KINDR Prisons
Transformation Is Our Goal
It started with one man, one prison, and one bold question.
Dr. Doug Carnine, founder of the KINDR Foundation, brought a mindful kindness program into an Arkansas maximum-security prison, pairing with a man serving life without parole to test something radical: could people carrying deep trauma and a violent past actually transform? Not just for themselves, but for everyone around them?
The answer was yes. So three more incarcerated men joined in. They didn't just change— they became teachers, spreading kindness to fellow inmates and even the officers guarding them.
Together, they broke down the belief that had defined their lives for years: unlovable, unworthy, beyond saving. In its place, they built something new— repaired relationships, restored dignity, and a real reason to keep going.
That's transformation. That's the goal. That was just the start!
—Ernesto Rodriguez (A mindful kindness ambassador who served 24 of a 37-year sentence for crimes committed before 18 years old.)
"It was not until I ended up in solitary confinement at Pelican Bay State Prison in California that I was forced to face my unkind habits and admit that I had an unkind personality type. It was in solitary confinement that I experienced the transformative powers of kindness that the Carnine family showed me through the kindness they showed me. It was through their compassion that I began to believe love could win. My transformation of changing and weakening my unmindful-unkind cycle was able to shift. It was then that I began to be kind towards others and expand that kindness into my community inside and outside of prison."
To set up a call with our KINDR Prisons Team click the button on the right - BECOME A KINDR PRISON!
Our Statistics
30+
Years of Experience
7,000+
Incarcerated Adults
Countless+
Families Transformed
Meet our Team
Our Causes/Programs
A KINDR Way to Reduce Recidivism...
KINDR Prisons is a program that helps adults in custody to break through self-deprecating thoughts and become catalysts for kindness. Inner transformation is the key to self-forgiveness, the forgi... (Click to Read More)
It Takes a Village
