2025 Marc Mauer Racial Justice Awards Ceremony

The Sentencing Project hosted the fourth Marc Mauer Racial Justice Award virtual event on November 6th, where the Youth Art & Self-empowerment Project (YASP) was honored.

Based in Philadelphia, YASP is a youth-led and youth-centered intergenerational organization with a focus on building a movement to end the practice of trying and incarcerating young people as adults and creating a world without youth incarceration. Through their restorative justice diversion program, the country’s first youth participatory defense hub and their creative arts workshops in Philadelphia jails and juvenile detention centers, YASP provides space for young people impacted by the carceral system to express themselves creatively, engage in healing and accountability work, and to develop as leaders.

At a time when national leaders are pushing harmful rhetoric to lock up more children, disproportionately impacting youth of color, The Sentencing Project is honored to celebrate YASP’s leadership in supporting the needs of justice-impacted youth and helping them thrive in safe communities.