Eric Hurt Jr. believes in the transformative power of education and the responsibility to uplift others through lived experience. At the age of 16, he was certified as an adult, a decision that led to nearly 20 years of incarceration. While such a sentence can be devastating, Eric used that time as a period of intellectual growth and personal transformation. During his incarceration, he earned a master’s degree in humanities and a bachelor of science with a minor in sociology.
Today, Eric serves as the first criminal justice reform manager at For Oak Cliff, an educational nonprofit in Dallas, Texas. In this role, he leads system-level collaboration with schools, justice partners, and community organizations to advance restorative, non-punitive practices and expand diversion opportunities for young people. His work focuses on building sustainable partnerships and implementation strategies that interrupt pathways to incarceration and strengthen educational access. Eric brings both lived experience and academic training to his advocacy, working to ensure that higher education and justice reform efforts center accountability, opportunity, and measurable impact.
