Meet the OurJourney
Staff Members
Executive Director
Brian Scott
Brian served 20 years in prison before being released in February of 2021. He founded OurJourney one year later.
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In addition to serving as OurJourney's Executive Director, Brian is also on the Advisory Board for the Building College-Community Partnerships for Reentry research project at Ithaka s+r and is part of the cohort on Community Safety for the North Carolina Leadership Forum. In December 2023 Brian completed a 2-year research term with the American Prison Newspaper project at JSTOR, helping identify and catalog newspapers operating inside our nation's correctional facilities, another passion of his.
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Brian grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and currently lives in Albemarle, a nice little town 30 miles outside of Charlotte.
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You can learn more about Brian's story by listening to the March 3, 2025 episode of the podcast The 98% Percent: Life After Prison, when Brian sat down with Judy VanWyk and April Barber-Scales for an in-depth conversation.
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Schedule a virtual meeting with Brian by clicking here.
Director of Operations
Justin Moore
Justin Moore served nearly 13 years in prison before being released in August of 2019. Until recently, he worked as the Assistant Director at Redemption Place, a Rocky Mount transition home for men, and continues to volunteer there.
Justin enjoys freshwater fishing, video games and Strawberry Shortcake Blizzards from Dairy Queen. His wife Billie Jo is an OurJourney volunteer.
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Schedule a virtual meeting with Justin by clicking here.
Director of Reentry Council Partnerships
Lewis Whitmire
Lewis Whitmire served 6 years in prison before being released in 2019. In addition to serving as our Director of Reentry Council Partnerships, Lewis also manages our Distribution Center in Newton, the starting point for all of our First Aid Reentry Kits.
Lewis enjoys cooking and remodeling his house in Conover.
User Experience Developer
Akshay Kenjale
Akshay Kenjale has over three years of product design experience in industry-related SaaS projects. He has redesigned the YouTube music experience and developed Wipeout, a mobile app that encourages good hygiene habits. Akshay came to OurJourney by way of Taproot Plus, an online community that helps nonprofit organizations achieve their goals faster by connecting them with skilled volunteers.
After redesigning this website, Akshay decided he wanted to continue offering OurJourney his digital talents because of his personal commitment to social justice and his belief that every person has value. He is now part of a team that is developing a mobile app for OurJourney that will make reentry smoother and more successful for our state's returning citizens.
Akshay has a Bachelor's Degree in Product Design from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing in Jabalpur, India and a Master's Degree in User Experience and Interaction Design from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You may learn more about Akshay and his work by visiting his website.
Elle Balle
Social Media Director
Elle Balle is an undergraduate student at Duke University studying biology and cultural anthropology. She has previously managed the social media accounts for Rebels Footwear and has experience with marketing strategies and advertising.
Elle became involved with OurJourney via journalism after writing several stories highlighting the nonprofit and its Board of Directors as well as reentry resources in North Carolina. She is now working to curate OurJourney’s image on social media to foster growth and development as well as cater to a wider range of engagement.
Elle grew up in Los Angeles, California and enjoys reading, hiking, and exploring the beautiful city of Durham.
Jamison McLaughlin
AI Prompt Engineer
Jamison McLaughlin is a versatile Prompt Engineer, author, and AI Automation Specialist with a strong multidisciplinary background, holding associate’s degrees in Computer Information Technology, Electronic Engineering, and Business Administration.
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These accomplishments are all the more amazing given that Jamison served over 25 years of incarceration, all here in North Carolina.
He is the author of The 80/20 Guide to Mastering Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT, sharing practical strategies for leveraging AI effectively. Jamison excels at designing precise prompts and building automation workflows that connect technical innovation with business strategy.
Alongside his technical expertise, he brings a unique artistic edge through graphic design and creative projects, and he expresses his creativity musically through his passion for the piano.