Justice-to-Education Partnership with The Excel Center & Marion County Prosecutor’s Office
Client: The Excel Center & Marion County Prosecutor’s Office
Challenge: Connecting justice-involved individuals with education and workforce opportunities during the re-entry process.
Solution: Cross-sector partnership development, stakeholder mapping, program integration, and strategic public-sector alignment.
Results: Created a sustainable re-entry education pathway, expanded access to The Excel Center, and positioned education as a tool for long-term success and reduced recidivism.
The Challenge
Individuals returning from incarceration in Marion County faced significant barriers to education and employment, limiting their ability to successfully reintegrate into society. The Excel Center, a tuition-free high school for adults, sought to expand access to its programs for justice-involved individuals through its southeast Indianapolis campus, but needed strategic partnerships, system navigation, and public-sector alignment to make this possible at scale.
Research & Strategy
Conducted stakeholder mapping across the criminal justice ecosystem, including the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, City of Indianapolis Re-Entry Division, and community-based organizations
Identified a critical gap: individuals being released from custody had limited exposure to immediate education and workforce pathways at the point of re-entry
Developed a strategic framework with three core objectives:
Establish formal partnerships between The Excel Center and key justice system stakeholders
Integrate education access directly into the release process
Position education as a viable pathway for sentence mitigation and long-term success
Implementation
Partnership Development:
Brokered a first-of-its-kind collaboration between The Excel Center and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
Facilitated alignment with the City of Indianapolis Re-Entry Division to support program awareness and referrals.
Program Integration:
Secured access for The Excel Center within the Marion County Criminal Justice Campus release lobby, placing education resources directly in front of individuals at the moment of re-entry.
Policy & Programmatic Innovation:
Helped establish a partnership model where individuals could receive reduced sentences or charges upon successful completion of educational programming at The Excel Center.
Strategic Communications & Positioning:
Elevated the partnership as a transformative, solution-oriented approach to criminal justice reform, bridging education, workforce development, and public safety.
Outcome and Impact
Outcome
The Excel Center gained direct access to justice-involved individuals at the point of release through the Criminal Justice Campus, while also establishing a formal, ongoing partnership with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. This collaboration created a new pathway for individuals to reduce sentences or charges through successful completion of educational programming, ultimately increasing awareness of The Excel Center and expanding enrollment opportunities among a previously underserved population.
Impact
The Holliday Collaborative Agency helped transform how education intersects with the justice system in Marion County, shifting the narrative from punishment to opportunity. By aligning public-sector leadership with community-based education solutions, this initiative created a sustainable model for reducing recidivism, improving workforce outcomes, and strengthening communities. This work demonstrates THCA’s ability to drive cross-sector partnerships, influence systems-level change, and deliver meaningful social impact.
