In this powerful episode of the Landmark Difference Makers Podcast, we sit down with Antonia Hieronymus and the leadership team behind Another Way to Go, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of incarcerated individuals and those reentering society.
With over 1.8 million people incarcerated in the United States and more than 11 million worldwide, this work addresses a reality that is often overlooked—and rarely understood.
More Than the Worst Thing They’ve Done
At the heart of Another Way to Go is a simple but profound premise: people are not defined by their past. While society often reduces individuals to the worst mistake they’ve made, this program invites participants to see themselves—and each other—as capable of something entirely new.
“What’s the difference between you and an inmate? At the end of the day, the answer is often luck.”
Rather than focusing on punishment or advocacy, the work happens at a deeply human level—one person at a time.
Transformation from the Inside Out
The program runs over 18 weeks and is built around a powerful process:
- Chipping away the past—separating people from the beliefs and interpretations that have shaped their identity
- Revealing who they truly are—whole, capable, and able to choose
- Taking initiative—creating projects that make a meaningful difference in their lives and communities
Participants don’t just learn concepts—they apply them in real time, rebuilding relationships, restoring dignity, and discovering new ways of being.
“We can’t change the facts of your past, but we can transform them so they no longer hold you back.”
Three Seconds That Change Everything
One of the most powerful insights from the program is deceptively simple:
It takes months to give someone three seconds.
Those three seconds—the space between what happens and how someone reacts—can mean the difference between repeating the past and creating a new future.
“If you had just a little time between what happened and your reaction… would it have made a difference?”
For many participants, the answer is yes—and those three seconds become life-changing.
Real Impact, Real Lives
The impact of the program shows up in deeply human ways:
- Parents reconnecting with children after decades of silence
- Individuals advocating powerfully for themselves in parole hearings
- Families experiencing healing conversations long thought impossible
- Participants creating initiatives that reach far beyond prison walls
One participant, incarcerated for decades, was able to influence the life of his autistic grandson—leading to a moment where the child smiled for the first time.
These are not abstract outcomes—they are real, lived transformations.
Changing the Culture, Not Just Individuals
As the program expands, its impact extends beyond individuals to entire facilities. In prisons where Another Way to Go has operated:
- Disciplinary incidents decrease
- Violence is reduced
- A new culture of respect and leadership begins to emerge
This is transformation at scale—one conversation, one relationship, one person at a time.
A Different Way to See the World
Another Way to Go challenges a deeply ingrained narrative: that people who have done wrong are simply “bad” and should be discarded.
Instead, it offers a different possibility:
What if people are whole, capable, and able to create something new?
What if, given the tools and the support, they could become contributors—not just to their own lives, but to society as a whole?
✨ Listen to the full episode to hear stories of transformation, resilience, and what becomes possible when people are given the opportunity to create “another way to go.”
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