In 2024, Dontae Sharpe stepped into a powerful new role to drive thought leadership and narrative change around the devastating impacts of wrongful convictions, the hard-won reclamation of freedom, and the reentry journey.
He has launched a new YouTube channel called “L.I.F.E. — Living is For Everybody — with Dontae Sharpe”, to cultivate an informed, engaged community and amplify formerly incarcerated people’s leadership and experiences. On his new platform, Dontae plans to host other individuals who have been wrongfully convicted, key stakeholders, policy makers and more to chart paths forward on racial equity, reduce mass incarceration and promote restorative justice practices.
About Dontae
Dontae Sharpe was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 26 years in prison before being exonerated and freed in 2019. Upon his release, he became the first Forward Justice Returning in Service and Excellence (R.I.S.E.) Fellow where he immediately began advocacy work to secure pardons for other North Carolina men who have been wrongfully convicted. Dontae works to provide resources, information and support for currently and formerly incarcerated people and their families, while using his voice and story to engage current law school students about the impact of wrongful convictions.
Now serving as our Community Liaison and Criminal Justice Policy Advisor, his work includes providing thought leadership, strategic insight and community partnership support across multiple statewide and national campaigns including those to decarcerate prisons, end criminal justice debt and dismantle systems that disenfranchise people who have had contact with the criminal legal system.
Learn more about Dontae’s story here.