White Collar Conference

White Collar Conference is the national gathering for the entire white collar justice community.

Hosted by the White Collar Support Group, the world's first support group for people navigating the white collar justice system. Now in its third year. Everyone who intersects with that system is welcome: the justice-impacted, their families and loved ones, and the attorneys who defend them.

October 10, 2026
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9:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET · Virtual on Zoom · Open to all
Past Participants

Three years of White Collar Conference speakers.

Three years of keynotes, fireside chats, and panels, from CNN legal analysts and Stanford law professors to whistleblowers, advocates, and the people living the second sentence firsthand. Each name links to their session.

Joshua J. Smith
2026 Keynote
Joshua J. Smith
Deputy Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Dickie Scruggs
2026 Fireside
Dickie Scruggs
Legendary trial lawyer & second-chance champion
Gregg Johnson
2026 Moderator
Gregg Johnson
Business Coach, Steering Committee Member
Jeffrey Toobin
2025 Keynote
Jeffrey Toobin
Legal analyst, author of "The Pardon"
Joe Bankman
2025 Fireside
Joe Bankman
Stanford Law School professor
Erika Cheung
2024 Panelist
Erika Cheung
Theranos whistleblower
Bill Baroni
2024 Moderator
Bill Baroni
Former NJ State Senator
David Israel
2024 Keynote
David Israel
Founder, GOOD PLANeT Foods
Prof. Mark Osler
2026 Panelist
Prof. Mark Osler
University of St. Thomas Law
Jeff Grant
Host
Jeff Grant
WCSG Founder & Host
Craig Stanland
Past Emcee
Craig Stanland
Author & speaker
Drew Chapin
2025 Moderator
Drew Chapin
The Discoverability Company
Brent Cassity
Fireside Host
Brent Cassity
Host, Nightmare Success Podcast
Ron Bauer
Sponsor
Ron Bauer
Redemption Ventures
Tom Hardin
Speaker Series
Tom Hardin
'Tipper X' · Wired on Wall Street
Sam Mangel
Sponsor
Sam Mangel
Federal Prison Consultant
Craig Rothfeld
Speaker Series
Craig Rothfeld
Inside Outside Ltd.
Todd Haugh
2025 Panelist
Todd Haugh
Professor, Business Law & Ethics, IU Kelley
Elizabeth Kelley
2024 Panelist
Elizabeth Kelley
Criminal Defense Attorney
Seth Williams
2024 Panelist
Seth Williams
Former District Attorney of Philadelphia
Jeff Wertkin
2024 Panelist
Jeff Wertkin
Chief Compliance Officer, The Fortune Society
Jeffrey Abramowitz
2024 Panelist
Jeffrey Abramowitz
CEO, The Petey Greene Program
Portia Louder
2024 Panelist
Portia Louder
Author & Speaker
Kaysia Earley
2024 Panelist
Kaysia Earley
Trial Attorney; Founder, Earley Law Firm
William Sansing
2024 Moderator
William Sansing
Licensed Professional Counselor; Author, Beyond Prison
Dr. Erin Frey
2025 Presenter
Dr. Erin Frey
Assistant Professor, Yale School of Management
Naia Wilson
2024 Panelist
Naia Wilson
Educator; Housing Director, Justice 4 Housing
October 10, 2026 · Third Annual

Ending the White Collar Life Sentence

Our 2026 theme is about ending the life sentence that white collar offenders are left enduring well after their price has been paid. We are announcing new speakers, panelists, and programming as we get closer to the event.

“Every sentence should have a period.”

Jeff Grant
9:00 AM Welcome
Jeff Grant
WCSG Founder

Widely described as the only attorney in the U.S. who served time in federal prison for a white collar crime and returned to practice white collar law, Grant founded the White Collar Support Group in 2013. He now leads GrantLaw as private general counsel to executives and professionals facing high-stakes legal matters, and remains a longtime advocate for reentry and second chances.

4 min
Video Group Welcome Video White Collar Support Group
Joshua J. Smith
9:15 AM Keynote
Joshua J. Smith
Deputy Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons

The first person appointed to senior Bureau of Prisons leadership after serving time in its custody. He now oversees 122 facilities, 36,000 staff, and the care of over 156,000 people, and founded the Fourth Purpose Foundation and Prison Life Media. Read his full profile on Prisonpedia.

4 min
Video Online Reputation Management Drew Chapin, The Discoverability Company
Dickie Scruggs
10:00 AM Fireside Chat
Dickie Scruggs
Legendary trial lawyer, federal inmate, second-chance champion

The lead counsel behind the historic tobacco settlements worth more than $248 billion reached the very top of American law, then served six years in federal prison. Today he leads 2nd Chance MS, which has helped more than a thousand Mississippi adults earn the credentials to rebuild their futures. In conversation with fireside host Brent Cassity.

