E. Marq Mitchell
Chainless Change

Personal Bio 

Marq Mitchell is the CEO and Founder of Chainless Change, an emerging recovery community that serves South Florida. Marq identifies as someone in recovery from behavioral health conditions and the criminal legal system.

Before the age of 22, Marq spent seven years incarcerated. As the child of incarcerated parents, he entered the foster care system at an early age. His life’s trajectory was forever impacted by the school-to-prison pipeline and the child welfare system. Because of Marq’s experiences, he has extensive knowledge of the challenges that justice-involved people face. Although Marq overcame these barriers, he knows that for many, there is simply no “second chance.”

Marq majored in Business Administration and served as the Operations Manager for an HVAC company prior to launching Chainless Change.

Project Description

Deeply rooted in the value of lived experience, Chainless Change serves as a community of recovery, advocacy, and support for those who are impacted by the criminal legal system. We aim to reduce recidivism and strengthen society through advocacy and support for justice-involved individuals experiencing behavioral health conditions. By building communities among justice-involved persons, we collectively work to eliminate barriers to successful reentry for individuals who have come into contact with law enforcement.

Since its inception, the organization has left an indelible mark on the lives of over 500 individuals through community organizing, education, and resources. By improving the lives of justice-involved persons, and their outcomes upon reentry, our work has already had lasting impacts on communities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.