The Pruno Fund supports and empowers wrongfully convicted individuals as they move forward with their lives, with training, resources, and community building.
Resources: We provide financial assistance to released wrongfully convicted persons in a difficult place. The grants we distribute provide help with housing, medical, and other necessities. We also partner with organizations across the country to assist the innocent as they navigate barriers to housing, employment, and other post-release issues.
Training: Wrongfully convicted individuals are often inspired to tell their personal stories to encourage change and motivate people. We offer communications training that prepares these innocent people to share their stories at events, in writing, and in the news.
Nikki D. Pope is the co-founder, principal executive officer, and director of The Pruno Fund, Inc. She is the global leader for Trustworthy AI and in-house counsel at NVIDIA. She also co-wrote “Pruno, Ramen, and a Side of Hope: Stories of Wrongful Conviction,” a book that profiles ten people who were wrongfully convicted and exonerated. She has been involved with wrongful conviction work since 2005. Nikki brings to The Pruno Fund her years of experience in business and in advising nonprofit organizations and their boards, as well as her experience as a board member and advisory board member of various nonprofit entities.
Courtney B. Lance, is a native Chicagoan passionate about the lives of men and women who have been wrongfully convicted and released without support. It is because of this that she became a founding member of the Pruno Fund. Courtney is a Contractor with the State of Illinois, a writer, and spiritual counselor. Courtney brings to The Pruno Fund her years of experience building best practices for and monitoring internal controls and working with nonprofit organizations.
Lee is the founder and Managing Partner of Pivot Point Strategies, a nonprofit management consulting firm serving nonprofits, nonprofit foundations, and public/private partnerships in Silicon Valley since 2005. Lee brings to The Pruno Fund her 30 years of startup and turnaround experience as a senior-level executive for companies in Silicon Valley and New York City as well as her work with nonprofit organizations in the US and abroad.
Jess is a former research attorney and media associate at the Northern California Innocence Project. Jess brings to the The Pruno Fund her wide-ranging skills from organization to graphic design and communications management.
Courtney B. Lance, a native Chicagoan and daughter of a civil rights activist, was introduced to wrongful conviction through her long-time friend Nikki Pope, who invited her to co-author "Pruno, Ramen, and a Side of Hope." Deeply familiar with injustice, Courtney was profoundly moved by the stories of innocent individuals who, in some cases, spent half their lives in prison. These experiences inspired her to co-found The Pruno Fund.
Ed is a corporate attorney specializing in intellectual property law at Archer Daniels Midland Co. in Chicago, with prior experience at McDonald's Corporation and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He is also an adjunct instructor at Loyola University of Chicago and serves on the Board of Directors for the Pruno Fund. In his spare time, Ed is the Founder and Managing Principal of G-IV Properties LLC and has been a volunteer attorney for Equip for Equality for over a decade.
Currently a Principal at Clemensen Capital Company, Tom has over 40 years of finance and investing experience. His current focus is wealth management.
Nikki co-founded The Pruno Fund after many conversations with exonerees over the years as way to help people returning from wrongful imprisonment back into their communities. Nikki is joined in this mission by friends old and new who share her commitment to the people we support.
Lee is an entrepreneurial social sector leader skilled in building and leading organizations and teams. A strategic thinker, she has deep experience in operationalizing and scaling, facilitation, and collaboration.
After witnessing first-hand the inequities of the criminal justice system when her son, Arthur, was wrongfully convicted, Ronnie is committed to helping others who have suffered through exoneration. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Civic Center Barrio Housing in California.
Wynn Silberman is a Bay Area native who graduated from Northwestern University with honors in Religion and Bioethics and later earned his law degree from Santa Clara University. He has practiced as a licensed sports agent for over 20 years, working with elite professional athletes, and co-founded the Slake Agency with Nick Swinmurn to help athletes generate income through branding and merchandise. Additionally, he has joined business ventures developing NFTs and digital assets for athletes and artists, demonstrating his commitment to making a positive impact.
Having spent over a decade of his life incarcerated, Aly brings both firsthand experience with the criminal justice system and his strong technical skills to help advance critical reforms in the space. He is currently the Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.