John Huffington
John Huffington spent 32 years in the Maryland Prison System, 10 of which were on Death Row for crimes he never committed. Maintaining his innocence for these crimes, he ultimately secured his release from prison in 2013 through a Writ of Actual Innocence. It was discovered that key evidence - hair samples, were proven through DNA testing to have been unreliable evidence. The Prosecutor in the original case was disbarred for withholding this exculpatory evidence.
When John walked out of prison, he went straight to work. He was immediately hired as a logistics manager for Second Chance, which salvages buildings and provides job training in Baltimore to those with employment obstacles, including ex-offenders.
John then served as Director of Workforce Development for the Living Classrooms Foundation for 4½ years. There, he was responsible for directing job training efforts for the reentry program, Project SERVE, and the Target Investment Zone in East Baltimore. Project SERVE is a national model for breaking the cycle of poverty, unemployment and incarceration by using a multi-generational approach to providing low-skilled, unemployed, underemployed, and dislocated workers with multiple pathways to gain family-supporting jobs and achieve financial stability. John has worked with Volunteers of America Chesapeake & Carolinas (VOACC) in the past to help place returning citizens from VOACC's Residential Reentry Center in Baltimore into meaningful opportunities for work and advancement.
Today, John serves as the Corporate Social Responsibility Director of Holdings Management Company and as the Vice President & COO of the Kinetic Capital Community Foundation. John is also the author of INNOCENT, An Obscene Miscarriage of Justice.
John also serves in various capacities throughout the community, including:
- Board Member: Sharp Dressed Man/Baltimore Fashion Alliance
- Board Member: PIVOT – Creating Pathways for Women from Prison to Purpose!
- Advisory Board Member: ReturnHomeBaltimore.org
- Committee Member: Greater Baltimore Committee's Coalition for a Second Chance
- Committee Member: Greater Baltimore Committee’s Education & Workforce Committee
- Committee Member: Maryland Chamber Foundation’s Second Chance Task Force
- Committee Member: Mayor's Green Network Leadership Team
- Committee Member: Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention Collateral Consequences Workgroup
- Committee Member: Baltimore City Police Dept Community Collaborative Division Reentry Advisory
- Committee Member: DHCD’s Keep Maryland Beautiful Steering Committee
To learn more about John, visit www.johnhuffington.com.