About
Portia Louder is an author and speaker whose memoir, Living Louder, reflects on resilience and the people she met following her own journey through the criminal justice system.
She speaks widely about redemption and second chances, and joined the White Collar Conference to share her story.
Elsewhere on this story
- Portia Louder on Nightmare Success Nightmare Success episode: Portia Louder, Empire Toppled by Seven-Year Probe
At the White Collar Conference
Portia Louder spoke about the support that came after she shared her sentencing publicly, and how taking ownership of her own part halfway through her sentence changed her experience. She described the loneliness of coming home, going straight to support meetings and her church, and deciding to believe the world was cheering her on.
“I can either feel like everybody's going to look down on me or I can decide that the world is cheering me on. And I decided that the world was cheering me on.”
Watch at 24:20
“I made a mistake. And I have great integrity. And I think we can be both of those things.”
Watch at 27:10
“I think when we're open and vulnerable about our struggles, people want to support us.”
Watch at 31:28
Chapters
- 0:00 William Sansing introduces the panel
- 1:13 Father Joe on becoming a police officer and Bergen County sheriff
- 11:25 Father Joe on the family that stood by him
- 13:14 Dr. Naia Wilson on the support around her after a wire fraud charge
- 18:28 Naia Wilson on her work in housing advocacy
- 20:50 Portia Louder on federal prison and coming home
- 23:34 Portia Louder on loneliness after release and finding support
- 27:38 William Sansing on his first night in prison
- 29:08 Letting community in
- 33:12 Closing thoughts on a judgment-free community
With William Sansing (moderator), Naia Wilson and Fr. Joseph Ciccone
Join us in fall 2027.
The fourth annual White Collar Conference is planned for fall 2027, virtual on Zoom and open to all.