Erica Orta felt nervous waiting for the Zoom screen to light up as she sat in front of a computer at the Ohio Reformatory for Women preparing to facilitate a meeting for the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera)’s Unlocking Potential team for the first time. But when the faces appeared, she smoothly led the team through the agenda.

“It was surreal,” said Orta. “I know for most people it’s not that big a deal, but being incarcerated and being able to do something like that was an amazing boost.” 

During her 10-month remote internship at Vera, Orta worked on several projects to support the expansion of prison education opportunities. From the computer room in her correctional facility, she worked on projects like a fact sheet for corrections and colleges and a memo to support work-based learning opportunities for incarcerated people. Her work was used during a presentation about the importance of prison education opportunities at the Incarcerated Scholars Conference. 

Advances in remote work technology have expanded the possibilities for incarcerated people. “Internships and other experiential learning positions that were once unthinkable for incarcerated students are now becoming viable,” notes the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison. 

Orta, a student in Sinclair Community College’s prison program, says that her internship with Vera provided her with new skills and increased confidence. “The internship took me outside of prison,” she said. “People who have been incarcerated for a long time doubt ourselves. But everybody made me feel as though I fit into that work.” 

In addition to providing work experience, internships that pay a living wage benefit incarcerated people by allowing them to save money to support themselves as they leave prison and try to find work and housing. An internship with an outside organization can also help incarcerated people secure well-paying jobs after release, making it more likely that they will be able to break the cycle of incarceration. “Having a college degree is a powerful way to offset the disadvantage of a criminal record,” said Allan Wachendorfer, associate director of Vera’s Unlocking Potential initiative. “But we think having a resume that shows you've applied your skills makes it more likely you'll be hired sooner, during the most crucial period of reentry.”

Orta’s internship required support from staff at the prison, who provided her with access to remote work technology and ensured that she was able to attend remote work meetings. 

Before her time in prison, Orta’s work experience had been limited to fast food restaurants. “I didn’t even know what an internship was,” she said.  

She first encountered the criminal justice system when she was 12 years old after being kicked out of her home. She was confined in a violent juvenile detention facility after defending herself against an attempted rape in a house where she had sought shelter. 

Orta had long wanted to work in juvenile justice to help young people who face the same challenges she did as a child. She said that many of the women who are incarcerated with her in the Ohio Reformatory for Women had traumatic childhoods, and she wants to look for ways to help children who need support. She said that the internship made her think about systems reform, and now she wants to pursue a master’s degree in public administration. “I really want to change policy,” she said. “I would have never thought about that before. The internship made me think on a bigger scale about how can I help more people.”  

Orta goes before the parole board in 2027 and hopes that the internship will provide evidence that she is ready to build a healthy life outside of prison. “Knowing I was able to hold an internship for an entire year lets them know, ‘well, she’s capable of holding a job.’”

She hopes that more organizations offer internships to incarcerated people so they can get work experience that can help them improve their lives. “This internship tremendously expanded my horizons,” she said. “People said my personal experience makes me an asset. I never looked at it that way.”