residents flourish.

Paul has been a volunteer with Prison Ministry Project since 2015, participating in restorative justice groups at New Lisbon, Fox Lake, Columbia, Ellsworth, and Waupun Correctional Institutions, as well as the Wisconsin Resource Center. He works as the project support manager at Affiliated Engineers, Inc.

Eldonna is the Senior Minister at First Congregational United Church of Christ, which has been the home of the Prison Ministry Project since its inception. Eldonna is an advocate for programming that can change lives, both inside and outside the walls of institutions housing our siblings.

Mari is a longtime Prison Ministry Project volunteer, having worked previously with Odyssey Beyond Bars at Fox Lake Correctional Institution; she currently serves as a facilitator with Restorative Justice on the Outside. She retired as Executive Vice President of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.