You Shouldn't Have to Go to Prison to Learn How to Live.
Too many people discover who they are — their discipline, their strength, their purpose — only after the system takes everything from them. Unnecessary University exists to change that. Before incarceration ever happens. And for those who have already been through it.
Lived Experience. Real Transformation.
Unnecessary University was founded on one core belief: that the most powerful tool for changing a life is the truth of a life already lived.
Not textbooks. Not theories. Not programs designed by people who have never felt what the people they're trying to serve have felt.
We serve people before the system gets them — and after it's done with them. Because both moments matter. And both require someone who's been there.
Real Experiences. Real Stories. Real Impact.
From Incarcerated to Unstoppable
Jermaine Brown made mistakes. He'll tell you that himself. But what he learned inside those walls — about himself, about trauma, about the cycles that trap generation after generation — became the foundation of everything Unnecessary University stands for.
He saw that most of the men around him weren't bad people. They were people who had never been given the language for their pain. Never taught how their past was driving their present. Never shown that their thoughts, their feelings, their repeated behaviors — were all connected. And all changeable.
He saw that prison was teaching what communities, families, and schools had failed to provide. And he decided that was unacceptable.
On December 24, 2023 — while still housed at Robinson Correctional Center — Jermaine founded The Trauma Unit, a peer-led mental health program designed to help incarcerated individuals understand and confront their trauma. After transferring to Kewanee Life Skills Re-Entry Center, he formally proposed the program to administration. On January 6, 2024, The Trauma Unit held its first official class.
When Jermaine was released, he didn't walk away from that world. He walked back toward it — as the Founder and CEO of Unnecessary University, and as an Individual Development Specialist supporting people in building life skills, overcoming barriers, and pursuing meaningful opportunities.
Unnecessary University's vision is a future where incarceration is no longer seen as a necessary experience for growth, education, or survival.
Where young people find mentorship before they find the system.
Where returning citizens find community before they find old habits.
Where lived experience becomes a bridge — not a barrier.
We are building toward a full-scale Unnecessary University Community Center- an Adult Transition Center for returning citizens and programming that reaches correctional facilities, schools, and communities across the country.
We're just getting started. And we're not stopping.
