The Clean Slate Initiative Receives Landmark Commitment Through The Audacious Project
Award highlights the importance of uplifting leaders who are directly impacted by the legal system
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Earlier today, a $75 million commitment to The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) was announced at the TED2023 conference. The investment will fund a large portion of the organization’s strategy to pass laws in 15 states in the next six years that expand eligibility and streamline the clearance process for arrest or conviction records, ultimately unlocking opportunities for up to 14 million people in America — a strategy that’s been met with overwhelming support across political divides. More information on the award and CSI’s strategy is available here.
“This is a landmark investment that will help ensure an arrest or conviction record does not turn into a life sentence of poverty for millions of people in America,” said Tameshia Mansfield, Co-Chair of CSI’s Advisory Board. “The commitment also sends a statement about the importance of investing in directly-impacted leaders seeking to reform the legal system.”
Sheena Meade has led The Clean Slate Initiative since May 2020. In the three years under Meade’s leadership, six states have passed Clean Slate laws with CSI’s strategic support — Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Michigan, Connecticut, and Delaware. Together, those efforts will enable an estimated 3 million people to have full or partial record clearance.
“Clean Slate has the power to create a transformational change in people’s lives. As we bring about that change, it’s important for the people closest to the problem to be part of the solution,” said Sheena Meade, CEO of The Clean Slate Initiative. “I am grateful for all this commitment represents and the affirmation it offers for a model that unites businesses, advocates, community members, and impacted people across the country to ensure that past mistakes will not forever define people’s futures.”
The foundation of CSI’s past and future success is the overwhelming bipartisan support for second chances. In a time when nearly all politics are divided, Clean Slate efforts garner broad support from both sides of the aisle. Bipartisan support is essential to passing and implementing policies that have a lasting impact for millions of people in America who are denied access to meaningful employment, safe housing, and other opportunities.
“Clearing eligible records is a commonsense policy, endorsed by those on the left and the right," said David Safavian, a Clean Slate Initiative Advisory Board member and general counsel of the Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC). “America loves a good comeback story. Record clearing allows people to make that story their own and build better lives for themselves and their families. In an era of bitter politics, so-called Clean Slate policies are an area of common ground that truly transcends partisanship."
CSI’s advocacy model builds partnerships with state and national stakeholders to pass bipartisan laws that clear arrest and conviction records for certain eligible offenses. Record clearance removes barriers faced by millions of people long after they have completed their sentence and remained crime-free for a period of time.
Most states have a petition-based process to clear eligible records, which is often difficult to navigate, overly bureaucratic, and costly. As a result, less than 10% of people eligible for record clearance actually receive it within five years of becoming eligible. Clean Slate laws offer a simple solution: automatic clearance.
The automatic clearance process shifts the burden off the individual and creates a state-initiated process once records become eligible under state law. Eligibility can vary from state to state, but they all include certain types of low-level records, successful completion of the court-imposed sentence, and a period of time during which no additional offenses have occurred. Streamlining the process removes commonly found barriers to record clearance.
“Clean Slate policies have a real impact,” said John Cooper, executive director of Safe & Just Michigan, which is a lead partner in the Clean Slate Michigan coalition. “Michigan’s automated expungement speaks for itself: the kind of impact we saw on day one of implementation earlier this month was unprecedented, and that was just the beginning. It’s truly remarkable to see a policy create transformational change in someone’s life, and Clean Slate laws have the potential to do that for millions more.”
Michigan’s law went into effect last week (April 11, 2023). By the next day, roughly 1 million records had been fully or partially cleared, and about 238,000 records were fully cleared, offering people a shot at redemption.
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About The Clean Slate Initiative
The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI), passes and implements laws that automatically clear eligible records for people who have completed their sentence and remained crime-free, and expands who is eligible for clearance. We work to ensure that people will no longer be defined by their records and will have the opportunity to contribute to their community, have a fair opportunity to work, get an education, and achieve their full potential.
About The Audacious Project
Launched in April 2018, The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative that is catalyzing social impact on a grand scale. Housed at TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, and with support from leading social impact advisor The Bridgespan Group, The Audacious Project convenes funders and social entrepreneurs with the goal of supporting bold solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges. The funding collective is made up of respected organizations and individuals in philanthropy, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ELMA Philanthropies, MacKenzie Scott, Skoll Foundation, Valhalla Foundation, and more.
Each year The Audacious Project supports a new cohort. The 2023 grantees are CAMFED, Canopy, Clean Slate Initiative, Global Fishing Watch, Innovative Genomics Institute, Jan Sahas’ Migrants Resilience Collaborative, ReNew2030, Restore Local, Think of Us, and Upstream USA
