The summer Ryan Haygood set out to build a relationship with the father he barely knew became the summer he found his life’s calling. An unexpected detour to a Newark YMCA exposed him to stories of incarceration, redemption and justice that would help define his future.
Now 51, Haygood is preparing to leave his post as president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, a role he has held since 2015, to become president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
His journey there can be traced to a summer that didn’t go according to plan…