our story

The CROP Organization was founded while four members of our leadership team (Ted Gray, Jason Bryant, Richard Mireles and Matt Braden) were incarcerated within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

Faced with the unique challenges presented by an antisocial and self-destructive prison environment, our team created programs that helped transform the culture into something truly restorative. It was through this new framework of possibility that the founders invited incarcerated men to begin supporting the best in each other rather than the worst. 

Throughout the years spent inside the CDCR, our team successfully trained hundreds of people in personal leadership development and created an Alcohol and Other Drug certification program which received senatorial recognition.

With our team back in the community, CROP brings innovative programs to scale and has established a blueprint for successful reentry.

  • 2008–2014

    LAUNCHING IN-PRISON PROGRAMS

    • Ted Gray and his father Mitch Gray start CROP with the goal of promoting interracial unity by bringing sports and music equipment into High Desert Prison

    • Trained over 1,000 people in personal leadership development

    • Launched the first-of-its kind Alcohol and Other Drug training program

    • CROP staffers Jason Bryant and Ted Gray establish an Inmate Activity Group that continues to this day

  • 2014–2018

    EXPANDING TO PROGRAMS OUTSIDE OF PRISON

    • CROP founders led experiential leadership workshops to 350+ college students and faculty at Hartnell Community College in Salinas

    • Incarcerated men in our program donate over $33,000 for Syon Green at Palma High School by pooling their prison paychecks (usually, people in prison make 8 cents/ hour)

    • Published the book Men Built for Others: Life Lessons From Those Serving Life Sentences, a collection of stories of transformation by men incarcerated at CTF-Soledad, which Includes narratives by CROP Coaches James Willock and Johnny Howe.

  • 2020–2021

    DEVELOPING A NEW MODEL FOR REENTRY

    * All members of the CROP founding team are released from Prison. Jason and Ted’s sentences are commuted by Governor Gavin Newsom.

    * This is Life with Lisa Ling “Prison and Prep School” airs to a national audience on CNN, prominently featuring CROP’s programming

    * CROP hires Ken Oliver in 2020 as fifth co-founding member to develop new model for reentry.

    * First staff hired outside founding team (2021): Terah Lawyer and Julia Root.

  • 2022

    FINANCING OUR VISION

    • CROP is awarded $27M for a holistic reentry pilot program to include integrated reentry case management, housing, and workforce training to serve 390 people over 3 years.

    • An additional $1.5M is secured by Senator Nancy Skinner for housing.

    • CROP joins The Honorable Betty Yee and Assembly Member Carrillo for a press conference at the State Capitol on March 8, 2022.

    • Leadership team meets the Richerson Family and secures a lease (with the option to buy) for its Career Campus in West Oakland.

  • 2023

    CROP LAUNCHES READY 4 LIFE PROGRAM

    * Hosts over 200 people at its Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

    * Launches first cohort of 12 Fellows in Bay Area and 25 Fellows in LA offering Tech Sales and UX Design career tracks

    * Launches Reentry Roadmap Data Platform with Exygy.

    * CROP and SAP Academy of Engineering develop partnership and first engineering apprenticeship

  • 2024-2025

    CROP REACHES SCALED APPROACH

    * Serves 140 people in 2024.

    * Completes 5 cohorts across LA and Bay Area

    * Celebrates 0% recidivism rate of graduated fellows

    * Expands in-prison programming reach from one facility in Northern California to four across the state.

    * Hires Dignifi as lead engineering firm to launch Reentry Roadmap Data Platform

    * Launches new health care counseling, skilled trades and trucking career tracks