Jamala Taylor (Leading with Conviction™ 2024) was initially sentenced to a daunting 99-year-to-life term and spent 15 years in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay State Prison/S.H.U. Over his 31-year incarceration in various maximum-security facilities across California, Jamala’s journey took a significant turn when he was granted release on December 30, 2020.

Since his release, Jamala has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from CSU-Fullerton and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in nonprofit management/Public Policy from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Jamala is also a certified life coach, having completed the rigorous 9-month Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation certification program (CHJL). Recently, he launched a coaching and consulting firm called Amandla. Jamala consults with various companies around the country on reentry and incarceration-related training and issues.

In addition to his coaching work, he currently serves as the Senior Reentry Manager for Land Together (formerly The Insight Garden Program/IGP), the program from which he himself is an alumnus.