Turn90 to Receive Riley Institute Statewide Partners in Progress Award Recognizing Landmark

FOR INFORMATION:
Claudia Winkler
Director of Marketing and Communications
The Riley Institute at Furman University
864.294.3368; Claudia.winkler@furman.edu

Amy Barch
Executive Director
Turn90
843-297-4980 Ext. 722; hello@turnninety.com

March 14, 2024 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

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TURN90 TO RECEIVE RILEY INSTITUTE STATEWIDE PARTNERS IN PROGRESS AWARD RECOGNIZING LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENT 

The prison re-entry program will be recognized with the OneSouthCarolina Partners in Progress Award during the Building OneSouthCarolina Forum on May 15 in Columbia.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Furman University’s Riley Institute has announced that Turn90 will receive the 2024 OneSouthCarolina Partners in Progress Award, which recognizes a landmark collaborative achievement contributing significantly to social and economic progress in South Carolina.

The award will be presented by former U. S. Secretary of Education and two-term S.C. Governor Dick Riley at the Building OneSouthCarolina Forum on Wednesday, May 15, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The forum is a sister event to the Riley Institute’s annual Riley-Wilkins OneSouthCarolina Legislative and Civic Leadership Awards. Prior recipients of the Partners in Progress Award are Spartanburg’s Northside Initiative (2022, now Northside Development Group) and the International African American Museum in Charleston (2023).

Working with men facing complex reentry needs, Turn90 offers a variety of services and supports to create an opportunity for success after prison. Participants are previously incarcerated men who have multiple barriers to reintegrating into their communities. Turn90 works with each participant to address specific needs such as identification, transportation, and housing. The men also take part in intensive cognitive behavioral classes—taught by former graduates of the Turn90 program—to learn new patterns of thinking and develop problem-solving skills.

Turn90 also offers paid transitional work in its  social enterprises and job placement with competitive wages, benefits, and opportunity for advancement upon graduation. The program currently operates in Charleston and Columbia and plans to open a third facility in Spartanburg this fall.

During the forum, key stakeholders who have helped shape and develop Turn90 will speak about the nonprofit’s origins, successes, challenges, and plans for the future. Dr. Don Gordon, executive director of the Riley Institute, believes the event will share useful insights for business, nonprofit, and community leaders across the state.

“Turn90 holds lessons not only for those specifically interested in the issue of re-entry after incarceration, but for any entrepreneurial leader who wants to learn how a nonprofit can successfully launch, adapt over time, and build a social enterprise to support its mission,” said Gordon.

The Building OneSouthCarolina Forum begins with a continental breakfast at 9:30 a.m. The forum and award presentation follow at 10:00 a.m. Tickets are $35 each and may be purchased by visiting furman.edu/building-onesouthcarolina. Sponsorships are also available.

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About the Riley Institute at Furman University

Furman University’s Richard W. Riley Institute advances social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond by building leadership for a diverse society, hosting expert speakers to broaden perspectives on critical issues, supporting public education, and creating knowledge through community solutions-focused research. It is committed to nonpartisanship in all it does and to a rhetoric-free, facts-based approach to change.