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This summer internship at Witness was both educational and rewarding in a multitude of ways. What stands out to me is how I considered myself to have a deep understanding of mass incarceration before working with Witness, but I quickly came to realize how much I had to learn. The all intern meetings provided significant information about the different facets of the mass incarceration issue, and hearing Evie’s personal stories was invaluable to gaining perspective.

One of the first things I was involved with after joining Witness was the Suitcase Sunday event, which is one of, if not the most rewarding thing I have been apart of. Volunteering to help businesses founded by formerly incarcerated individuals felt quite rewarding. Getting to hear about their time in prison, how they made it to where they are now despite the system working against them, inspired me to work hard through the challenges I face and reminded me to keep perspective in my own life.

The issues that everyday people face are not the issues that those impacted by the phenomenon of mass incarceration face. Understanding this gave me all the more reason to be involved with Witness, be politically active, and emphasize the importance of educating people on what is happening in this country.

I would like to emphasize how special it was to work with and learn from Evie during my time with Witness. Evie is one of the most remarkable individuals I have worked for and gotten advice from. Her transparency with regard to such sensitive, personal information and stories from her time in prison were imperative to motivating us interns and making us understand the gravity of the mass incarceration issue which we are working to combat. Evie truly cares about her interns, she has been quite understanding of my difficulty allocating time to Witness at certain points throughout this summer due to my Dad’s health issues. When I spent time with Evie in person, she took time to think about my career path and how she could help me, offering advice for next steps, and offering to get me in contact with relevant individuals.

I think to maximize the effectiveness of a non profit, the motivation to put real time and work in has to come from the heart and Evie epitomizes that. As a role model for us interns she was exemplary and this experience has forever shaped the way I will perceive the political and justice systems in America. Evie reminded us consistently that it is not enough to know about the issue of mass incarceration, but that we need to take real action to end it. Activism is the way to elicit social change in the world and I am so thankful to have been apart of the activism that Witness stands for.

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From December 2023 until April 2024, I interned for Evie Litwok and her organization, Witness to Mass Incarceration, as a journalist. Under her guidance, I wrote and researched the lives of previously incarcerated individuals who had overcome hardships and uphill battles to open their businesses. The insight that I gained from this internship provided me with the ability to understand, empathize, and seek justice for those who have been affected by mass incarceration.

Bi-weekly, we met to discuss our written articles, which were crafted to tell the stories of those who had survived and conquered their hardships and succeeded on their own merit. Afterward, we would carefully analyze our articles and offer each other strong but encouraging criticism. Evie’s critiques focused not only on improving our skills as writers but also as storytellers. The creativity she inspired helped us broach heavy topics, allowing us to invoke empathy and sympathy for the individuals we wrote about.

More importantly, Evie was passionate about what she believed in. Every Sunday, she would take time to teach us the importance of what the foundation of her organization advocated for. From her personal experiences with the prison system to the broader history of incarceration, we learned about important terminology and the greater implications of our current laws.

Interning for Witness to Mass Incarceration broadened my perspective and pushed me to work harder for myself and to imagine a better future for everyone. I was taken out of my comfort zone multiple times, which led me to become more experienced, open-minded, and attentive. Overall, my positive experience proved how much this organization is dedicated to creating change not only on a local level but on a national one as well.

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My 2023 internship with Witness to Mass Incarceration has colored my life with golden insight. Monday through Friday I attended general intern meetings overseen by dedicated founder and executive director Evie Liwtok. As a cohort, the team watched heartbreaking but life-changing videos that provided a unique exposure into the lives of the marginalized and inmates. Examples of covered topics were lack of healthcare, the three strikes law, substance abuse, and redlining. Evie skillfully established a safe space for open dialogue to follow the videos - where even a shy intern, like me, learned to find her voice!

In addition to my general meeting duties, I also participated on the voter registration team. It was here that Evie put life into terms I thought I knew, but that I eventually learned I had no understanding of at all. She can be described as nothing short of a revolutionary. Evie taught me what democracy, civic engagement, and voting truly meant. My collaboration, research, and leadership skills deepened working under Evie and alongside voter registration interns. Evie was available nearly any time of the day to get assistance and her fiery passion was infectious! Further, I enjoyed how Evie always went out of her way to get feedback from the interns. She was genuinely interested in how members of the team were doing and feeling. As the daughter of FIPS and someone who spent years in foster care because of my parents’ substance abuse, I felt at home.

How beautiful is it that we live in a world where I - a Black queer future lawyer who statistically should have been behind bars, on the streets, or dead - can find such warm mentorship from a Jewish, lesbian, former Wall Street girl boss, social justice warrior?

I cannot thank Evie, her inspiring parents, her cute dog BooBoo, my fellow interns, and the rest of the Witness team enough. I’d recommend this internship to any passionate individuals hungry to see the world in a new light and implement concrete change with their newfound knowledge.

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The summer I spent working for Witness was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Though I’ve always been passionate about ending mass incarceration, I’ve learned so much more through this internship. With every Witness meeting, I grew more and more passionate about the issues facing incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. A big part of that was Evie Litwok’s passion and work ethic. The enthusiasm she brought to work every day inspired and motivated me to work even harder.

As a journalism intern, I wrote long-form and short-form profiles on formerly incarcerated people to promote their businesses or organizations on our E-commerce site. My favorite part of that work was doing the research for these profiles, as I was gripped by the perseverance and determination of everyone I wrote about. Every day I worked at Witness felt purposeful, which made it an extremely rewarding experience. Later in the summer, I was able to interview Evie herself. Hearing her story was so emotionally captivating, and I'm grateful to have been a part of it. I came out of this internship not only a better writer, but also a better person, and I look forward to supporting whatever Witness does in the future.