What EXPO (EX-incarcerated People Organizing) does

EXPO (EX-incarcerated People Organizing) of Wisconsin is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, with EIN 84-3807756 and a 9-person staff composed entirely of formerly incarcerated individuals. The organization serves currently and formerly incarcerated people across Wisconsin through eight program tracks: S.A.F.E. (Sustainable Assistance for Freedom and Empowerment) Housing, reentry support, peer support, workforce development, restorative justice circles, voting rights and advocacy, higher education access, and legal services. Its service model deliberately staffs lived-experience practitioners into every client-facing role, positioning peer credibility as the core delivery mechanism rather than credentialed clinical intervention.

EXPO's revenue mechanics are typical of a small advocacy-and-services nonprofit: a mix of government contracts (notably with Dane County, which funds the SAFE Housing expansion announced in March 2025), philanthropic grants, and donations. Its technology footprint is intentionally lean — a website with text-messaging capability and a Legal Tune Up Tool co-developed with LIFT Wisconsin that has reached over 8,500 users — with no proprietary platform or in-house engineering. Recent strategic activity includes the 2024 EXPOnential Awards community event and external engagement through Falcon, both aimed at broadening public visibility and donor reach. Reported outcome data is limited but favorable: SAFE Housing residents recorded zero reincarceration across a one-year measurement window.

Name

EXPO (EX-incarcerated People Organizing)

Legal name

EXPO of Wisconsin

Website

https://expowisconsin.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

EXPO is a Madison, Wisconsin-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit employing formerly incarcerated staff to deliver reentry housing, peer support, workforce development, legal, and advocacy services to justice-impacted individuals across the state.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Voluntary donations from individuals supporting criminal justice reform and SAFE House initiatives. EXPO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; contributions are tax-deductible.
2. Grants and Funders: Funding from foundations and donors to support programs and operations

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

EXPO of Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization that provides free reentry support services to formerly and currently incarcerated individuals and their families in Wisconsin. Its core offerings include S.A.F.E. Housing (supportive housing for 12-15 months), Reentry Support, Workforce Development, Peer Support, Restorative Justice Circles, Voting Rights & Advocacy, Higher Education programs, and legal services via the LIFT Wisconsin partnership. All services are delivered free of charge to recipients and funded through donations and grants.

Product overview

EXPO of Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization led by formerly incarcerated individuals that offers a comprehensive suite of services to support people impacted by the criminal justice system. The organization operates as a collection of interconnected programs centered around reentry support, including the S.A.F.E. Housing Network for safe housing, Workforce Development for employment preparation, Peer Support for mentorship, and the LIFT Wisconsin partnership for legal services. The organization also conducts multiple advocacy campaigns including Unlock The Vote, Locked Up On The Outside, Connecting Families, and End The Exception, focused on policy reform and restoring rights to formerly incarcerated individuals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• S.A.F.E. Housing Network: Supportive housing program providing safe homes for formerly incarcerated individuals returning to the community
• EXPO Works
• Sisterhood Alliance for Freedom and Equality (SAFE)
• LIFT Wisconsin

Products and services

• S.A.F.E. Housing Network Supportive housing environment providing safe homes for formerly incarcerated individuals, particularly women returning to the community, with stays of 12-15 months through the Sisterhood Alliance for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) program.
• Reentry Support Resources and support services to help individuals successfully transition from incarceration back into the community in Wisconsin.
• Workforce Development (EXPO Works) Cohort-based employment skills building program that helps formerly incarcerated individuals prepare for and find meaningful employment.
• Peer Support Guidance, mentorship, and recovery groups provided by individuals with lived experience of incarceration to formerly and currently incarcerated people throughout Wisconsin.
• Restorative Justice Circles Healing and reconciliation programs that bring together victims, offenders, and community members to address harm and promote accountability.
• Voting Rights & Advocacy Advocacy and support to help formerly incarcerated individuals restore their voting rights and participate in civic engagement, anchored by the Unlock the Vote campaign.
• Higher Education Programs Educational programs and opportunities available to individuals while incarcerated and upon release, including collaboration with the UW-Madison Prison Education Initiative.
• LIFT Wisconsin Legal Services (Legal Tune Up Tool) Legal services partnership providing access to the Legal Tune Up Tool for changing child support orders, removing criminal records, removing eviction records, answering debt claims, and reinstating driver's licenses. Over 8,500 people have used the tool.

