Vivian Nixon

Vivian Nixon became a member of the College and Community Fellowship, a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated people in New York City, in 2001. From 2003 until recently, she served as the Executive Director of that program. In that capacity, she oversaw the Project, providing direction with regard to its various activities, including academic support, leadership development, and advocacy. She took leave of the directorship upon receipt of the prestigious Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship awarded by the Open Society Institute. Her primary work as a Soros Fellow is to provide social justice education to religious leaders of the First Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In addition to her work as a Soros fellow, she serves on numerous boards and committees including the Center for Leadership Education After Reentry (CLEAR) at the City University of New York Graduate Center for the Study of Women and Society, and the Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is a frequent public speaker, panelist, moderator, and preacher. She recently published a chapter titled “A Christian Response to Incarceration: Unbind them!” in the anthology Getting on Message: Challenging the Christian Right From the Heart of the Gospel.