Brent Cassity
Interviewed by
Brent Cassity
Fireside Host · Host, Nightmare Success Podcast

Host of the Nightmare Success podcast and a member of the White Collar Support Group, Cassity draws on his own journey through the federal system to lead the fireside conversation.

4 min
Video Restitution and Remission Tanya Pierce, Founder of Life Unbolted
10:45 AM
Featured Panel
Rebuilding Your Career After a Justice Journey
Moderated by Drew Chapin, The Discoverability Company

Emily O'Brien, Rashmi Airan, and Desmond Meade each rebuilt a career and a public reputation after a federal conviction. See Meet the Panelists below for how they did it, from starting companies to leading national movements.

Meet the Panelists
Emily O'Brien
Emily O'Brien
Founder and CEO, Comeback Snacks

Emily O'Brien is the founder and CEO of Comeback Snacks, a purpose-driven Canadian snack company changing the conversation around second chances, one bag of popcorn at a time. After serving time in federal prison, she rebuilt her life from the ground up and turned one of her greatest setbacks into a nationally recognized brand rooted in hope, accountability, and opportunity. A passionate advocate for prison reform and second-chance hiring, she creates employment for people with justice-system experience while challenging employers to rethink talent and potential.

Rashmi Airan
Rashmi Airan
Keynote Speaker, Author and Consultant

Rashmi Airan is a keynote speaker, leadership expert, and transformation strategist who helps leaders and organizations navigate adversity and high-pressure moments with courage, clarity, and accountability. A first-generation Indian American, Columbia Law School graduate, and former Wall Street dealmaker, she draws on her own journey through failure, federal prison, and reinvention to help audiences rise stronger and lead wiser. Her story has been featured by ABC, PBS, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

Desmond Meade
Desmond Meade
Civil Rights Leader and Voting Rights Advocate

Desmond Meade is a nationally recognized civil rights leader, voting rights advocate, author, and community organizer who led the effort to change Florida's Constitution to restore voting rights to more than 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions. He was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2019, received the MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship in 2021, and in 2023, under Meade's leadership, his organization was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His personal journey of overcoming hardship, homelessness, and incarceration has shaped his message of redemption and opportunity, and his appearances on CNN, MSNBC, 60 Minutes, and Fox TV demonstrate his ability to appeal to and inspire people from all walks of life.

Drew Chapin
Drew Chapin
Panel Moderator; Founder, The Discoverability Company

Drew Chapin is the founder of The Discoverability Company, a discoverability partner for individuals and businesses based in Philadelphia, with nearly two decades of go-to-market experience across Microsoft, Jomboy Media, Perplexity, and venture-backed startups. He sits on the White Collar Support Group Conference steering committee and moderates this panel.

4 min
Video Details to be announced
11:30 AM
Panel
The Trauma of Asking for Forgiveness: Pardons, Clemency and Reliving the Worst Chapter of Your Life
Moderated by Gregg Johnson, FocalPoint Business Coaching

Clemency asks something of the person seeking it that no other legal process does: tell us again, in your own words, about the worst thing you ever did. Gregg Johnson moderates a conversation about what that costs, and what it takes to ask anyway.

Meet the Panelists
Mark Osler
Mark Osler
Professor, University of St. Thomas School of Law

Mark Osler is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota and a former federal prosecutor who founded the nation's first law-school clinic devoted to federal commutations. The Clemency Resource Center he co-founded with Rachel Barkow produced 96 commutations under the Obama clemency initiative. He returns to the conference stage after the 2025 panel on pardons and expungement.

Alexander Neumeister
Alexander Neumeister
Physician-Scientist and Biotechnology Executive

Alexander Neumeister is an Austrian-American physician-scientist and biotechnology executive based in Boston. He earned his M.D. at the University of Vienna Medical School, completed his psychiatry and neurology residency there, and joined the National Institute of Mental Health in 2001, later holding faculty appointments at Yale, Mount Sinai and NYU and directing the PTSD Research Program at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. More than 300 peer-reviewed publications carry his name, and he now oversees gene therapy clinical programs at AskBio.

Announced soon

One more panelist. Details to be announced.

12:00 PM
Closing
Closing Reflections
Register for October 10

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With the support of

The organizations backing this conference.

Paul Weiss

Lead Sponsor

Save your seat at the 2026 White Collar Conference.

Registration for the third annual White Collar Conference is open. Reserve your spot on Eventbrite.