Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Channae Haller. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Channae thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

Yes, Justice By Objectives serves justice-involved individuals, including those who are incarcerated, recently released, or navigating the complexities of the criminal justice system. Our work also extends to their families, many of whom face significant barriers in accessing resources, support, and advocacy.

Why This Community is Underserved
Justice-involved individuals often experience stigma, legal barriers, and systemic disadvantages that make it difficult to reintegrate into society. Many lack access to stable housing, employment, healthcare, and mental health support. Families of incarcerated individuals are also heavily impacted struggling with financial burdens, emotional stress, and a lack of guidance in navigating the legal system.

One of the biggest gaps in services is the lack of consistent peer and family support that acknowledges lived experience as an asset. Many programs focus on punitive measures rather than rehabilitation, leaving individuals feeling isolated and hopeless.

Why It Matters
Recidivism rates remain high in the U.S. largely because individuals are released without adequate support systems. Without housing, jobs, and mental health services, many return to the environments that led to their incarceration in the first place. This cycle doesn’t just impact the individual—it affects families, communities, and public safety.

Justice By Objectives aims to break this cycle by offering direct peer support, case management, and advocacy, ensuring that those impacted by the criminal justice system have the tools to succeed.

How We Serve This Underserved Community
We provide peer support, family peer support, case management, and advocacy tailored to the unique needs of justice-involved individuals. One of our core programs, Living By Objectives, provides care packages to individuals upon release, ensuring they have essentials like hygiene products, transportation assistance, and referrals to housing and employment resources.

A Story That Highlights Our Impact
One of our clients had been incarcerated for over a decade. Upon release, he had no identification, no job, and nowhere to go. The transition was overwhelming, and he felt like the world had left him behind. Justice By Objectives stepped in to help him obtain an ID, secure temporary housing, and connect with employment resources. Through our peer support program, this client was able to connect with someone who had walked a similar path, which gave him hope and motivation to rebuild his life. Today, that client is employed, housed, and actively giving back to others in similar situations.

Justice By Objectives exists because no one should have to navigate these challenges alone. Our work is about empowerment, second chances, and breaking generational cycles of incarceration.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Channae Haller, and I am the Executive Director and Founder of Justice By Objectives (JBO), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting justice-involved individuals and their families. My journey into this work is deeply personal—after experiencing incarceration myself, I saw firsthand how broken and overwhelming the criminal justice system is. I knew that navigating reentry and rebuilding a life post-incarceration shouldn’t be this hard, so I decided to create an organization that provides peer support, family advocacy, case management, and reentry assistance for individuals and families impacted by the system.

Through my lived experience and professional background in peer support, mental health, and social justice advocacy, I’ve built JBO to bridge gaps in support, empower individuals to break the cycle of recidivism, and create lasting systemic change.

My path wasn’t linear. Before founding JBO, I worked in substance use treatment, peer support, and crisis response. I’m a Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS), Certified Family Peer Support Specialist (FPSS), Certified Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher, and an Adult Behavioral Health Case Manager. My work in these roles reinforced what I already knew: people don’t need more punishment, they need support.

For years, I’ve been a strong advocate for social justice, civil rights, and mental health awareness. My experience in esthetics and entrepreneurship also gave me valuable skills in business development, leadership, and program management—all of which I now apply to running a nonprofit that’s making a real impact in the lives of underserved communities.

We provide peer support, case management, reentry services, family advocacy, and community resources for individuals who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. Some of our key programs include:

Living By Objectives – Providing care packages and transitional support to individuals returning to the community after incarceration.
Healing By Objectives – A program focused on supporting people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals through peer support, empowerment, and health equity resources.
Community Advocacy & Reform – Working to reduce recidivism by addressing systemic issues and helping justice-involved individuals find employment, housing, and mental health services.
We work directly with individuals pre-release, post-release, and throughout their reintegration journey, ensuring they don’t fall through the cracks.

The Problems We Solve
Justice-involved individuals face immense barriers—stigma, lack of employment opportunities, unstable housing, and mental health struggles, just to name a few. Many are released from incarceration with nowhere to go, no ID, and no access to resources. This lack of support often leads to recidivism, which perpetuates a cycle of incarceration, poverty, and instability.

We step in to break that cycle.

JBO provides peer-led guidance, direct support, and advocacy to ensure justice-involved individuals can successfully reintegrate and build sustainable lives. We are proof that second chances work.

What Sets Us Apart
Lived Experience at the Core – Many organizations claim to help justice-involved individuals, but we are justice-involved individuals. Our work is rooted in real-life experiences, which allows us to connect with clients in a way that traditional social services can’t.
Peer Support & Family Peer Support – We believe that recovery and reintegration don’t happen in isolation. That’s why we provide peer support to individuals and family peer support to loved ones, ensuring that entire support networks are strengthened.
Holistic Approach – We don’t just address immediate needs; we take a whole-person approach, offering trauma-informed services, mental health support, and long-term stability planning.
What I’m Most Proud Of
I’m proud of every individual we’ve helped find housing, employment, and community support. I’m proud that we’ve been able to reunite families, empower individuals to advocate for themselves, and provide hope where there was once only hopelessness.

