Daniels enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, was named a Justice-in-Education Scholar, and was even invited to give a highly-viewed Ted Talk discussing his own experience as an incarcerated youth and the power of education and communication in improving the legal system. He also joined several groups that advocate for reform and involve youth mentorship, including Youth Service Agencies throughout New York City, the Columbia Center for Justice, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
In September, Open Society Foundations announced their Soros Justice Fellows and Daniels was among those named. The fellowship will support him as he works to launch the Justice Ambassadors, a leadership development opportunity for system-impacted youth in New York City. Daniels is also currently working with Associate Professor Desmond Patton from the Columbia University School of Social Work, on a virtual reality project titled “Digital Arrest”, to demonstrate how social media is used as a means to build criminal profiles against inner-city youth through misinterpretation, stereotyping, and racial profiling.
Daniels plans to study sociology at GS, with a focus in political science. In the long term, he aspires to run for public office in New York where he will use his position to create opportunities for and redistribute resources to disenfranchised communities, much like his own.
“After spending six of the last seven years incarcerated—I was released at the age of 23—life for me has only just begun,” Daniels said.