Stanley Richards first formerly incarcerated person tapped to lead nonprofit Fortune Society

Stanley Richards, who served time in prison for robbery in the late 1980s before rising to the number two spot in New York City’s Correction Department, has been named as the Fortune Society’s new leader after three decades with the organization.

Richards, 62, succeeds President and CEO JoAnne Page, who is retiring after 34 years with the nonprofit, which was founded in 1967 and helps formerly incarcerated people integrate into life on the outside.

Richards becomes the first former prisoner to run the Fortune Society. He started working as a re-entry counselor for the non-profit in 1991, eventually becoming Page’s second-in-command or deputy CEO.

In 2021, he served as first deputy commissioner for the Correction Department under then-Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi. He was the first formerly incarcerated person to serve in such a high level post in that agency.

“Stanley truly is Fortune’s mission embodied; he is a tireless criminal justice advocate who approaches each task with compassion and strength,” said Page, who hired Richards in his first job out of prison back in 1991.

“His story tells thousands in our city that no one is to be counted out,” added Fortune Society founder David Rothenberg, 90. “If you are looking for a modern Horatio Alger tale, you can begin at Stanley’s doorstep.”

Alger was a British author of the 1800s known for his “rags to riches” novels.

“I feel extremely blessed and privileged to lead the Fortune Society,” Richards told the Daily News Wednesday morning. “For me this is an opportunity to build on the excellence that Joanne has build in Fortune over the past 34 years.”

He recalled that after serving four-and-a-half years in prison he emerged from behind bars in 1991 wanting to help prepare people for their release from prison as he did later in his sentence. But no nonprofits would hire him because he didn’t have a conventional resume.

“I knew I couldn’t give up on myself. If I did I would only see the option of going back to the street and returning to prison,” he said. “When Fortune called me for an interview, it gave me a spark of hope.”

About a week later, Fortune hired him as an entry-level counselor.  “I was at my mother-in-law’s house when I got the call and I was floored that I got the job,” he said. “That was the beginning of my journey.”

Richards also thanked his wife of 33 years, Satara, and four children – Stanley Jr., Nyika, Kimberly and Marquis.

Richards assumes the helm as the Fortune Society and other nonprofits are still assessing the Adams administration’s move to slash $17 million in longstanding program funding for people in the city jails. Mayor Adams has claimed to much skepticism that correction staff can fill those roles.

As the jail population trends upward, the future of Rikers Island continues to be an open question as Adams has slowed the pace of construction of four new borough jails and is fighting the prospect of a federal judge appointing an outside receiver to snatch control of the jails from the city.

“We want safe communities, thriving communities. We want to fundamentally change the horrific conditions of confinement. We want New York to be a leader in showing we can reduce mass incarceration and have safe conditions,” said Richards, who opposes the funding cuts. “That’s the goal. We’ve got to have partnership on multiple levels to do that.”

Richards has advocated for expansion of mental health treatment in the jails for years as half the jail population has a mental health diagnosis and a significant percentage has a serious psychiatric condition. But City Hall has made little headway on that issue in recent years.

“We need to increase the number of mental health beds,” he said. “Without that, it jeopardizes safety in the jails for everyone and undermines the system’s ability to function because the jails were never designed as mental health institutions.”

A range of elected officials, community advocates, and current and former criminal justice officials this week offered praise for Richards’ appointment, including City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, Council members Carlina Rivera and Gale Brewer, Comptroller Brad Lander and the District Attorneys in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

“Stanley Richards’ selection as the next President and CEO of The Fortune Society is an inspiring and historic moment,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said. “His journey from incarceration to leadership exemplifies the power of second chances.”

Richards has served on the Board of Correction and the Lippmann Commission, which recommended the closure of Rikers Island. He also was recognized by the Obama administration in 2014 as a “champion of change.”

In June 2020, he was named to a panel focused on ending punitive segregation, which developed the Risk Management and Accountability System, a model designed to allow detainees who committed violent infractions more out-of-cell and program time. Correction Commissioner Louis Molina never fully implemented the program and a bill to end solitary confinement has been pending in the City Council for more than a year.

Gov. Hochul named Richards to panels focused on reusing shuttered state prisons and prisoner clemency applications.

Richards is a graduate of Medaille College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.