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero participants in SAFE housing program have been reincarcerated since the program began
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Dane CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Dane County to provide reentry housing support to formerly incarcerated women. The new apartment is part of EXPO's Sisterhood Alliance for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) housing program, housing four women for 12-15 months as they leave the incarceration system.
• LIFT WisconsincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLIFT Wisconsin provides critical legal services through their Legal Tune Up Tool, helping people change child support orders, remove criminal records, remove eviction records, answer debt claims, and reinstate driver's licenses. Over 8,500 people have used the tool.
• Legal Tune Up Tool (legaltuneup.org)coreTechnology or IntegrationWeb-based tool integrated into EXPO services that allows users to analyze legal issues including criminal records, eviction records, child support orders, and driver's license suspensions.
• Falcon Correctional and Community Services, Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThird-party review firm engaged by Wisconsin DOC to study prison conditions, behavioral health, and restrictive housing practices. EXPO participated in meetings with Falcon and advocacy partners to provide input on justice reform.
• Wisconsin Department of CorrectionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerState agency overseeing Wisconsin prisons; EXPO advocates for policy changes and works to improve conditions for incarcerated individuals through engagement with the DOC.
• Center for Healthy Minds (UW-Madison)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partner working on mindfulness and mental health programs for formerly incarcerated individuals, including a nearly $700K NIH-funded study.
• UW-Madison Prison Education InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrograms teaching college jumpstart and degree programs to students in Wisconsin prisons, in collaboration with other UW institutions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO): CEO is a national reentry nonprofit best known for immediate post-release employment services and has been the subject of multiple randomized controlled trials on recidivism. It is directly comparable to EXPO on workforce development and outcomes measurement, and operates at multi-state scale.
• Safer Foundation: Safer Foundation is a Chicago-based reentry nonprofit offering employment, housing, and case management to formerly incarcerated individuals in Illinois. It is directly comparable to EXPO in reentry housing plus workforce development, with similar state-level policy engagement.
• Root & Rebound: Root & Rebound is a California-based nonprofit providing legal services, advocacy, and reentry support to people with arrest and conviction records. It is directly comparable to EXPO's legal-services partnership and reentry resource mission, though its primary mechanism is legal aid rather than housing.
• Osborne Association: Osborne Association is a New York-based reentry nonprofit providing housing, family services, and advocacy for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. It is directly comparable to EXPO on housing + family reconnection + advocacy portfolio and is recognized as a leader in criminal-justice reform.
• 2nd Chance Wisconsin: 2nd Chance Wisconsin is a Wisconsin-based reentry advocacy and fair-chance employment organization founded by Ruben Gaona. It is directly comparable to EXPO as a Wisconsin reentry peer, with overlapping leadership history and adjacent mission focus on employment barriers.
• The Fortune Society: The Fortune Society is a New York-based nonprofit providing reentry housing, workforce development, peer support, and advocacy for formerly incarcerated people. It is directly comparable to EXPO in mission, multi-service wraparound model, and lived-experience staff approach, though operating at significantly larger scale in a different state.
• Hope for Prisoners: Hope for Prisoners is a Las Vegas-based reentry nonprofit providing wraparound services including housing referrals, workforce development, and peer mentorship to formerly incarcerated individuals. It is directly comparable to EXPO's wraparound, lived-experience-led model but operates in Nevada.

Emerging players

• Defy Ventures: Defy Ventures runs entrepreneurship training and mentorship programs for currently and formerly incarcerated people. It is comparable to EXPO's workforce-development track but with a distinctive entrepreneurship angle, and operates nationally rather than in a single state.
• My Way Out: My Way Out is a Wisconsin-based reentry nonprofit co-founded by Ruben Gaona that operates fair-chance employment and reentry advocacy programs. It is comparable to EXPO as a Wisconsin-focused reentry peer with strong lived-experience leadership and partial geographic overlap.

Others

• LIFT Wisconsin: LIFT Wisconsin operates the Legal Tune Up Tool that EXPO integrates into its service offering. It is comparable as an adjacent enabling organization that supplies the legal-services leg of EXPO's wraparound model, and it was named EXPO's 2024 Ally Organization of the Year.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/expowisconsin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/expo-ex-incarcerated-people-organizing

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about EXPO (EX-incarcerated People Organizing)