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Who we are

I-O members are incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and people who have never been incarcerated.

Our founding members are students of Soto Zen and other schools of Buddhism. Many I-O participants have Buddhist practices, but not all. People of all faiths, atheists, and agnostics are welcome in I-O.

Yakusan Shapiro, I-O co-founder and lead steward, is a volunteer chaplain at a men’s medium security prison where she facilitates the Buddhist Group, which she helped establish, and co-facilitates the Hospice Aides Training Group. She is a guest teacher in Frostburg State University’s social work program, leading the prison focus. She is a formal student of Koshin Paley Ellison at the New York Zen Center, where she is also a mentor in the program Foundations in Contemplative Care.

Rick Foelsch, I-O’s second steward, has maintained an I-O friendship for several years, from his writing partner’s incarceration through reentry. This relationship has sharpened his interest in countering recidivism by developing reentry resources, awareness and action country-wide. He is a formal student of Koshin Paley Ellison at the New York Zen Center.