Sheena Meade

Second chance advocate

TED Attendee

Sheena Meade is chief executive of the Clean Slate Initiative, an organization advancing policies to automatically clear eligible arrest and conviction records in the US.

Why you should listen

Born into a family of labor organizers, Sheena Meade was exposed to the fight for economic justice early on. That fight became her own when a bounced check led to an arrest record that continually limited her opportunities. Determined to do something to help everyone get a shot at redemption, she now leads the Clean Slate Initiative, where her bipartisan approach has helped drive the clearance of more than seven million conviction and non-conviction records.

Meade previously worked in the labor movement and Bread for the World advocating to end world hunger, and she ran for the Florida House of Representatives in 2016. She helped restore voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians at the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and at the Second Chances Florida Campaign, where she developed blueprints for fundraising, events and grassroots organizing. She serves on the boards of the Public Welfare Foundation; NYU School of Law's Policing Project; Live Free USA; and the Florida Coalition on Black Civic Engagement.

Sheena Meade’s TED talk

8:51

Sheena Meade

How "second chance" laws could transform the US justice system

Posted May 2023

More news and ideas from Sheena Meade

Live from TED2023

Breathing deep and embracing humanity’s full potential: Notes on Session 7 of TED2023

April 20, 2023

In the soul-seeking Session 7 of TED2023 a group of extraordinary individuals considered counternarratives to the doom-and-gloom that pervades much of modern media and sought to recalibrate our thinking on what it means to be human. The event: Talks from Session 7 of TED2023: Possibility, hosted by head of TED Chris Anderson and Audacious Project […]