Against All Odds: How Greg Ellis Is Transforming a Life of Challenges into Opportunities for Justice-Impacted People

Sentenced to decades in prison, Greg Ellis overcame illness, loss, and setbacks to transform his life—and now helps justice-impacted people prepare for success through The Last Mile.

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When Greg Ellis entered prison, his world narrowed to concrete walls and survival. Sentenced to 20-40 years, he settled into the rhythms of incarceration without thinking much about the years ahead. Halfway through his sentence, a single conversation in the prison yard shifted his perspective. It set him on a path from simply “doing time” to reshaping his life and, eventually, helping to create other opportunities for justice-impacted people.

A Conversation That Changed His Perspective

Before prison, Greg’s life was marked by fast decisions and dangerous choices. Sentenced to 20 to 40 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections, Greg entered prison with no clear plan for the future.

Greg focused on survival, not self-improvement, during his early years inside. “I was just living my life, surviving my incarceration in the penitentiary.” he recalled. Time was something to endure, not to use for personal growth.

Then came the turning point. Greg met a younger man—smart, disciplined, and full of potential—serving a seven-year sentence. Greg admired him and even saw him as a mentor. But after his release, Greg’s friend quickly returned to prison and now serves a life sentence. The shock of seeing him back changed everything.

Together on the yard again, Greg asked his friend what he would have done differently. The reply was simple but powerful: “He said he would have learned some type of trade or taken a class. He said he should have become employed after he got out. That really changed my perspective on everything.”

The conversation hit Greg deeply. “I really started thinking. I got a lot of felonies, and I realized I needed to start preparing for the day I got out.” From that moment on, he began to see his remaining years in prison as an opportunity to build the skills and mindset he would need for a life beyond the walls.

Discovering the Power of Education

Once Greg made the decision to prepare for life after prison, he faced the challenge of figuring out how to do it. He had no formal plan, no roadmap—just the urgency to act. At first, he sought advice from others inside, asking about books, classes, or programs that could give him a head start.

His first breakthrough came when someone recommended a book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. “That book really made sense to me,” Greg reflected. “It’s basically about cultivating a mindset. I realized the first thing I need to do is just start changing my mindset.”

The book challenged his belief that he couldn’t build a future without a formal education. It showed him that success started with how he thought about money, work, and opportunity.

Greg became a relentless learner. He started studying finance and economics daily, beginning with the Barron’s Financial Handbook and Dictionary. “I still have that book right now. It looks like it’s been through a lot, because I was always referencing it on the inside,” he said.

Remarkably, access to business books in prison are restricted commonly restricted. “Where I was, you couldn’t get business books. They thought you were going to run a business enterprise.” On more than one occasion, he had to hide that he was teaching himself about business just to avoid suspicion.

“Sometimes I would change the cover to hide what I was reading. I had to network. I had to think outside the box. If I wanted to study the stock market, one of my favorite teachers would bring books in for me, and I would study those books.”

Every page he read, every concept he mastered, was part of the future he was building for himself. Greg was refusing to let his past define his future. 

Joining The Last Mile To Build His Own Financial Future

By the time The Last Mile’s web development program reached Greg’s facility, he had already completed his Associate’s degree in Business Administration with a 3.95 GPA. His interest in finance had evolved into a fascination with stock trading, and he saw coding as the next step to mastering that world.

When Greg read the program flyer carefully for the first time, the possibilities clicked. He envisioned learning enough programming to build his trading algorithm. He wanted to build a tool to make his future stock trades more efficient and cost-effective. “I said, if I can create my own algorithms, I won’t have to pay others to build my wealth,” he recalled. For Greg, the class was all about creating an edge in a world where he knew he’d be starting from behind.

Getting entry into the program was not an easy task. The application process drew about 200 submissions. From those, the panel invited only 72 applicants to the next stage and selected only 18—one of them being Greg Ellis.

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A Difficult Health Crisis From Within Prison Walls

Once in the classroom, Greg encountered a world of coding concepts, problem-solving exercises, and the challenge of using a computer for the first time. Just as he was gaining momentum, however, his health took a turn for the worse.

During one session, Greg felt a sudden wave of weakness and pain. EMS removed Greg from the TLM classroom by ambulance and rushed to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed severe heart disease. The treatment required open-heart surgery — a daunting prospect for anyone, but especially for those in the restrictive conditions of incarceration.

“Going to the hospital didn’t stop me from coming back,” Greg recalled. “If I can’t control my health, I can still control what I learn.”

