Amanda Klonsky

Amanda Klonsky is the founder and director of Free Write Jails Art Literacy Program. The initiative reaches over 400 incarcerated youth in juvenile detention in Cook County Illinois Juvenile Detention Center through daily writing and visual arts workshops. She led the arts and writing workshops at Free Write Jails Art Literacy Program for girls in juvenile detention for eight years. She is currently Student Transition Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) where she work with a team to re-engage youth who are leaving juvenile detention and prisons in Illinois, with the goal of enrolling them in a CPS school and supporting their work toward graduation. She holds a MA in Social Work from the University of Chicago.