GSU is an enterprising public research institution in the heart of Atlanta. Blending academic rigor with a rich college experience since 1913, Georgia State University transforms the lives of students, advances the frontiers of knowledge and shapes future leaders. Enrolling one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation, the university provides associate-to-graduate-degree-level educational opportunities for tens of thousands across its downtown Atlanta Campus and five Perimeter College campuses. Graduating students from all backgrounds at equal, high rates, Georgia State is the national model for student success.

Common Good Atlanta provides people who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated with access to higher education by connecting Georgia’s colleges and professors with Georgia’s prison classrooms.

We believe that broad, democratic access to higher education for people affected by incarceration strengthens the common good of our communities.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation was established in 1969 to strengthen, promote, and defend the arts and humanities as essential to democratic societies. We believe that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.