Through a unique mentoring model, Partakers supports the education and advancement of incarcerated women and men and Returning Citizens. Within this transformative experience Partakers also bridges the divide that separates people impacted by incarceration with those outside of the carceral system. Through its College Behind Bars Mentoring Program, Partakers provides vital mentoring support to incarcerated students. Partakers Mentors not only help to enhance skills critical to completing academic and degree programs, but also provide life-changing support networks while building long-term vital and trusting personal relationships. This support is essential to not only academic success but also for a sense of self-worth, connection,empowerment, and the belief in the possibility of a real future. Partakers mentor support is foundational to increasing chances for success when returning to society. Through the Partakers re-entry initiative, the Partakers Empowerment Program (PEP), Partakers continues this critical support system by working with Returning Citizens. The Partakers PEP program and its mentors provide critical skills, training, knowledge and personal connections as Returning Citizens navigate the difficult path of re-entry. The work of Partakers is to build vital partnerships and programming opportunities, and to provide essential resources, education, skills, and foster affirming relationships to individuals and communities impacted by the carceral system. The Partakers mentor experience is the key to achieving long-term sustained transformation, significantly reducing recidivism, with an impact that ripples out to the community beyond, and extends generationally.