White Collar Week with Jeff Grant – Details, episodes & analysis

Today on the podcast we have Barry Bekkedam. This is Barry’s first interview since returning from Federal prison last year. What I like most about Barry was his openness and candor as he painstakingly takes us through his remarkable story from immigrant, to starter on the Villanova basketball team (he’s 6’10” tall!), to real estate investor, to multi-billion dollar Main Line investment manager – and then to his problems when some of his clients lost money in the Rothstein Ponzi scheme and then as former Chairman of a bank accused of TARP fraud. Barry took his case to trial and was partially vindicated, but ultimately was sentenced to serve 11 months in a Federal prison camp. Barry’s is an incredible story of resilience through over a decade of issues So, coming up, Barry Bekkedam sets the record straight. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us.  – Jeff

Today on the podcast we have David Israel and Spencer Oberg, two successful entrepreneurs who both served time in prison. You might know them by their international vegan cheese company, Good Planet Foods, or by their justice-centric media company, Unincarcerated.

In this episode we certainly go into David and Spence's incredible backstories. But more, we leqarn the nuts and bolts of how to be entrepreneurial and succeed after prison, the hard work it takes, how to analyze your strengths and weaknesses, and how to get past your shame to find your passion and authenticity.

So, coming up, The Entrepreneurs. David Israel and Spencer Oberg. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. - Jeff

________________________

Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. is Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. The ministry hosts an online White Collar Support Group every Monday night on Zoom; we will hold our 250th meeting on Mar. 29, 2021. After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry — earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Social Ethics.

Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 18+ years), ministry, public speaking and corporate training. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide individuals, families and organizations forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame. Not a prison coach; not a prison consultant.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: https://prisonist.org

Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ Psychology Today: www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists…ury-ct/731344 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/revjeffgrant not a prison coach, not a prison consultant

Today on the podcast we have two of my favorite people, Glenn Martin & Richard Bronson, talking about how they each reinvented themselves after prison. They are both incredibly generous and reveal their struggles, disappointments, and frailties as well as their successes and service in helping others.

Glenn talks about his journey from armed robbery to prison, to nonprofit executive, to founding Just Leadership USA, to entrepreneur, executive coach, and investor in Gem Trainers and Gem Real Estate. Richard discusses his Wall Street life, including at Straton Oakmont (made famous in the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street"), prison, and then founding two companies to lift up returning citizens, 70millionjobs.com and his latest, Commissary Club.

So coming up, Glenn Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. - Jeff

______________________ Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: prisonist.org Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.

On the podcast today, we have Richard Lee. Richard is best known for having been a trader at Steve Cohen’s hedge fund, SAC Capital, and for having insider trading charges against him dismissed after a 7 year fight to clear his name.

Richard initially pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in 2013, and upon discovery of new evidence in 2017, he moved to withdraw his original plea. On June 21, 2019, a federal court judge for the Southern District of New York granted Richard’s motion to vacate his guilty plea, and then on Nov 27, 2019, federal prosecutors dismissed all charges against him.

I first met Richard in 2013, soon after he first pleaded guilty. We’ve been friends and have worked together closely ever since. On the podcast today, Richard and I discuss the entire story that led to his incredible outcome.

So coming up, Richard Lee. Insider trading charges dismissed, on white collar week. I hope you’ll join us. - Jeff

______________________ Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: prisonist.org Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.

Many of our friends and colleagues in the white collar justice community tell me that they are writing books about their experiences or that someone should make a movie about them. Even me!

So I contacted a few professionals I know in the movie and television production business and asked them what it takes to actually get the attention of a movie or TV series producer or director. And each of them was happy to come on the podcast to discuss it.

We are calling this episode "Is Your Life a Movie?" Joining us are Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones, and Will Nix, three movie and television producers who actually make justice-related films or TV shows. And they each provided contact information for you to get in touch with them. So coming up, "Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers" on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us.

- Jeff

______________________ Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: prisonist.org Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.

Today on the podcast, we have Vanessa Osage, one of the bravest and most intrepid people I have ever met. Vanessa had dedicated her life to breaking down the barriers of stigma and shame, and helping others to find a new order of loving accountability and restorative justice. We are calling this episode "Truth Heals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform." In it, Vanessa tells her story of reporting sexual abuse at one of our country's elite boarding schools: retribution, coverup, engaging and then abandoning the legal system, attention in some of the nation's most respected newspapers and media, starting a non-profit to serve others going through these kinds of issues, and writing her incredible memoir, "Can't Stop the Sunrise: Adventures in Healing, Confronting Corruption, & the Journey to Institutional Reform."

