JOSHUA JOHNSON

Joshua Johnson is an ex-offender who served 10 years in the Wisconsin Dept of Corrections beginning at the age of 17. Joshua decided early into his prison sentence that he would never go back except to show people that they can make it after prison. Joshua spent his time behind bars preparing for the rest of his life upon release and made his life work to focus on helping men/women realize they never have to go back to prison. In his professional career with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development as the State Director of Wisconsin Apprenticeship, Joshua has updated the process for delivering apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship opportunities for the men/women who are incarcerated by creating programs that are exactly the same inside as outside of the prison walls. Through USDOL Federal grant funding, Joshua created the DOC Apprenticeship Navigator position to assist men/women with navigating the apprenticeship system prior to and upon release. This position will ensure that once released, a career will not be a concern as men/women will be connected to the workforce and most specifically, apprenticeship employers across the state. This work is driven by  Joshua's goal since his release in 2004, to reduce the recidivism rate 1 person at a time, whether through boots on the ground efforts or through the creation of policies and procedures. Many ex-offenders have told Joshua that he is the voice of the voiceless through his tireless work and that they have a renewed confidence of never going back after talking to him.  Joshua believes, "It's not about where you have been, it's all about where you want to be".