ELEVATE CJS lived experience leadership programme
Launched in 2022, ELEVATE CJS (Elevating Lived Experience Voices, Advocacy, Training, and Expertise in the Criminal Justice System) is a leadership programme that promotes the redistribution of power to people with lived experience of the criminal justice system. The first cohort of leaders graduated in 2023, and we are excited to have welcomed a new group of leaders this April who will be graduating in November.
The 28-week programme will include regular online and in-person workshops, coaching, clinical supervision, a weekend residential, action research projects, a senior level work placement and a shadow board placement.
Focusing on personal and professional development, the programme is designed to empower emerging lived experience leaders, equipping them for impactful careers where they can drive positive change in the criminal justice system or other social justice areas.
ELEVATE CJS collaborates with government and sector employers to eliminate barriers and establish progression routes into senior positions for lived experience leaders. Notably, we have campaigned for criminal record reform and improvements to the current vetting process to work in prisons.
The programme was informed by two years of peer research and was co-designed with members of our ELEVATE CJS Advisory Group, chaired by CJA trustee Jason Grant, building on research from the CJA’s 2019 Change from within report.