Eric Weaver is Founder and Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Returning Citizens, and the Deputy Director of the READY Center under the DC Department of Corrections. Eric is a returning citizen who went to jail at the age of 17 and came home three months before his 40th birthday. Since his release, he has been an advocate for the returning citizen population. “Educate, Organize and Mobilize” is his motto. He pushes hard to register the formerly incarcerated to vote and exercise their democratic rights.
Eric was instrumental in the passage of several laws including The Returning Citizens Opportunity to Succeed Amendment Act which requires the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs to establish contact with incarcerated people six months before they return home to the District to connect them to resources to support the transition process, and the Criminal Record Accuracy Assurance Act, which prevents sealed or expunged offenses and arrests without convictions from appearing on background searches.