About Vivian Nixon

Rev. Vivian Nixon is the Executive Director of the College and Community Fellowship (CCF), a unique organization that helps formerly incarcerated women to acquire education at the college level and beyond. Twitter: @CCFEducates

Rev. Nixon is herself a graduate of CCF, having joined the program in 2001 following a period of incarceration during which, as a tutor for other incarcerated women, she witnessed firsthand how lack of access to education impeded people’s ability to escape the cycle of poverty and recidivism. Under her direction, CCF nearly 400 formerly incarcerated women have received services to support their quests for higher education and personal development. Program participants have completed more than 200 college degrees ranging from associate’s degrees to doctorates. Less than 2% of the program participants have had subsequent criminal justice involvement.

Rev. Nixon’s leadership on educational issues includes co-founding the Education from the Inside/Out Coalition (EIO) a group chaired by CCF and the Fortune Society’s David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy to increase access to education for incarcerated and justice involved students. Twitter: @eio_coalition

Rev. Nixon serves on the board of directors of the Fortune Society and on the advisory boards of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College, the Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE), and Reentry Net. Rev. Nixon is a 2005 Soros Justice Fellow, a 2008 Petra Fellow and a 2012 Ascend Fellow with the Aspen Institute.

A popular public speaker, spoken word artist, teacher, spiritual coach and preacher, Rev. Nixon is available for social, political and religious commentary, preaching, motivational speaking, teaching, poetry reading, acting, guest blogging, writing, and spiritual direction. She has published a variety of poems, articles and book chapters and is currently working on two books: Sermons to Myself: A Collection of Sermons Written in Prison by Prisoners and Guilty and Saved: The Spiritual Journey of a Preacher Woman in Prison.

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