Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez

Jon-Adrian Velazquez joined the Douglass Project in October 2021 to help implement, improve, and enhance the organization’s flagship Prison Visitation Programs.

With more than 23 years of lived experience, incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, Jon-Adrian has worked tirelessly to redefine the humanity of the men living inside. For more than a decade, he served as the chairman of the Inmate Liaison Committee and became the voice of the incarcerated population at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. In that role, he established a unique rapport with the prison’s administration and implemented a host of programs to improve his life and the lives of those around him.

In 2013, Jon-Adrian spearheaded the formation of Voices From Within, a multimedia educational tool that is currently being used to address gun violence in New York City. As a result of the success of “Voices From Within,” Jon-Adrian enhanced this platform by creating a series of workshops called CHOICES (Choosing Healthier Options In Confronting Every Situation). These workshops help empower young people impacted by crime and incarceration to realize the significance of making better life choices.

In 2014, at Sing Sing, Jon-Adrian also curated the first TEDx Event held inside a New York State prison. In 2020, prior to the pandemic, he detailed the evolution and success of “Voices From Within” by demonstrating the power incarcerated people have to benefit society.

While incarcerated, Jon-Adrian served his community as a program assistant at Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, a nonprofit organization that partners with several academic institutions to provide college education, life skills and reentry support to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men and women. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Mercy College, where he majored in Behavioral Science. He is also a teaching fellow of Columbia University.     

Additionally, Jon-Adrian is a certified Paralegal who has worked with NBC Producer Dan Slepian to help several innocent men obtain exonerations.

Jon-Adrian has seized every opportunity to learn, lead, support, and give, which earned him an early release via executive clemency—a rare and honorable accomplishment that attests to the moral fiber of his character. True to the terms of his clemency, he will continue the work he started inside on the outside with the Douglass Project.