Recovery was grueling. The weeks following surgery were marked by strict limitations and the emotional strain of being cut off from the classroom community. But Greg refused to let the setback define the end of his learning. As soon as he was medically cleared, he returned to TLM. Finishing the program was never optional in his mind — it was essential.

Losing His Father and Fighting to Return to the Classroom

Greg had just returned from a doctor’s appointment, his heart monitor still strapped to his chest from recent tests. An officer told him to “call home immediately,” and something in the urgency unsettled him. First, he tried his mother, who didn’t answer. His father, who always picked up, also didn’t answer.

“Something hit me. Why isn’t my dad picking up the phone?” He called his cousin, who urged him to call home again. Greg pressed, “What’s up with my dad?” and after a long pause, his cousin’s voice broke: “He didn’t make it.”

His father had suffered a heart complication while cutting grass on his birthday. Within hours, Greg himself was sent back to the hospital, and two weeks later, still reeling from grief, he underwent open-heart surgery. When he woke, surrounded by machines and guards, he panicked until they held him down. “My chest hurt so bad, man. The rehabilitation process was hell.”

Determined to return to the TLM classroom, Greg made recovery his mission. He paced his cell, counting the steps needed for his recovery, pushing through pain and shortness of breath. During rehab sessions, he timed his walks to meet the required distance so he could leave the hospital unit. “I mustered up the strength, just so I could get back. I had to get back to the classroom, no matter what.”

Against the weight of grief, the strain of surgery, and even catching COVID during recovery, Greg returned and finished the Web Development Fundamentals program. “I thought I wasn’t gonna make it,” he admitted, but he did — driven by the mindset he had committed to years earlier: prison time would not be wasted time.

A Crushing Setback After Gaining Freedom

Greg walked out of prison in March 2022 with a The Last Mile diploma in hand, eager to put his skills to work. He connected with a coach from TLM’s reentry team and started mapping out a future in tech. Coding was his passion, and he had already set his sights on attending Hack Reactor.

He moved into his late father’s house, confident there were no issues. His mother had been asked if there were any firearms in the home, and she answered no, but she didn’t know about a shotgun his father had left behind. Four months into his release, Greg was at his computer in a Code the Dream virtual classroom, wearing his program shirt, when there was a knock at the door. Officers entered for a routine search and found the shotgun.

Parole rules are absolute: possession of a firearm, intentional or not, is a violation. Greg was handcuffed on the spot and sent back to prison for another year. “I was just healing up from my heart surgery, trying to be there with my family. I was doing good, and they put me right back into prison.”

Becoming “Greg ‘Grindlight’ Ellis“

It was a punishing blow. Greg had to wait a whole year to see the parole board, which ultimately ruled for his release. The delay meant he was once again subject to the ‘penitentiary politics’ he thought he had left behind. “To be subjected to the entire process again, that was one of the hardest things I’ve been through.”

Still, Greg used the setback to reflect. “I learned a lot about myself. I’m resilient and I’m determined. I deal with adversity well.” That resilience would soon be put to work in a new way.

When Greg was finally released for the second time, TLM offered him a position. He was surprised to learn that during his incarceration, he’d been featured on the organization’s “Grind Light” multiple times for his work ethic and determination. When they introduced him as an employee, they called him “Greg ‘Grindlight’ Ellis.”

The role would allow him to transition from coding to building systems that directly supported justice-impacted individuals, using his own story as proof that transformation was possible.

Living a Life of Service With The Last Mile

Today, as Project Manager Lead for The Last Mile, Greg builds stronger pathways for returned citizens to secure employment and stability. “We’re letting the classroom know what services are offered once they come home. We answer all types of questions about re-entry, then we help with every step of the process after their release.” Greg’s lived experience gives weight to his message: Transformation is possible with preparation, persistence, and support.

Greg also plays a key role in advancing TLM’s Turn2U Scholarship Program, which provides financial support to help qualified children of TLM students and TLM alumni to pursue education. “I want every student in our classrooms to know about the scholarship program. If they want more education for themselves or their children, they can apply.”

Greg’s vision has expanded to developing a mentorship network so scholarship recipients gain guidance, community, and encouragement as they pursue their goals. By connecting students, alumni, and families, Turn2U strengthens educational outcomes and the bonds between incarcerated parents and their children.

Greg Ellis has transformed his hardships into positive influence, from secretly reading business books while incarcerated to helping manage a scholarship program that extends well beyond prison walls. Despite facing serious illness, personal loss, and systemic challenges, he remains committed to personal growth with each obstacle he encounters.

Through The Last Mile, Greg now shares the lesson his friend’s life sentence first taught him: preparation matters, and transformation is possible. Today, he’s making sure the next generation has the tools and the community to start their journey toward a better future.

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

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