What an incredible three days! To all of you who attended this conference and awards ceremony, we can’t thank you enough for your participation.
To be honest, we were a little apprehensive about holding a conference at a casino, given all the distractions. However, you came through, you showed up, you participated, and we hope you still managed to squeeze in a little bit of fun.
Thank you for your dedication to our shared profession.
Three Days of Learning, Recognition, and Collaboration
April 29 – May 1, 2026
In this Round Up, you will find a summary of the programs, speakers, and panels from the One Voice United conference in Atlantic City.
Also, you will find links to the many programs, resources, and research shared during our three days together.
Several of us at One Voice United are former union leaders and officials, so we fully understand the concerns members express when attending these conferences. This Round Up is written with that in mind. Please feel free to circulate it to all your members so they will see just how important the OVU Elevating Our Profession Conference and Medal of Honor Awards are and why so many union leaders from around the nation and the world attend.
—Wednesday April 29—
We kicked this year’s event off with a great day of golf and a reception where both old acquaintances and new friends enjoyed sharing time together. Congrats to Brian Clarke and the Correction Officers Association of Delaware on emerging victorious at the first ever, OVU Medal of Honor Golf Tournament. Special thanks to Winslow Land, Phil Ritz and the New Jersey State PBA Corrections Committee for all their help and support in making this a very memorable event, and also to the many sponsors who supported our mission.
—Thursday April 30—
Our Jobs, Our Voices
Thursday saw us start the formal conference with “Our Jobs, Our Voices”, a three-member panel of corrections “influencers” facilitated by Simon Greer. We learned the importance of speaking out and how to change and control the narrative about who we are and what we do. If we leave it up to others to tell our stories, we will face the same negative perceptions we have suffered under, since the first Folgers key unlocked a cell door.
Bringing The Work Back Home
That was followed by “Bringing the Work Back Home.” Anyone who has been around OVU already knows that taking action is who we are. Theory is nice, but if it’s not put into practice, that’s all it is, and that’s not enough. We shared four programs you can get directly involved in and adapt to your state/agency, and we hope you make every effort to do so.
Dana Mueller shared the incredibly successful OVU “Culture Assessment Survey” that was piloted in Colorado. The CAS helps establish staff as partners and true consultants in system-wide change and is instrumental in finding lasting solutions. It also gives staff a genuine opportunity to be heard, and with over 2,000 respondents and over 4,500 written comments, it’s clear staff want to be heard.
Jennifer and Scot Ward from the FOP in Illinois shared their work on the Dignity Initiative for Corrections Employees and getting legislation introduced to better protect staff and ensure accountability. Placing staff dignity and safety at the pinnacle of respectful staff/inmate interaction and ensuring that those who violate our space in such a manner are appropriately adjudicated is a priority. It plays a significant role in educating our politicians and the media, as well as addressing these assaults and changing the narrative about us.
From Don Hicks and our Nevada brothers and sisters, we learned about how they implemented our highly regarded “Visit Before You Vote” campaign and the adaptations they made in such a large state to accommodate lawmakers who have a hard time touring facilities situated literally hundreds of miles apart. With corrections being a top-three budget concern in virtually every state, every lawmaker who votes on a corrections budget should tour a correctional facility before they cast a vote on funding. Visit Before You Vote was designed specifically to promote awareness of the conditions under which corrections professionals work and to encourage lawmakers to visit our facilities before they vote on budgets or legislation.
Wrapping up Day 2 we heard from Tori and Fred Fontz from Anne Arundel County, Maryland who helped launch the OVU “Family Wellness” project.
This much-needed program should be available everywhere that a prison or jail is located. Thinking that we are protecting our loved ones, many of us never discuss “work” at home. What we have learned is that one of the reasons we have such high divorce, substance abuse and PTSD rates is for that very reason; we DON’T talk. We are only just beginning to understand the damage our silence is actually doing to those we love. Of course, we don’t disclose everything, there is no need, but communication and the way we communicate can help us and our families.
The OVU Family Wellness program was designed specifically to teach us how to talk to our loved ones, and how to listen. It also helps give us a better understanding of how our job impacts them, to have resources available for the tough times and then together deal with the potential trauma this job can present. As a result of their exhaustive work, Fred and Tori were also recipients of this year’s One Voice United Wellness Champions Award.
Wellness Works: Principles for Building a Best-in-Class Correctional Staff Wellness Program
—Friday May 1—
Telling Our Stories
On day 3, our stars shined with Sara Kirkendal from California, Jon Zumkher from Illinois, Mike Thompson from Nevada, Mike Simpson from Massachusetts, Gina Lopez from New York, and Wendell Powell from North Carolina all taking center stage.
Public speaking is unthinkable for many, as it was for several of these folks. But there they were. Each telling their own stories for 7 minutes, alone on stage with over 100 pairs of eyes locked on them. We do some uncomfortable things in our line of work, but it is critical that we master this one. (Mike T. went for 11 minutes, great job Mike, the audience was riveted, and the helicopter – WOW!!!) No one tells our stories better than we do. When we press our case with the media, the public, or legislators, it is important that we are clear, concise, and effective.
