White Collar Support Group to Host White Collar Conference 2026
West Palm Beach, Florida – August 20, 2026 – The White Collar Support Group™, the world’s first support group devoted to serving people navigating the white collar criminal justice system and their families, has announced the initial lineup of speakers and programming for White Collar Conference 2026, taking place virtually on Saturday, October 10, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern/6:00 a.m. Pacific on Zoom. Networking will open at 8:30 a.m. Eastern/5:30 a.m. Pacific.
The third annual conference, themed “Ending the White Collar Life Sentence,” will bring together justice-impacted people and their families with nationally recognized leaders, advocates, professionals and people with lived experience to confront a reality familiar to virtually everyone who has traveled through the white collar criminal justice system: the sentence often does not end when the judge says it does.
Long after a prison term, probation or supervised release has ended, justice-impacted people and their families can continue to face barriers to employment, professional licensing, housing, banking, reputation, relationships and full participation in their communities. White Collar Conference 2026 will focus not simply on identifying those problems, but on providing practical strategies for rebuilding lives, careers, families and reputations after a justice journey.
The opening keynote speaker will be Josh Smith, Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, who served time in a Federal prison.
The conference will also feature a Fireside Chat with legendary trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs, whose extraordinary journey has taken him from the heights of the American legal profession, through federal prosecution and incarceration, to becoming an outspoken advocate for education, rehabilitation and second chances. Scruggs will be interviewed by Brent Cassity, host of the redemption-focused “Nightmare Success” podcast and himself a justice-impacted entrepreneur and author.
One of the conference’s central panels, “Rebuilding Your Career After a Justice Journey,” will address one of the most difficult challenges faced by people emerging from prosecution and incarceration: how to construct a meaningful professional life after losing a career, license, business, reputation or livelihood. The panel will be moderated by Drew Chapin and will feature Emily O’Brien, Desmond Meade and Rashmi Airan, each bringing a different perspective and lived experience to the process of professional and personal reinvention.
The conference will also feature a special presentation, “The Trauma of Asking for Forgiveness: Pardons, Clemency and Reliving the Worst Chapter of Your Life.” The session will explore an often-overlooked aspect of the pardon and clemency process: the emotional and psychological consequences of being required to revisit, document and explain some of the most painful events of a person’s life, sometimes many years after conviction and after significant recovery, rehabilitation and personal growth.
Additional programming will include video presentations addressing Online Reputation Management in the Age of A.I. and Restitution & Remission, with additional speakers, panels and presentations to be announced.
“Our theme this year – Ending the White Collar Life Sentence – comes directly from what we see every day in our community,” said White Collar Support Group® co-founder and conference host Jeff Grant. “A person can finish a prison sentence and still spend years, or even decades, paying for the worst decision or worst period of their life. Careers disappear. Google never forgets. Professional licenses are lost. Banking relationships vanish. Families live with stigma. The question we want to ask at this conference is: When has someone paid enough, and what can we do to help people truly begin again?”
WCSG member and conference co-host, Drew Chapin added, “This conference is about restoration. We want people and families who are frightened, isolated or unsure what comes next to hear from people who have actually lived these experiences and rebuilt their lives. We also want lawyers and other professionals to better understand what their clients are going through before, during and long after the legal case ends.”
White Collar Conference 2026 is open to all justice-impacted people, family members, friends, clients, colleagues, attorneys and other professionals, and anyone in need of information, support or community. The conference is designed to combine nationally recognized expertise with the lived experience that has been at the heart of the White Collar Support Group since its founding.
“The White Collar Support Group® was founded on the belief that no one should navigate a criminal justice situation alone,” said WCSG member Brent Cassity. “That philosophy does not end when someone comes home from prison. Reentry, rebuilding a career, restoring relationships, managing restitution and living with a permanent digital record can become a different kind of sentence. Our goal is to give people the community, tools and examples they need to move forward.”
Registration is now open. Information, tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available at www.whitecollarconference.com. Additional speakers and programming will be announced as the conference approaches.
About the White Collar Support Group®:
The White Collar Support Group®, founded in 2012 by Jeff Grant and Lynn Springer, is a nonprofit organization devoted to serving people and families navigating the white collar criminal justice system. It received 501(c)(3) status in 2015.
It has grown into a worldwide community of more than 2,000 justice-impacted individuals, family members and supporters. The group celebrated its 525th weekly meeting in July 2026 and continues to meet every Monday evening on Zoom. The group welcomes people of all faiths, agnostics and atheists.
Progressive Prison Ministries and the White Collar Support Group provide community, peer support, education and practical resources for people confronting prosecution, sentencing, incarceration, reentry, professional reintegration and the long-term consequences of a white collar justice journey.
More information is available at prisonist.org.
Media Contact
Company Name: White Collar Support Group
Contact Person: Jeff Grant
Email: Send Email
Phone: 2128593512
Address:516 S. Dixie Highway Box 222
City: West Palm Beach
State: Florida
Country: United States
Website: https://prisonist.org/
