Leaders of the New
2025 Fundraiser & Celebration
T.O.N.E. U.P. Presents
Sunday June 22, 2025
2 PM - 5 PM
Celebrating 5 years of reentry, redemption, and radical community care. Join us as we celebrate transformation, uplift community leaders, and fund the future of the Liberation of Leaders Fellowship.
Pimento Jamaican Kitchen & Rum Bar
354 Wabasha Street North, St. Paul, MN 55102
Free street parking | Nearby ramp available
info@toneup.org | 651-764-0932
Live Speakers & Storytelling
Leadership Awards
Music & Mingling
Silent Auction: Signed Anthony Edwards, (#5 Point Guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves) Jersey
Free T.O.N.E. U.P. shirt for recurring donors
Award Honorees:
• Jeffrey Dorr-Slowey (T.O.N.E. U.P. Fellow) - Fellowship Graduate
• Lavelle Oates (T.O.N.E. U.P. Fellow) - Fellowship Graduate
• Donte Stevenson (T.O.N.E. U.P. Fellow) - Fellowship Graduate
• Jen Bowen and Mike Alberti (Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop) - Supporting, uplifting and guiding Award
• Kevin Fenner (OG Fellow) - Perseverance Award
Past Events
Better Things
May 6, 2025
Moon Palace Books
Please join us on Tuesday, May 6th, at 7:00pm, at Moon Palace Books, for our next 5×5 Reading, featuring five fantastic writers: Halee Kirkwood, Danez Smith, Antonio Williams, Alice Paige, and Dralandra Larkins.
Each reader will take five minutes to share work; after the main reading, there will be a short break for refreshments, followed by an open mic period. All are welcome to show up and to participate in the open mic! (List is first come, first serve.) This reading, and the open mic afterward, will be hosted by Davi Gray, Erin Sharkey, and Louise Waakaa’igan.
Light refreshments will be served; masks are required at Moon Palace Books. This is a free event!
Better Things is a series of events sponsored by the ReEntry Lab, in partnership with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW), the Longfellow Community Council, and Moon Palace Books, with funding from the City of Minneapolis‘s Partnership Engagement Fund.
The ReEntry Lab is an organization working to connect writers and other artists leaving incarceration to a community that’s ready to receive them.
#ReEntryLab #BetterThings #OpenMic #MoonPalace #MPWW
From the Inside Out: Rebuilding Your Life After Incarceration
April 24, 2025
Saint Paul Neighborhood Network
From the Inside Out: Rebuilding Your Life After Incarceration—A community conversation presented in part by MPR News and Sahan Journal. Speakers include Antonio Williams Founder & Executive Director at T.O.N.E. U.P.
Please like, share, and join us for the conversation!
Art, Prisons, and Freedom
April 18, 2025
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Art Prisons, and Freedom is an event exploring the possibilities for creative practices to transform society’s relationship to prisons, the criminal justice system, and the people impacted by incarceration. Nearly 2 million people are confined in prison in the United States, almost half-a-million people have not yet been convicted of a crime, and nearly 1 in 3 Americans have a criminal record. It should be no surprise that prisons impact all of us. Unsurprisingly, artists and writers both inside and outside of prison have been at the heart of reimagining what justice and freedom might look like in the future.
“Art, Prisons, and Freedom” features a panel of regional curators, writers, and artists examining the impacts of mass incarceration through their work.
Day of Empathy Community Event
April 5, 2025
North Commons Community Center
On April 5, 2025, we came together at North Commons Park to stand in solidarity with wrongfully incarcerated and over-sentenced families. The day was filled with powerful moments of community building, panel discussions, and a peaceful caravan for justice.
Connect With Us.
Want to schedule a meeting or book Executive Director Antonio Williams for a speaking engagement?
Complete the Booking Form Below 👇
Let’s collaborate for impact.
Send an email to info@toneup.org