Joining us as co-host is Chloe Coppola, an advocate with us at Progressive Prison Ministries, who shares the story of her sexual abuse and institutional response while she was a student at her own prep school.

Two courageous women telling their stories in intimate and powerful ways. So coming up, Truth Heals on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us.

- Jeff

______________________ Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: prisonist.org Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.

Today on the podcast, we have Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim. After five terms as the mayor of the largest city in the state of Connecticut from 1991 to 2003, Joe was brought down in a corruption scandal for which he served six years in a federal prison. After his release from prison, in 2015 Joe ran again for mayor of Bridgeport and he was reelected. He is currently serving his seventh term as mayor.

What I find most fascinating about Joe is his resilience and resourcefulness - his willingness to take risks and subject himself to public scrutiny after all he'd been through. Certainly, his story is a lesson to other people convicted of felonies that life is not over once you go to prison.

Full disclosure: In 2016 and 2017, I served as Co-Chairperson of the Advisory Board to the City of Bridgeport Mayor's Initiative on Reentry Affairs.

So coming up, Mayor Joseph Ganim on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. - Jeff

______________________

Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

 

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

 

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.

(he, him, his)

Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide

Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast

Host, White Collar Week

Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798

Website: prisonist.org

Email: jgrant@prisonist.org

Office: 203-405-6249

Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

 

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.

Today's podcast is about mental health and the crushing stress and depression that professionals sometimes experience that can induce suicidal ideations, suicide attempts, suicide itself, the pain and anguish caused to family and others, and how one can find relief and hope instead of pain, suffering, and tragedy. 

My guests today are Rev. Bob Flanagan, who has written, spoken, and preached about his own mental health issues. And Meredith Atwood, a former lawyer and now author and life coach, who is candid about her suicide attempt, sobriety after drug and alcohol addiction, and finding her way back through triathlons and weightlifting. And Elizabeth Kelley, a lawyer who specializes in representing defendants with mental disabilities all over the country, and in attorney wellness so that they don't burn out and cause harm to themselves, their families, and their clients.

A warning: this is a very difficult conversation in which we all talk about our personal relationships with depression and suicide, a much-needed discussion in these times of community and personal trauma. So, coming up: A Brave Talk About Suicide on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. - Jeff

______________________ Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: prisonist.org Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.

White Collar Week with Jeff Grant. It's the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community. ____________ Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood with Tom Scott

Today on the podcast, we have one of my closest friends, Tom Scott. You might know Tom as one of the "two Toms" who co-founded Nantucket Nectars. Or as the co-founder and chairman of The Nantucket Project, a thought and ideas festival each fall on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Or as chairman at The Neighborhood Project that brings films about what matters most to discussion groups in people's homes all over the country and the world.

But I know Tom differently, as my close confidant in drug and alcohol recovery in our home group in Greenwich, Connecticut. Tom and I both credit recovery with saving our lives, and with being the inspiration for Tom's project about the power of neighborhood and my project bringing justice-impacted people out of isolation and into community. This episode explores this, and the depth of our relationship Tom and I forged to find the light from the darkest times of our lives.

So coming up, Recovery & Neighborhood with Tom Scott, on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. - Jeff

______________________ Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: prisonist.org Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.

White Collar Week with Jeff Grant. It's the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community. ____________ Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate with Bill Baroni

Today on the podcast, we have as our guest, Bill Baroni – or as they called him in federal prison, Billy Bridgegate. Bill was arrested, tried, and found guilty and served time for his role in the infamous Bridgegate corruption scandal that destroyed the presidential aspirations of former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie. Bill's conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and today he is felony-free and talks with us about his journey.

We are calling this episode "Everything but Bridgegate" because Bill can't discuss the nuts and bolts of the scandal due to pending legal matters. But what Bill does share with us is an amazing story of power, abuse of power, ambition, navigation of the criminal justice system as it applies to people prosecuted for white collar crimes, and ultimate vindication.

So coming up, Bill Baroni on White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. - Jeff

______________________ Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his) Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast Host, White Collar Week Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798 Website: prisonist.org Email: jgrant@prisonist.org Office: 203-405-6249 Donations (501c3): bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ

Not a prison coach, not a prison consultant.