Public speaking is a skill, and if we want to be in charge of the narrative, like it or not, it is a skill we all need to be comfortable with. Thanks to all of you for standing up and speaking up; you did a phenomenal job.
Setting Our Agenda
Simon Greer led the next session, which included a lot of live polling on the big screen, capturing your opinions on the ideas DOCs are currently using to address the staffing crisis, and then seeking your ideas on what you would do given the opportunity. With an estimated 2,000-plus years of correctional experience at all levels of the profession in the room, there was no doubt that if given the opportunity, there are few problems we couldn’t solve.
Beneath the Headlines – the New York Corrections Strike
We do not think that anyone in attendance will ever forget the two sessions that wrapped up day 3 prior to the Medal of Honor banquet. When Chris Summers, President of the New York State Correction Officer PBA told his story about the unauthorized strike in New York and the impacts it had on him, his members, their families, and the state… you could hear a pin drop. That took a great deal of courage President Summers, and we thank you.
We Will Never Forget – Remembering Rikers Island Heroes
And courage, well you can’t get any more than the courage shown by our brothers and sisters from Rikers Island who helped with rescue efforts during 9/11. The incredible presentation by Richard Palmer (who also served as the Medal of Honor Sgt at Arms) and Phil Rizzo was nothing short of amazing.
They were there, among the rubble and the bodies, saving those they could, bringing dignity to those they could not. Forty-three have succumbed to the injuries they sustained performing their duty during the 9/11 aftermath and another 22 continue to suffer to this very day. If you wear the uniform, never let anyone call you a guard, that’s not who we are, we are much more than that, and we will never forget their sacrifice.
Ensuring Our Collective Future
Just before we broke for the day, Scot Ward from the Illinois FOP came forward with a $10,000 donation for next year’s Medal of Honor. Absolutely amazing and very much needed as this annual event is a pretty heavy financial lift.
As you know, most OVU programs are funded through philanthropy, we don’t require dues or membership. However, the Medal of Honor is not funded in that manner and it’s continued success is the professional responsibility of each one of us. If you have, or your organization has donated THANK YOU, if not please do so today while its fresh in your memory.
Donate to the One Voice United National Medal of Honor
By raising the money sooner rather than later we can ensure a successful event, a high level of participation and we can honor our profession with the dignity and respect it deserves. Our goal is that someday every union representing CO’s, PO’s and non-custody staff will be in that hall and so too will be at least one nominee for the Medal of Honor from every jurisdiction where a prison or jail is located. Although that’s our goal, it will take all of us together to make it happen.
Do you know a union representing our profession that was not in attendance? Call them, tell them about your experience, get them involved. Did you nominate a member last year? Are you on the lookout for one to nominate for 2026?
Opportunity
Times are changing and the elevation of One Voice United as a recognized voice in our profession has led to multiple contacts from organizations seeking to know your opinions. The two opportunities below came to us just prior to the conference. We shared them in New Jersey but just wanted to avail you of them once again in case they got lost in the plethora of information distributed at the conference.
Paid Survey ($75.00)
Organizations do want your opinions, and some are willing to pay for them. The Occupational Information Network (O’Net) was contracted by the US Department of Labor to conduct a survey of Correctional Officers to describe your job functions as they are today. Over a dozen of you filled out the contact sheet which will be submitted next week. If selected, you will receive a $75 internet VISA card. If you did not submit a contact form but are interested, please contact me at
Focus Group ($100.00)
The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and University of Wisconsin – Madison is conducting a study of Correctional Officer and staff’s experience with inmate overdose, substance abuse and its impacts. It is a 60-minute zoom focus group that is being funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH). If selected participants will be paid $100. If you are interested in being a part of this Focus Group please contact Jessi Vechinski program coordinator at jvechinski@wisc.edu or 414-899-4324
Medal of Honor Awards– An Evening of Recognition and Celebration
At 6:00 PM on the final evening we gathered for the last reception of the event. Spirits were high, glasses were raised, and hopes were restored. New ideas and strategies were discussed, connections were made, networks expanded and best practices were shared. New friends were found, old acquaintances renewed and a sense of unity and oneness filled the hall, and we all promised to meet again at next year’s Elevating Our Professions conference and National Medal of Honor banquet to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The three days ended as we honored six heroes who walk among us at the One Voice United National Medal of Honor Awards. A terrific night greatly enhanced by the posting of the colors by the Ocean County DOC Honor Guard, and of course by all of you and your presence.
At 9:30 as the banquet drew to a close and the hall emptied out, you could still feel the energy, the emotion, the dedication and commitment to each other, to where we had been, but most importantly to where we are going. Thanks to all of you for making these three days very special.
See you at next year’s annual event in North Carolina! In the meantime, check out pictures from this year’s events at One Voice United’s albums | Flickr