Thomas Gant is a powerful voice for justice, healing, and transformation. After serving 25 years in prison, 16 of them at Attica, Thomas emerged not only as a survivor but as a builder of power, hope, and change. While incarcerated, he earned his college degree, mentored others through the Alternatives to Violence Project, served as a hospice aide during the COVID-19 crisis (as featured in The Marshall Project publication), and helped create youth diversion programs and peer mentorship circles. His work was highlighted in the Encountering Attica documentary and numerous publications and podcasts.

Since returning home, Thomas has become a leading organizer and advocate for ending mass incarceration and investing in true public safety. He currently serves as Community Organizer at the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), where he helps lead the statewide Communities Not Cages campaign that focuses on sentence reform. In this campaign he has held rallies, lobbied lawmakers, and testified before the joint committees in hearings to put a spotlight on the urgency for change in New York’s carceral system. He is galvanizing impacted communities to fight for sentencing reform legislation; once passed, they will change the prison system as we know it. A former member of CCA’s Board of Directors, he stepped into this organizing role to be closer to the grassroots power of those most affected. He also helped secure the passage of New York’s Clean Slate Act, helping to remove barriers for people with conviction records. Thomas is a writer, speaker, and facilitator, that brings over 25 years of leadership experience into his advocacy, mentorship, and community building work that began during his incarceration.

Thomas is also on the board of directors for the Reentry Association of Western New York (RAWNY), as Vice President, he helps to shape reentry policy and programming, and he coordinates reentry efforts at the University of Rochester’s Rochester Education Justice Initiative. Whether lobbying lawmakers in Albany, mentoring youth, or supporting returning citizens, Thomas is guided by a core belief:  those closest to the harm are closest to the solutions, and they must be at the center of the change.