Baptist minister, prison abolitionist and self-described “mass clemencyist.”

Dr. Madeline G. McClenney is a major force in criminal justice locally and nationally, and 2021 is looking to be her most ambitious year yet.

The Richmond native and Charlotte, N.C., resident is the president and founder of the Exodus Foundation.org, a faith-based charity founded in 1999 to address what Dr. McClenney describes as “the steady torturous slaughter of African-American men and women in the U.S. criminal justice system.”

“Our vision is to participate in creating a more sane, humane and safe world where color and class discrimination cease to contaminate justice and its resources,” Dr. McClenney says, “and punishment as the answer to criminal activity is replaced by mercy, atonement, reconciliation, restorative justice and secured mental health treatment.”

Currently, Dr. McClenney’s efforts are focused on the organization’s Century of Mass Clemency campaign, which began this year and seeks to educate the public about this executive power and to push political leaders across the nation to use it. The goal: The release of all nonviolent and overcharged individuals from prisons and jails as quickly as possible and with resources for re-entry.

The organization is petitioning Gov. Ralph S. Northam for the release of Robert “Wize” Green, who has been incarcerated for two decades.

The Exodus Foundation.org has partnered with the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond & Vicinity and Richmond’s Community Wealth Building Office to form the Save Robert Green Coalition. The coalition has grown to include a wide variety of local faith and community groups, all united behind a goal of seeing a better approach to criminal justice.

“The use of (prisons) to solve social problems and mental health issues is a criminal act against so-called criminals,” Dr. McClenney says. “I believe that prisons must be replaced by community alternatives and locked mental health retreats.”

This guiding principle has led success efforts on a national level. Dr. McClenney served in 2015 as the designer and architect of the “Times Up - Let Me Go” campaign, the organization’s national effort to have all nonviolent and overcharged federal inmates released.

Locally, the group is working to create a residential version of its Red Sea Crossings mentoring program to help released inmates with safe housing and wraparound services.

All of this advocacy doesn’t come easy, however. Dr. McClenney is fully aware of the price tag needed to replicate and sustain their efforts in branches envisioned across the country. It’s a steep investment that Dr. McClenney says is needed and will require the public’s aid.

“If we fail, it will not be our failure alone,” Dr. McClenney says. “We need our community to act now.”

Meet a leader in abolition advocacy and this week’s Personality, Dr. Madeline G. McClenney:

No. 1 volunteer position: President and founder, Exodus Foundation.org

Date and place of birth: 1966 in Richmond.

Where I live now: Charlotte, N.C.

Education: Richmond Public Schools; bachelor’s in finance and master’s in divinity, Howard University; Ph.D. in religion, Duke University.

Occupation: Ordained Baptist minister, prison abolitionist and mass clemencyist.

Family: Parents, the late Frances and Earl McClenney Jr.; sister, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Jacqueline S. McClenney; and daughter, Ariyah McClenney Sadler.

Exodus Foundation.org is: A Christian, faith-based 501(c)(3) charity started in 1999 to address the steady torturous slaughter of African-American men and women in the U.S. criminal justice system.

Mission of Exodus Foundation.org: Locally, to stop the flow of African-Americans to prison. Nationally, to stop the flow of all Americans and immigrants to prison. We are a movement to transform global public health and safety through highly trained mentors for people impacted by jails and prison systems.

Communities served by Exodus Foundation.org: On the local level, our banner program is the Red Sea Crossings Mentoring and Scholarship Program, which serves formerly incarcerated African-American men and women. Nationally, we advocate for clemency for all Americans and immigrants who qualify. Clemency is a fancy term for mercy. Clemency refers to the executive power of a governor or president of the United States to immediately release someone from prison, reduce their prison time or pardon them after having served prison time. This power does not require the assent of any other individual or governing body other than the executive in office.

Richmond and Exodus Foundation.org: In July 2020, Exodus Foundation.org reached out to the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity, led by Dr. Emanuel C. Harris, and to Dr. Patrick Graham, senior policy adviser of the City of Richmond’s Community Wealth Building Office, to form a coalition to advocate for the release of Robert “Wize” Green through the executive clemency power of Gov. Ralph S. Northam. Within a few months, we organized the Save Robert Green Coalition, which also now includes Initiatives of Change, Family Safe Haven, Mecca Beez Inc, Faith Leaders Moving Forward and the Henrico Ministers’ Conference.

No. 1 goal or project of Exodus Foundation.org: Our vision is to participate in creating a more sane, humane and safe world where color and class discrimination cease to contaminate justice and its resources, and punishment as the answer to criminal activity is replaced by mercy, atonement, reconciliation, restorative justice and secured mental health treatment.

A prison abolitionist is: Someone who believes that prisons are a diabolical and unnecessary reinvention of chattel slavery. The use of them to solve social problems and mental health issues is a criminal act against so-called criminals. I believe that prisons must be replaced by community alternatives and locked mental health retreats.

How to get assistance: Call (704) 947-9090 or email us at exodus@exodusfoundation.org. Currently, we make referrals and provide telecare for those in states outside of North Carolina.

How I start the day: I feel a sense of urgency each day. And then I pause to recall that with all the trauma we experience as people of color, women and people of faith, and the urgency of now to transform our experience in the world, at the end of the day all that matters is who loves you and who loves you back. We may not live to see all of our goals achieved, but we can treat the people closest to us and the strangers we meet as the priceless jewels they are. That includes our enemies.

Three words that best describe me: Fearless, friendly and empathic.

Best late-night snack: Apples and almond butter.

How I unwind: Exercise, listen to jazz and read.

What I have learned about myself during the pandemic: I don’t want to do this work alone. I have an activist tribe. I want a social tribe around me as well, for balance.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Shoot hoops.

Quote that I am most inspired by is: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out where the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. No, the credit belongs to the man/woman who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood ... who at best in the end knows the triumph of high achievement, and if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his/her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. — President Theodore Roosevelt.

At the top of my “to-do” list: Complete my first triathlon.

Best thing my parents ever taught me: Believe in Jesus of Nazareth and to serve humanity.

Persons who influenced me the most: My parents.

Book that influenced me the most: “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” as told to Alex Haley.

What I’m reading now: “Encyclopedia of Abolition.”

Next goal: Free Robert “Wize” Green.