Felix Mata: Baltimore's XO Man
Sorry I am to hear of the looming departure from city government of Felix Mata. He's one of the city's most effective employees, from what I've seen. He's been serving as Project Director of the Baltimore City Ex-offender (XO) Initiative, putting him right on the front lines of the effort to reduce the city's recidivism rate by helping to find employment for men and women coming out of our prisons. It has been tough, particularly since 9/11/2001, but Mata has been persistent and a true-believer in the cause. I got this message from him last night:
"It is with great sadness that I must inform my friends of prisoner reentry and juvenile justice that I will be leaving my position(s) as of August 14th. My experience with you, our government partners, and elected officials have been outstanding and I will truly miss the great people who have continued to make prisoner reentry a priority. On a happy note, I have accepted a position with the federal government which will allow me to continue to support prisoner reentry nationally starting on August 20th."
Mata wore two other hats: Baltimore's Director of Prisoner Reentry and Juvenile Justice and Executive Director of the Governor's Advisory Council on Offender Employment Coordination.
This is a big loss for the city.
Good luck, amigo.
Comments
You're correct, Dan. Felix represents the best of government workers. I witnessed first hand how dedicated Felix is when I worked with him at Baltimore City and at the Baltimore Empowerment Zone. The ex-offenders in Baltimore and Maryland have so many more resources available to them to get training and jobs than they did a few years ago. Much of this is due to Felix's advocacy and commitment.
We're all excited to see him in action at the federal level.
Posted by: Tim | August 6, 2007 8:20 AM