Event
Topeka Outdoors
I hope you find as much inspiration exploring these events as I did being part of them, each one a step toward creating lasting impact. Hope to see you at the next one.
June 24–27, 2025 | Showboat Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
Healing. Strategy. Reentry Justice.
Dr. Topeka K. Sam, Founder and CEO of The Ladies of Hope Ministries, was honored as a keynote speaker and national panelist at the 2025 National Pull Up 4 Peace Conference, a transformative four-day convening in Atlantic City dedicated to violence prevention, public safety innovation, and reentry reform.
Bringing together policymakers, credible messengers, healers, organizers, and survivors, this annual conference serves as a national call to S.A.V.E.—Stand Against Violence Everywhere. The event supports frontline violence prevention workers and communities deeply impacted by incarceration, trauma, and systemic harm.
“We Are the Solution”: Centering Justice-Impacted Leadership
Dr. Sam took the main stage during the featured panel, "We Are the Solution: Justice-Impacted Leaders Transforming Reentry and Systems." She joined national advocates including Dr. Donna Hylton, Dr. Divine Pryor, Akbar Pray, Ayana Bean, Cassandra Severe, and Aisha Babilonia to discuss lived experience as expertise, legislative reform, and pathways to healing for people directly impacted by incarceration.
Together, they challenged traditional reentry frameworks and championed survivor-led, trauma-informed approaches that center dignity, leadership, and policy change.
Set Her Free: The Untold Stories of Justice-Impacted Women
As a cast member in the Set Her Free national documentary, Dr. Sam was also featured in a powerful panel lifting the voices of women criminalized for surviving violence and abuse. This session, hosted on the conference main stage, included fellow advocates and producers such as Dr. Jamila T. Davis, JLove Calderón, Donna Hylton, Dawn Jackson, and Nafeesah Goldsmith.
The discussion unpacked the trauma-to-prison pipeline, systemic failures in protecting survivors, and the urgent need for healing-centered criminal justice reform. Dr. Sam emphasized the importance of clemency, reentry support, and legislative transformation led by justice-impacted women.
National Platform for Transformational Change
With hundreds in attendance, the Pull Up 4 Peace Conference offered over 50 workshops, panels, healing spaces, and strategy sessions focused on:
- Community violence intervention (CVI)
- Reentry and survivorship
- Mental health and frontline burnout
- Healing circles and restorative justice
- Youth engagement and credible messenger training
- Systems building for trauma-informed public safety
Dr. Sam’s Leadership Among National Voices
Dr. Sam’s presence stood out among an esteemed lineup of leaders including:
- Mayor Ras J. Baraka, Newark, NJ
- Mayor Marty Small Sr., Atlantic City, NJ
- Tamika D. Mallory, Until Freedom
- Angelo Pinto, Esq., Until Freedom and IRSJA
- Deputy Mayor Lakeesha Eure, Newark Office of Violence Prevention
- Marcus McAllister, CVI Leadership Academy
- Greg Jackson, Jr., former White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention
- Tara Wallace, Co-Host of I Love Me More Podcast
- Dr. Chico Tillmon, University of Chicago Crime Lab
From the Frontlines to the Future
Throughout the conference, Dr. Sam echoed the theme that ran through every session: healing is the foundation of public safety. By sharing her personal story, her leadership with The Ladies of Hope Ministries, and her policy expertise, she helped define what equitable reentry and restorative justice can look like when those closest to the problem are empowered to lead the solution.
Together, we are not just saving lives—we are reshaping systems.
Dr. Topeka K. Sam continues to stand at the forefront of this movement, calling the nation to heal, build, and lead with love, purpose, and justice.
