Kittrell Bernard Decator

Kittrell Bernard Decator knows the promise of a second chance. After serving 26 years of a 52-year sentence in the federal prison system in 1994 as a first-time offender, he gained his freedom through the Second Chance Act and compassionate release laws which were the direct result of policy reform transforming the lives of justice-impacted individuals. Kittrell’s passion for leveraging his lived experiences to influence justice-impacted individuals in his community and to advance advocacy on local and national platforms is specifically grounded in knowing how one person can become a change agent.
Kittrell serves as a peer support specialist at Pathways to Housing DC in the Urgent Care Clinic embedded in the D.C. Superior Courthouse. Every day, he makes a difference engaging justice-impacted individuals to transform their lives through mentoring, connecting them to support services while cultivating partnerships with community stakeholders to eliminate barriers through creativity, direct support, and advocacy. In 30 months of freedom, he has mentored, delivered motivational speeches, facilitated group coaching for youth experiencing poverty at the 29th Street Community Center, and volunteered with Baltimore Clean Streets Youth Employment organization teaching youth to invest in their neighborhoods while preparing them for early career reentry workforce experiences.

Kittrell believes that formerly incarcerated individuals deserve equitable access to resources to reclaim their humanity. He wants to address the systemic barriers that keep justice impacted individuals from thriving in college, career, and life. He is dedicated to implementing a transformative blueprint, ensuring justice-impacted individuals access their most promising futures through post-secondary degree attainment with an intentional focus on leveraging partnerships and amplifying their voices to shape a more just and equitable world.