Youth Leadership Coordinator, Friends of Island Academy

Each year, roughly 6,000 boys between the ages of 16 and 18 will be arrested and sent to Riker's Island. But here's the even more tragic part, 8 out of 10 of those boys will be back in jail within 60 days of their release. Marc Washington was destined to be one of those boys.

In his teens, Marc was a drug dealer in Jamaica, Queens. He was arrested and sent to Riker's Island. Marc made the decision to enter Friends upon his release. Friends of Island Academy dramatically cuts the rate of return to prison through education, counseling, mentoring, employment training and job placement. The cost is $3,500 per kid as opposed to the $60,000 that it takes to incarcerate them.

Today, Marc works full-time at Friends of Island and has graduated from John Jay College with his BA in government, and his sights set on law school. Marc's six year odyssey from dealing crack to helping other poverty stricken young people live to see adulthood and lead productive lives is remarkable and truly heroic.