Today we’d like to introduce you to Angi Connell
Hi Angi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As an Arizona Native, I deeply love the desert and the folks who make up our vibrant community. From a young age, I have been an advocate, ally, and activist in spaces ranging from ‘Save the Earth (penguins and dolphins specifically)’ at a PCDS lower school science fair, to the beloved street dogs of the Valley, to supporting reproductive health rights, to my current work with justice-impacted individuals.
In 2016, I faced 23 to life charges for a crime I did not commit, and subsequently spent 5 years in a California prison. This experience, although harrowing and tragic, transformed my life and has elevated my understanding of the prison industrial complex, provided a platform for meaningful advocacy, and from behind bars I was able to complete my education, dive into a career working with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated folks in their reentry journey, and embrace my own intersectionality: I am a felon, and SO much more.
During my time in prison, I observed the positive therapuetic affects of dog programs inside those walls. Once released, I began volunteering for rescues in the Phoenix area, fostering over 20 pups since 2021. For the past year, I have worked with PoundPuppyZ, a female owned and operated, foster-based, all-breed dog rescue as their Event coordinator and occasional foster parent. This experience has been incredibly rewarding: reflecting on the parallels between those who are abandoned to the elements, tossed in a high-kill shelter to my those who I have done my time with inside. With the right recipe of patience, empathy, and resources, our two-legged and four-legged community members can find a second chance at life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Although I may make prison sound like the land of puppies and programs, there is are obvious challenges and we recognize that our system is created for punitive punishment rather than rehabilitation and transformation. Once released, even with the privileges that I hold, finding employment is not an easy task. Even when organizations want to provide the fresh start, I found myself sitting in interviews with ‘true crime junkies’ who preferred the story and the tokenizing of my lived experience versus providing the chance to shine and grow in a career. I am grateful to those employers who took a chance on me, provided a safe space, and will continue to be a voice educating employers on the best practices when hiring formerly incarcerated folks.
Finding volunteer opportunities has been the salve on the open stigma wound of my past, particularly with the team at PoundPuppyZ: my past has become the least interesting part of me and my work with the rescue has been valued, appreciated, and uplifted. Also, being able to hang out with puppies is the best job EVER!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My current work as a Director for Peer Counseling Services has provided me the space to not only work with folks who are incarcerated, post-release (parole), but also with individuals seeking after-abortion emotional support. As an individual who has lived experience in both, I bring a direct knowledge, authenticity, and empathy to the spaces in which I work.
What are your plans for the future?
I have absolutely no idea what the future holds. Our world feels extremely uncertain and overwhelming for so many of us, and as uncomfortable as that may feel, I think it leaves open the door to incredible spaces of community, advocacy, and connections in ways we may have not had the opportunity to create before. My big goals: I am hopeful to create more sustainable and realistic diversion programs in the Valley, running for a legislative position, running more trail races, promoting PoundPuppyZ in creative ways so we can keep rescuing more dogs and getting them into loving, forever homes, and continuing to show up outside for those I left behind inside.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://poundpuppyz.com/
- Instagram: @angiholdsspace
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angimconnell/
Image Credits
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