Changemaker Spotlight: Ginny Burton, Founder of OUT Impact Coalition

July 27, 2026

By Robert Roche, VP of Marketing at The Last Mile.

When I first spoke with Ginny Burton, we were both walking.

I was on a quiet neighborhood road in Dresden, Germany. She was beginning the second day of a 310-mile journey across Washington State. The contrast could not have been greater – while I navigated a residential neighborhood, Ginny followed mountain roads through the Snoqualmie Cascades, already more than 24 miles into a journey that would demand 12 days of intense physical endurance.

Ginny was not hiking for a personal adventure. She was walking to save a prison program that she started.

After funding cuts threatened the work she had built inside Washington prisons, Burton chose an unconventional fundraiser. Instead of hosting a gala, she decided to demonstrate the same perseverance she teaches every day. Every mile has become a public statement that meaningful reentry requires commitment, accountability, and community.

Our conversation quickly became a reminder that lasting criminal justice reform depends on people willing to invest in others long before headlines appear. Here’s a little of Ginny’s story, and why we have decided to highlight her as a Changemaker in the space of Criminal Justice Reform.

Ginny Burton’s Journey Began As A Child Surrounded By Addiction

Burton describes herself as someone who reached the end of hope before discovering a new direction. “I was born in an addict family,” she began. “My life was pushed to the limits in discomfort for a really long time. At about the age of forty, I was incarcerated for the last time. I was just tired of living in purgatory.”

Following her release, Ginny began hiking, and pushing her body in new and powerful ways. What started as exercise gradually became a pathway for rebuilding her life.

“I had absolutely no idea that moving my body was going to be such an important part of my own personal restoration,” she told me. She described how Hiking gave her confidence, discipline, and eventually a framework she could teach others.

For the past thirteen years, Burton has returned to prisons across Washington to help incarcerated men build the internal foundations needed for lasting freedom.

She summarizes her mission with remarkable clarity. “I got myself out of the fire. and then I went back into the fire. Once I was stable enough to go back into the fire and pull my own people out, that’s what I’ve been doing for the last thirteen years.”

Ginny Burton Out Impact — Ginny Burton’s Remarkable Transformation

Why Ginny Burton Believes Reentry Starts From the Inside

Many reentry organizations focus on employment, housing, or education. Burton values every one of those supports. The difference, she explained, is that lasting change begins long before someone receives a job offer or apartment key.

“If a person hasn’t essentially defragmented their internals,” she said, “anything that we provide them externally is going to fall through those cracks.”

That philosophy forms the foundation of her 26-week curriculum. Before participants focus on careers or employment, they work through the deeper causes that shaped their lives. Burton teaches emotional awareness, integrity, healthy relationships, accountability, and self-reflection before turning to practical milestones like education, family reunification, and employment.

“I teach people how to address their underlying causes,” she explained. “Then we build skills of interpersonal relationships, personal relationship with self, employability through integrity, honesty, and transparency.”

The approach has produced remarkable outcomes. According to Burton, only one of the fifty-six men released after completing her program has returned to prison. Many have gone on to law school, become underwater welders, rebuild relationships with their families, and pursue goals they once believed were impossible.

Throughout our conversation, I kept hearing ideas that closely mirrored our own work at The Last Mile. We teach technical skills because opportunity matters. Ginny teaches people how to become ready to sustain those opportunities. Together, those approaches create the strongest foundation for successful reentry.

Why Ginny Burton Is Walking Across Washington

Programs producing strong outcomes are not immune from financial uncertainty.

After Washington reduced funding for community partner contracts, Burton lost the government support that had sustained her work. Rather than scaling back, she chose to turn the challenge into a public demonstration of everything she teaches.

“I’m not just gonna sit around and wait for somebody to think that we’re good enough,” she said. “I’m gonna put my feet to the test, make a lot of noise about it while I’m doing it, and I’m gonna ask people to participate while showing real results.”

Instead of organizing a traditional fundraising gala, Burton decided that her fundraiser should reflect her mission.

“Most people have fancy fundraisers where there’s a lot of food and alcohol and people wearing fancy clothes,” she said with a laugh. “Let’s put our feet where our mouth is. Let’s stop complaining and start walking.”

That perspective stayed with me long after our conversation ended.

Like many nonprofits working in criminal justice, The Last Mile has also experienced how difficult today’s funding environment has become. Resources grow tighter while the need continues to expand. Burton’s response was not frustration or resignation. She simply started walking.

Every mile became evidence that she was willing to invest in the mission before asking others to do the same.

I’m not just gonna sit around and wait for somebody to think that we’re good enough. I’m gonna put my feet to the test.”

Ginny Burton

Why Supporting Allies Like Ginny Burton Matters

People often ask me what they can do to support The Last Mile.

Of course, financial donations matter. So does volunteering. So does creating employment opportunities and speaking honestly about the realities people face after incarceration. Lasting change depends on far more than any single nonprofit can accomplish alone.

That is why I believe people like Ginny Burton deserve our support.

Throughout our conversation, Burton returned repeatedly to one central idea: reentry should be measured by lasting outcomes rather than short-term activity.

“I believe organizations often want to acclimate to the dollars that are available,” she told me, “as opposed to having the dollars acclimate to the work that we do.”

She continued by describing what she believes every reentry program should ultimately pursue.

“How can this person become the strongest version of themselves?” she asked. “We have to start from the inside out, not the outside in.”

Watch Ginny Burton's 310-mile fundraising journey

CHANGEMAKER SPOTLIGHT

Walk Alongside Ginny Burton

Watch Ginny describe the journey behind her 310-mile walk across Washington, why she created Out Impact, and why lasting reentry begins by rebuilding people from the inside out.

Watch on Instagram →

“The bottom is the place where we start to build.”

Near the end of our interview, Burton offered a line that perfectly captured both her philosophy and her journey.

“The bottom isn’t the place where we lay down and die,” she said. “The bottom is the place where we start to build.”

That sentence has stayed with me.

The moment someone leaves prison is not the end of their story. It is the point where rebuilding becomes possible. Organizations like Out Impact and The Last Mile exist to help people continue taking those next steps.

Leaders like Ginny Burton remind us that transformation is possible, but only when someone is willing to walk beside another person until they can walk on their own.

If Ginny’s story resonated with you, I encourage you to learn more about her work through Out Impact. Explore the program, review its outcomes, and, if you’re able, consider making a contribution to help sustain this remarkable work.

About Changemaker Spotlight

Changemaker Spotlight is a recurring series from The Last Mile highlighting the people, organizations, and leaders driving meaningful change across the criminal justice system. From advocates and researchers to employers, educators, and those with lived experience, we feature individuals whose work is creating opportunity, restoring dignity, and building a more effective path forward.

Know someone whose story deserves to be shared? We’d love to hear from you. Send your nominations to robert.roche@thelastmile.org with a brief description of their work and why they should be featured in a future Changemaker Spotlight.