Welcome to
San Quentin SkunkWorks
About Us
Welcome to San Quentin SkunkWorks, a groundbreaking organization that changes the experience of incarceration into a journey of leadership, innovation, and positive impact. We are a bold community of incarcerated changemakers and top-tier professionals, working from within the system to inspire growth, purpose, and transformation at the personal and systemic level.
Our Mission
To unite the ingenuity and leadership of incarcerated people and professionals to transform the criminal justice system from the inside out
Our Vision
We envision a world where the courage, experience, and the leadership of incarcerated people reshape the justice system, inspiring transformative change on a global scale.
Our Approach
We believe that every person has an inherent potential waiting to be realized. Our programs offer incarcerated people the chance to embark on a transformative journey, moving beyond past mistakes and evolving into their best selves. Through a blend of mentorship, skill development, self-reflection, and trauma-informed support, we provide the tools and environment for profound self-discovery and growth. Our initiatives enable each person to reclaim agency, cultivate resilience, and make meaningful contributions, ultimately preparing them for a brighter future both inside and beyond the prison walls.
At SkunkWorks, it’s not just about reform; it’s about rediscovering identity, purpose, and potential.
Who Runs San Quentin SkunkWorks?
SkunkWorks operates through a dual-team structure. Our Impact Team, comprised of incarcerated people, is the heart of our organization. They are the pulse and primary force behind our programs and innovation. In tandem, the Operations Team, composed of top-tier professionals with varying levels of justice-impact in their lives and a passion to change the world, run the day-to-day operations and ensures that all activities align with legal and organizational standards. They offer crucial guidance and infrastructure to bring the Impact Team’s dreams and vision to life.
Our Programs and Initiatives
Chiaroscuro: Light in the Shadows Art Initiative
Chiaroscuro is a flagship initiative by San Quentin SkunkWorks that we hope will become a scalable model for bringing art, beauty, hope, and inspiration into otherwise bland and colorless space of prisons. The project is supported by CDCR leadership, San Quentin SkunkWorks, world renowned artists, and a growing network of allies.
With oversight from CDCR, these artists will work in collaboration with incarcerated people and staff to develop visual stories of redemption, hope, learning, peace and an inspired vision of human potential. Our goal is to have a permanent gallery of murals and art installations throughout San Quentin. If done well, this project will be more than art installations and murals — it will be one of the most visible cultural interventions inside a U.S. prison.
Leadership Foundry Program
This groundbreaking program brings personal and professional development to our Impact Team through an experiential curriculum of leadership, innovation, skill building, and rehabilitation.
Through our unique approach, our incarcerated Impact Team members don’t just participate; they lead. They identify challenges, devise solutions, and spearhead impactful projects within and beyond prison walls. This hands-on involvement ensures our initiatives resonate deeply and are grounded in real-world experiences.
Our mission extends beyond individual transformation. As our Impact Team members evolve into role models and leaders, they inspire a culture of rehabilitation, empathy, and positive agency. This ripple effect can redefine rehabilitation and justice, proving the power of trust and empowerment.
Join us in supporting this program as we forge a future where justice and rehabilitation are seamlessly intertwined, led by those who understand it best.
Transformative Gaming Program
We are changing the racially segregated culture of prison by harnessing the pro-social power of games. Whether tabletop games, role-playing games, select-video games, or through our Pawns to Progress Chess Club, increasing access to games for the incarcerated population does more to promote integration across social barriers than a thousand lectures ever could.
Prisons in California, and in many other places, are mostly racially segregated. However, there is a rare exception — a place where people of different races, gender identities, and affiliations congregate freely — the gamer table. It is unremarkable because its just games, but it is also revolutionary because games bring people together in a system that keeps people divided.
We all experience the beauty in a brilliant move, the elation of a hard-won victory, and the sting of defeat equally.
To read about the first hand benefits of gameplay in carceral settings from I. Hamilton click here.
Read About Our Partnership with It’s Your Move
Click the following link to read about our partnership with It’s Your Move and how their generous donations have allowed SkunkWorks’ Transformative Gaming program to create an impact on those incarcerated at San Quentin.
Join Our Mission at San Quentin SkunkWorks
Your support and involvement are vital in driving our mission forward. Whether you’re inspired to volunteer, donate, or spread the word, your contribution makes a real difference. Join us at San Quentin SkunkWorks in our pursuit of transformative criminal justice reform. Together, we can create a future where rehabilitation, justice, and innovation thrive, led by those who understand it best.
Contact Us: hello@sanquentinskunkworks.org +1 415 275 2058
San Quentin Skunk Works is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax ID number 88-3852173) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.