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Ronald F. Day Highlight


Ronald F. Day

Ronald F. Day

Senior Vice President of Programs & Research

The Fortune Society

An investment in one’s education is an investment worth making.

About Ronald F.

  • I dropped out of high school in ninth grade, caught in a world where the only success I saw came from the streets.
  • Sentenced to 15 years in prison, I took my first college class inside Sing Sing prison, unsure but willing to try something different.
  • I read Malcolm X’s autobiography, which was a turning point for me—it made me really start to look at education as a way to turn my life around.
  • When the Pell Grants were cut, I was determined to continue my education dreams out of prison and into the free world.
  • I earned my bachelor's, then my master’s with honors, and finally completed a Ph.D.
  • Returning to teach college in the same prison where I began my education became one of the most meaningful full-circle moments of my life.
  • Today, I serve as Senior Vice President at the Fortune Society in New York, where I fight for reentry housing, justice reform, and dignity for those returning home.