The first question Don Crews posed to an inmate he was helping prepare for life after prison stopped the man in his tracks.

“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

Crews had handed the man, who is incarcerated at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell, a packet of documents designed to help him plan for his release. But imagining a future beyond prison wasn’t easy.

“It's hard for people to understand the five-year goal question when you can't see that far ahead in your sentence,” Crews told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business in an email. “The importance comes in setting SMART goals and working towards them. It creates purposes and you become motivated to move forward.” 

SMART goals are actionable – and the acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

Helping inmates envision their future – and take steps to prepare for it – motivates Crews, who is also incarcerated at Coyote Ridge. As a coordinator for the state’s Correctional Industries Workforce Development program, he works with dozens of inmates each day.

Donivan Crews

And now he’ll bring his own lived experience and knowledge gained through his role to statewide efforts as one of the first incarcerated people in the nation to serve on a state-level body aimed at improving re-entry services for incarcerated people.

“I hope we can set a precedent for those coming after us to help go about re-entry the right way,” Crews said. “I do know this is a lot of work but I’m not afraid of a lot of work.”

Crews is serving a sentence of 23 years and four months after pleading guilty in 2017 to first-degree manslaughter, vehicular homicide, four counts of vehicular assault and trying to elude police, according to the Associated Press.

He became involved with Correctional Industries, or CI, as a machine operator in the food factory at Coyote Ridge. Prison staff observed his ability to work with and direct other inmates and promoted him to a quality control position. He credits his past experience as a food service inspector for teaching him how to work with and train individuals on proper practices and procedures.

Crews was eventually asked to apply for and was chosen for his current role as a liaison with CI’s workforce development staff and inmates. He works with inmates 36 months before their release, as well as other workers in CI’s programs. As a result, he’s coordinating services for 120 to 130 inmates at a time.

In late June, Crews and Jenny Purple, who is serving time at Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor, were selected among 100 applicants by Gov. Bob Ferguson to serve on the Statewide Reentry Council, an advisory body aimed at improving services for those reentering society following a prison sentence.

In announcing Crews’ appointment, state officials lauded him for the strong reentry pathways he’s built at Coyote Ridge and his advocacy for starting reentry services the day incarceration begins. They added that Crews “is deeply respected for his unwavering commitment to helping others succeed.”

“With the appointment of both members, the council is deepening its commitment to grounded, equitable and inclusive policy work for incarcerated individuals and victims and survivors of crime,” said Janel McFeat, the council’s executive director, in a statement. “Our new members will be drawing on firsthand experiences from all sides affected by the reentry process.”

Crews said he was apprehensive when he first began being congratulated by prison officials about the appointment as he’d not heard any official announcement. But since receiving word from state officials, he’s become excited about helping those leaving prison return to society so they can be successful.

“Being able to guide an individual in the right way and understanding something for themselves is the best accomplishment that I have,” he said.