Joseph Irizarry

Joseph Irizarry was released on parole in 2020, and has continued with the joint Bunker Hill Community College and Tufts University college program. He participates in the My Turn Program at Tufts, a re-entry initiative for people returning from prison. He is a mentor for younger students, a personal trainer where he seeks to make fitness a lifestyle, and is involved with Inner City Weightlifting, which amplifies “the voice and agency of people who have been most impacted by systemic racism and mass incarceration.” He trained service dogs for those who are blind, deaf, or otherwise in need of a guide dog behind bars. Irizarry comes to the job of community organizer with a background steeped in the understanding of what often gives rise to crimes of brutality, what he called “cycles of trauma” that connect to “cycles of violence.” He is committed to ending life without parole and hopes to build “bridges of understanding” between people on all sides of the issue.

For more about Joe see DIGBoston.