The content for this post originally appeared on the FBI St. Louis website on January 30, 2018.
St. Louis, MO – FBI St. Louis Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Richard Quinn is pleased to recognize Danny Ludeman with the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. SAC Quinn made the announcement today at a surprise ceremony held at Concordance Academy of Leadership in front of its staff and board of directors.
Law enforcement cannot be the only solution to crime because it only addresses the symptoms. What Mr. Ludeman and Concordance Academy are doing is addressing part of the root cause.
Mr. Ludeman retired in 2013 as CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors. SAC Quinn said, “Instead of enjoying a relaxing retirement, Mr. Ludeman took on the challenge of reducing crime by reducing the rate of people going back to prison after release. Law enforcement cannot be the only solution to crime because it only addresses the symptoms. What Mr. Ludeman and Concordance Academy are doing is addressing part of the root cause.”
According to the National Institute of Justice, 77% of individuals released from prison are re-arrested within three to five years nationally and the number hasn’t changed in more than 30 years. Mr. Ludeman said, “What we hope to do here is to create a national, scalable model of support and wrap-around services that give these individuals a chance at leading joyful, abundant lives. It’s not just about creating a cost-effective way of reducing crime – it is about healing trauma for individuals and their families.”
What we hope to do here is to create a national, scalable model of support and wrap-around services that give these individuals a chance at leading joyful, abundant lives.
As president and CEO, Mr. Ludeman helped raised $13 million in pledges to establish Concordance Academy. All re-entry services for an individual are housed under one roof in a 31,000-square-foot facility in Maryland Heights. It is the first organization in the country to offer a set of “holistic, integrated, evidence-driven” re-entry services to not only help ease the transition from prison to society but to find a path to success for former inmates.
In addition to its staff and volunteers, Concordance relies on partnerships with the community, local health clinics, educational institutions and housing providers. Concordance also runs its own employment agency for its participants, with over 40 participating St. Louis companies.
As of December 31, 2017, Concordance Academy is actively serving 150 participants. Of those, 92 have been released from prison and are engaged in post-release services through the Academy. The national recidivism rate indicates that 16 of the 92 would have recidivated within a comparable time frame; however, only 7 Academy participants have returned to prison.
Long term goals include expanding the program to Kansas City, Missouri and then into four other states with an ultimate goal of going nationwide. Mr. Ludeman believes the Concordance re-entry model will reduce recidivism rates by 33 percent for the first three years and then 50 percent thereafter.
On April 20, 2018, there will be a national ceremony at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. FBI Director Christopher Wray will personally present the award to Mr. Ludeman and the other honorees selected by each of the FBI field offices across the country.
Past St. Louis honorees (years not listed did not have a recipient):
- 1990 Joseph Cunningham, former St. Louis Cardinals baseball player
- 1991 Martin Mathews, Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club
- 1993 The late Jean Leible, Neighborhood Activist
- 1995 Pastor Harry Douma, Camp Penuel
- 2005 Martin Mathews (two-time honoree)
- 2006 Karen Aroesty, Anti-Defamation League
- 2007 Pastor B. T. Rice, New Horizon Seventh Day Christian Church
- 2008 Dave Sinclair, Dave Sinclair Auto Group
- 2009 Bill Wilkerson, “Reach Out St. Louis!”
- 2010 Dr. Stephen Bander, Bander Center for Medical Business Ethics
- 2011 Anthony Thompson, Kwame Building Group
- 2012 Kimberly Ritter, Nix Conference & Meeting Management
- 2013 Angel Baked, a social enterprise program empowering inner city teens
- 2014 Wehrenberg Theatres
- 2015 Emerson’s Ferguson Forward Initiative
- 2016 Shubert Design Furniture