The Alliance invites you to sponsor the Incarcerated Scholars Conference (ISC), an annual, virtual academic conference that centers the voices of currently incarcerated scholars, graduates, and artists with no-cost registration. 

Sponsors will help sustain and grow this effort to expand visibility, opportunity, and connection for incarcerated people.

Your sponsorship supports:

• Technology and coordination inside prisons to ensure access for presenters
• Honoraria for incarcerated scholars and artists
• Accessibility tools like closed captioning, multilingual materials, and alternative submission formats (video, audio, mail)
• Virtual event platform and production costs that support free, public access

ISC officially launched in 2024, but it began as an impactful one-day event in 2023 during the 13th National Conference on Higher Education in Prison (NCHEP). This early effort featured 23 presentations by students incarcerated across 15 states and was streamed live via Zoom from multiple correctional facilities to the NCHEP conference venue. Featuring original research by students and graduates of higher education in prison programs, the day of scholarship revealed the need and potential to better support incarcerated scholars and elevate their voices, shaping the future of the field and how knowledge is shared at events.

ISC advances the Alliance’s mission to convene the field, amplify system-impacted voices, and mobilize knowledge and resources to strengthen higher education in prison. Consistent with the Alliance’s 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, ISC functions as a core convening that centers incarcerated scholars as academic innovators, encourages innovation and expanded access through its virtual format, and contributes to shared learning and field-building across institutional, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries.

What began as a conference within a conference has now grown into a robust academic gathering, where incarcerated scholars present original research, creative work, and critical perspectives to audiences across university campuses, correctional facilities, and communities nationwide.

Ultimately, the impact of ISC extends far beyond academic and correctional institutions. It reaches families, loved ones, children, and communities, offering connection, pride, and a sense of possibility that carries into every part of life beyond the classroom or facility. It also plays a vital role in shifting public narratives and perceptions about who incarcerated scholars are and what they contribute.