Marianne Bullock and Lisa Andrews founded the Prison Birth Project in 2008 with the vision rooted in the experiences of the founder’s involvement in the criminal justice system. Both founders have experienced the effects of the system first hand in one way or another, through incarceration or reunification of family members. PBP recognizes and understands that as low-income mothers it’s more often than not the systemic failings and not the personal failings of women that put them in the situations that cause their incarceration.

The Prison Birth Project mission and focus is reproductive justice and self-determination. We believe that power based structures in society can lead to failings that all to often leave poor people, people of color and women underserved and living in unjust conditions. We recognize that it is not mothers own personal failing that caused her incarceration but often lack of systemic support for life and parenthood. As a collective we recognize that it is essential to create structures that model our vision of what a just society looks like for all peoples. WE seek to use a non – hierarchical structure to support work that helps to redistribute power to help create a more just society. In creating the collective we believe that it is important to keep is a community based involvement, we seek to create a collective comprised of members who know and have experienced first hand issues that affect our constituents and clients.

By creating an organization that functions as a collective, PBP is developing a structure where people committed to issues of motherhood, empowerment, justice and previously incarcerated women can take powerful leadership roles in transforming their own lives, community and the world.

We have developed an organizational structure with an Advisory Board and four equally important committees, collective and staff working together on a shared mission.

The major structures that guide the direction and support the operations of PBP are:
1.)Committees
2.)The Staff, collective members paid to carry out key functions of PBP
3.)Advisory Board
4.)The Collective