Marital status:
Committed Relationship
Children:
4
Occupation:
Executive Director
Comment:
M. Mick Gardner is the President and Founder of Unfolding New Ideas Towards Yourself (U.N.I.T.Y), This organization services components include: Restorative Practices/Community, Trauma Informed Education/Care (w/ Mindfulness exercises), Workforce Development (presently a retail pop-up clothing enterprise - Back@Ya for formerly incarcerated to have an wage earning transition), Transitional Housing (in collaboration with Retraining the Village, EPA) and Creative Arts. U.N.I.T.Y. conducts outreach and services to underserved populations, e.g. pre and post released women, men and their families, veterans, elderly and homeless.
He also is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of No More Tears, a prisoner-guided, violence-prevention and restorative justice healing circle organization located within California State Prison San Quentin.
He has amassed in his 30-year tenure, extensive experience as a program design consultant on in-prison/jail intervention models with restorative justice/practice/community, drug, alcohol, and infectious disease risk-reduction.
He has been involved in the development and evaluation of direct service provisions of in-custody case management and post-release interventions. Additionally, he has been a pioneer in the use of inmate peer mentors and advisers to develop innovative and effective programs.
Mick has implemented multi-million dollar projects in collaboration with federal entities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources Services Administration, Department of Justice and Substance Abuse, and Mental Health Services Administration. In addition, Mick has partnered on several projects with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
In 2008 Mick served as the Reentry Services Manager for the City of Oakland supervising Project Choice, a nationally recognized prisoner reentry, employment, and intensive case management initiative, which he helped implement in 2002.
Mick's international efforts also include co-facilitated trainings for the AIDS Foundation East/West in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Many times Mick has stated that adversity is the catalyst elucidating the very best and worst of humanity. He clearly believes he demonstrates as a facilitator for positive change and an ambassador for the underserved communities. His leadership has exemplified the very best that can come out of adversity, with the highest degree of confidence.