Joseph Bell Jr.

Joseph Bell Jr. is a Drop LWOP coordinating associate where he assists the coalition with coordinating communication and activities between work groups and builds the involvement of formerly incarcerated people and family members in the coalition. He is also a peer mentor with M3 (Men’s Mentoring Movement) where he works with system impacted individuals before they are released from the San Francisco County Jail.

Joseph dedicates special time to his parents and plays a role of encouragement to others in his family. “It’s my hope that I am an inspiration for higher education and spiritual growth.” While incarcerated, he was a member of a group of both prisoners and correction officers working together to keep young people out of prison. He also started an at-risk youth diversion program called Education, Diversion, and Goals to Endeavor (EDGE) and earned an associate degree in social science.

At the age of 26, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Joseph’s remorse for his crime and resulting failure to be present in his son’s life caused him to turn his life around.

In 2018, the California Governor recognized Joseph’s personal transformation and commuted his sentence, giving him the opportunity for parole. Near simultaneously, the district attorney in the county where Joseph had been convicted chose him to be one of the first people resentenced under a new law allowing release in the interest of justice. After serving nearly 25 years in prison, he was paroled.

Joseph believes leading well means having the wisdom to listen to others: “Effective leaders are those who know when and how to follow.”