Jan Bindas-Tenney
Jan Bindas-Tenney is a senior program associate for training with the Restoring Promise initiative, a partnership between Vera and the MILPA Collective to create housing units grounded in dignity for young adults in prison. Jan coordinates training and learning opportunities for residents and staff in the units as well as for the Restoring Promise team.
Before joining Vera in 2022, Jan worked as a labor and community organizer, an advocacy director, and most recently as coordinator of facilitation and partnerships with the Maine Humanities Council, where they worked closely with system-impacted facilitators and coordinated humanities programs in Maine’s prison facilities.
In addition to their work at Vera, Jan is a poet and an artist. They were recently featured in an exhibit of queer artists at SPEEDWELL Contemporary called “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
Jan holds a BA from Vassar College and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arizona.