Anthony "Tony" Lowery
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In 2005, Tony came to Safer Foundation in Chicago, Illinois to direct the organization’s first reentry housing initiative. He is currently the Associate Vice President Community Housing Programs. He previously served as Director of Policy & Advocacy for Safer Foundation, directing the organization’s legislative and administrative efforts to eliminate the systemic barriers to employment for people with criminal records in the state of Illinois and beyond.
Tony has been the face and voice of Safer in the community, inside prisons throughout the state and before Congress in Washington, DC. He has been an ardent advocate for the elimination of barriers to reentry and the creation of new opportunities for people with records. Tony was a key architect and advocate of Safer Foundation’s Healthcare Initiative and the Chicago Housing Authority Reentry Housing pilot, which for the first time permits a limited number of returning citizens to rejoin their families in public housing.
He has also convened Safer Foundation’s Council of Advisors to Reduce Recidivism through Employment (CARRE) policy efforts that have led to 55 new criminal justice reform legislative initiatives that have become public acts in the Illinois General Assembly. Including Certificates of Rehabilitation, Occupational Licensing Reform, Criminal Record Sealing Expansion and “Ban the Box” for public and private employers.
He has been appointed to numerous criminal justice reform task forces and select committees including the Governor’s Community Safety and Reentry Commission, Illinois Inventorying Employment Restrictions Taskforce, Sex Offenses and Sex Offender Registration Taskforce and the Cook County MacArthur Justice Challenge.
He has consulted, developed and directed programs for people who were chemically dependent with criminal records for the past 20 years. Tony’s previous experience includes directing pre-release reentry programming for the Illinois Department of Human Services, directing healthcare disparities education campaigns in minority communities and developing Drug Prevention and Economic Development programs in Chicago Public Housing communities, where he was the recipient of two National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Official Awards (NAHRO) for his work.
Tony holds a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee State University and certification as an Alcohol and Drug Prevention Specialist in the state of Illinois.