But most of all, I’m proud that JBO is growing into a movement. More and more people are realizing that justice-involved individuals deserve dignity, opportunities, and second chances

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Absolutely. One of the most defining moments of my journey—and a true test of my resilience—was when I was unlawfully incarcerated for two months. It was one of the most challenging experiences of my life, but in that darkness, I found strength, purpose, and ultimately, the vision for Justice By Objectives.

Turning Isolation Into Strength
Being incarcerated, especially when you know you shouldn’t be there, is an experience that shakes you to your core. The walls close in, time moves painfully slow, and you feel like the world has forgotten you. But in that isolation, I turned to something that has always grounded me—reading and writing.

I spent those months devouring books, writing daily, and reflecting on the system that had placed me there. I saw how other women were suffering—not just because of their sentences, but because they had no support, no guidance, and no resources for life after incarceration. Many had burned bridges with their families, struggled with addiction, or simply didn’t know how to start over.

It was in those moments that something inside me shifted. I stopped seeing myself as a victim of the system and started envisioning how I could change it. I knew that once I got out, I had to be a voice for those who had none, a resource for those who had nowhere to turn.

From That Cell to Building a Movement
When I was finally released, I didn’t walk away from that experience bitter—I walked away with a mission. That experience solidified my purpose and became the catalyst for Justice By Objectives. I started by simply visiting incarcerated individuals, offering peer support, and helping families navigate the system. That small effort grew into what is now a nonprofit providing peer support, case management, reentry assistance, and advocacy for justice-involved individuals and their families.

The resilience I developed in that cell, the determination to turn pain into purpose, is what has carried me through every challenge in building this organization.

I share this because resilience isn’t just about surviving—it’s about what you do with the experience after the storm has passed. I could have let that experience break me, but instead, I let it shape me into the advocate, leader, and changemaker I am today.

If there’s one thing, I want people to take away from my story, it’s this: No matter how dark your past is, you can use it to light the way for others. That’s exactly what I strive to do every day through Justice By Objectives.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

How I Met our Vice President & Found an Incredible Partner in This Mission

Some people come into your life at exactly the right moment, and Sarah Hernandez is one of those people for me. She didn’t just become the Vice President of Justice By Objectives—she became a lifelong friend, a fierce advocate, and one of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met. But the way we connected was anything but ordinary.

When I was incarcerated, feeling lost, frustrated, and overwhelmed by the weight of the system, Sarah barely knew me. She had only heard bits and pieces of my story—how I was stuck in a situation I shouldn’t have been in, how I was struggling, and how much I needed something—anything—to hold onto.

And then, she did something that changed everything.

She sent me books.

If you’ve ever been incarcerated, you know that books are the greatest gift you can receive. They become your escape, your education, your hope. They remind you that there is still a world beyond those walls, and that one day, you’ll be back in it.

Sarah didn’t have to do that. We weren’t close. We weren’t old friends. But she heard my story, and she just wanted to help. That’s who she is at her core—someone who leads with kindness, sees people for who they are beyond their worst moments, and gives freely without expecting anything in return.

Those books weren’t just pages and ink—they were a lifeline. They reminded me that there was still good in the world, that people still cared, and that I wasn’t forgotten.

From That Gesture to a Powerful Partnership
When I got out and started building Justice By Objectives, I knew I needed people who truly believed in this mission—people who understood the power of peer support, second chances, and showing up for others in their hardest moments.

Sarah was exactly that person.

She became a Certified Family Peer Support Specialist and joined me in this work, helping families navigate the complex and often overwhelming reality of having a loved one in the justice system. She didn’t just show up—she poured her heart into this mission. Her dedication, her organizational skills, her deep empathy, and her relentless passion for helping others have been instrumental in growing JBO into what it is today.

Why I’m Grateful for Sarah Every Day
Sarah didn’t just help me when I needed it most—she continues to do that for so many others. I’m incredibly grateful for her every single day because I know this work wouldn’t be the same without her.

Her ability to connect with families, support justice-involved individuals, and advocate for real change is unmatched. She’s not just my Vice President—she’s my sister in this mission, my sounding board, and one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met.

Her one act of kindness—sending books to someone she barely knew—turned into a partnership that is changing lives. And that, to me, is the perfect example of how small acts of kindness can create a ripple effect bigger than we ever imagined.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.justice-by-objectives.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justiceby.objectives/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/channaenhaller/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/channaehaller/