DR. BRADY HEINER
Dr. Heiner is the Founder and former Executive Director (2016-2022) of Project Rebound at Cal State Fullerton. Dr. Heiner was also the Founding Executive Director and Executive Committee Chair of the CSU Project Rebound Consortium (2019-2023), which provided leadership and oversight for the statewide expansion of Project Rebound programs across eighteen CSU campuses.
Dr. Heiner and Romarilyn Ralston, the founding Program Director, grew Cal State Fullerton's program from one student to over 100, earning the program recognition as a national model from both chambers of the California Legislature and as 2021 California Nonprofit of the Year for the 65th Assembly district. Together, they launched the transformative John Irwin Memorial House, which provides housing and holistic support for formerly incarcerated students, and they played key roles in advancing legislation like the Ban the Box in Higher Ed Act (SB 118, Skinner, 2020) and the Incarcerated Students Bill of Rights (SB 416, Hueso, 2021).
During CSU Fullerton’s term as lead campus for the systemwide expansion of Project Rebound (2019-2023), Project Rebound grew from nine CSU campus programs, operating with a $700,000 annual budget and twelve full-time equivalent staff serving 300 students, to eighteen campus programs, operating with a $12,000,000 annual budget and 41 full-time equivalent staff serving over 1,000 students. In four years, Project Rebound programs conferred over 600 bachelor’s and master’s degrees to formerly incarcerated graduates, quadrupled the number of students attending graduate programs, and increased the number of annual graduates from 61 graduates to 247 graduates.
