This episode of Nonprofit Report features the leadership of Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), a Bay Area-based nonprofit transforming the lives of system-involved youth through legal education, mentorship, and restorative community programming.
Guests:
Artavia B. Berry, President & CEO
Kassa Belay, Vice President of Programs and Impact
Meera Chary, Co-Chair of the Board
Interview by: Mark Oppenheim
Key Points:
- Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) supports youth and young adults ages 11–25 through legal education, mentoring, and advocacy.
- Programs are trauma-informed, youth-centered, and designed to meet youth where they are.
- The organization serves 2,500 youth annually across five California counties.
- Over 90% of participants avoid further involvement in the criminal legal system.
- Curriculum includes legal literacy, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning.
- FLY’s “Stay FLY” program supports transition-age youth with tailored coaching and skill building.
- The organization co-sponsors state legislation focused on youth justice reform.
- Board and leadership embrace experimentation and youth-informed innovation in program design.
Other Points on Fresh Lifelines for Youth:
FLY works to ensure that young people who’ve made mistakes are not defined by them. Founded in response to the voices of incarcerated youth, the organization centers love, support, and safe environments as tools for transformation—not punishment.
With a focus on coaching, case management, and legal education, FLY helps youth develop critical life skills, understand their rights, and build agency. Every program begins by uncovering a young person’s intrinsic motivation—what brings them joy, pride, and purpose.
The organization’s work to change systems is just as powerful. Through legislative advocacy and public education, FLY challenges punitive norms and champions policies that recognize youth as evolving human beings capable of change.
Above all, FLY reimagines what justice can look like: not retribution, but restoration; not control, but care. By building communities of belonging, the organization opens space for healing, growth, and hope for the future.