Six Degrees in solitary confinement with Winfred Payne

"If we want the world to ever be a peaceful and loving place, we must begin with the children now." Winfred Payne As the oldest of seven siblings raised by a single mother, growing up in Little Rock, AR, Winfred Payne understands the difficulties that plague today’s youth and is interested in helping them make a paradigm shift in the way that they imagine themselves and their relationship with society. He helps youth and those involved in the correction system to discover other positive options and ways of defining success. Winfred personally understands too well the consequences and personal loss that result from making bad choices during adolescent and young adult years. Having spent twenty-five years in the federal prison system, he speaks publicly about his poor choices and offers his life to serve as an example for at risk youth, offenders serving time, ex offenders who need support in turning their lives around, and those dealing with ex offenders. During his time in prison (17 years of which served in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT), Winfred studied African-American history and developed the vision of a program that would empower underserved, underrepresented, underprivileged youth; the goal to provide them with ways of dealing with adversity in a positive, constructive way, as well as provide valuable opportunities that discourages youth from making poor choices. Winfred enjoys his work as a motivational speaker and understands the power of personal narrative and storytelling and uses both during his presentations. He has an interesting perspective on life, especially concerning topics varying from equitable education to prison reform, and has many provocative ideas to share. Currently he resides in Minnesota where he enjoys spending time with family and friends and continues to work on other projects geared to serve and empower inner city youth and those reentering society from America’s prisons systems.