Bryan Widenhouse
- PausePlay Today: “I am enjoying the support of my family...as I work my way back into the community.”
- PausePlay Prison: "On my 18th birthday...they drag out the guy's body because he hung himself."
- PausePlay Turning point: “My life is over, so I am just going to do anything I can to give it meaning or value to other people.”
Bryan Widenhouse is a Senior Policy Associate with FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums). He manages FAMM’s nationwide #Visit a Prison campaign, which encourages lawmakers to visit prisons to learn firsthand about incarceration. He additionally oversees policy initiatives in Arizona, California, Texas, Indiana, and Vermont.
In 1989, at the age of 17, Bryan was tried as an adult, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. “I took responsibility for my actions and the harm I caused. I wanted to find rehabilitation, seek redemption, and give back wherever I could.” While in prison, he chose a path of self-improvement and community service, despite having a sentence that meant he would die in prison.
While incarcerated, Bryan obtained three vocational degrees, was president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) for five years and served two years on the State Executive Board. In each of the five years of his presidency his chapter was ranked #1 in the nation, and his leadership won the National Bill Butler Memorial Award in three separate years, an award recognizing the greatest impact on corrections in the country. He also authored a grant to fund a prison art class that went on to raise over $35,000 for New York firefighters following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bryan developed a restorative justice and victim mediation program, became a certified Red Cross instructor, a Lead Facilitator in the Alternatives to Violence Project, served as a Peer Counselor, and worked four years at the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion.
When Louisiana law changed in response to US Supreme Court rulings concerning children sentenced to life without parole, Bryan was paroled. He had spent 31 years in prison.
He is a role model to his three nieces, but their student when it comes to Snapchat, Roblox, and Minecraft. Bryan believes “the best leaders harness and develop the individual talents of every team member to achieve a desired goal. Coaches are better leaders than team captains.”
