SkunkWorks began as a bold idea inside San Quentin what if incarceration could become a launchpad for change? Founded by incarcerated people and built in partnership with outside professionals, we’ve grown into a nationally recognized innovation lab inside prison walls.
Our goal is simple but radical transform the justice system by centering the leadership of the people most impacted by it. We design and test solutions inside—and then work to scale them beyond the walls.
Our programs put incarcerated leadership into practice. We reclaim prison spaces with murals that restore dignity, run intensive leadership trainings that prepare incarcerated people to guide reform, and host monthly gaming events that bring more than 150 people together across divides. Each project is a live experiment in building a justice system that works better for everyone.
We’ve been featured in CalMatters, the front page of the LA Times, and are backed by CDCR. But our biggest achievement? Building a movement where incarcerated people lead—and the world listens.
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San Quentin SkunkWorks is an incarcerated-led innovation lab that designs and tests justice reform from the inside. We partner with the Governor's Office, world-renowned artists like eL Seed and FaithXLVII, UC researchers, and senior professionals across policy, tech, and culture. Our work has been covered on the front page of the LA Times and profiled by CalMatters as a model for system-wide transformation.
We now have roughly 60 volunteers, active institutional partnerships, and programs that are drawing national attention. What we don't yet have is the HR infrastructure to match. We're scaling and that transition requires real systems that meet the importance of this work.
Your Role What You'll Build
Repeatable systems for how volunteers are brought in, supported, and transitioned across the organization.
Our current focus is volunteer lifecycle processes, role descriptions, and the structural documentation that the organization currently runs without.
How Collaboration Works
You'll report to and work closely with our Head of People and collaborate directly with incarcerated leadership at San Quentin through weekly or biweekly meetings, (in person or over the phone) and occasionally with the Volunteer VP of Operations on organizational design decisions.
Most work is asynchronous — clear briefs, shared documents, structured review cycles. We use Monday.com to track projects and deadlines.
What We're Looking For
5+ years in people operations, HR, or organizational design — ideally in a scaling nonprofit, startup, or mission-driven organization
Direct experience building HR systems from scratch or during a growth transition (volunteer-to-staff, startup-to-scale, pre-to-post-funding)
Strong documentation instincts — you build things that other people can run without you
Experience with Monday.com or similar project management tools
Helpful but not required
Background in restorative justice, education reform, or criminal justice environments
Experience supporting organizations through their first hires
The Impact
If you join us, you will be building the operational backbone that lets an incarcerated-led organization make its first hires. The systems you create will shape how SkunkWorks grows, who it can bring on, and whether the infrastructure holds as the work as it scales.