Hillary Blout
Founder, Executive director
Request Hillary as a speaker: press@fortheppl.org
Hillary Blout is the Founder and Executive Director of For The People, the national nonprofit transforming the justice system through Prosecutor-Initiated Resentencing (PIR). Under Hillary’s leadership, For The People has forged bipartisan partnerships with District Attorneys across the country to find people in prison who can be safely released, reuniting families and strengthening communities for generations to come.
In 2018, Hillary drafted and secured the passage of AB 2942—the nation’s first Prosecutor-Initiated Resentencing law. She founded For The People the following year to spearhead the law’s implementation. Her legislative and legal work has helped establish an emerging area of law, setting national standards for post-conviction justice.
Since founding For The People in 2019, Hillary has led the organization’s expansion across the country: PIR has now been enacted in six states and secured second chances for more than 1,000 people.
Hillary’s career began as a prosecutor, focusing on violent crimes against women and children—an experience that continues to inform her nuanced approach to justice. Later, she led efforts to promote second chances for thousands of people previously convicted of lower-level felonies statewide through expungement clinics and emerging legislative pathways.
Hillary’s contributions to the field have been widely recognized. In 2022, she became the recipient of Fast Company’s World-Changing Ideas Award. She also earned the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice award, along with being named one of San Francisco Business Times' Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.
A frequent speaker and trainer, Hillary has delivered keynotes and panels at Princeton University, the National District Attorneys Association, Stanford University, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Hill, Slate, USA Today, Bloomberg, and the American Bar Association Journal.
Hillary currently leads the nation’s first Prosecutor-Initiated Resentencing clinic at the University of California, Davis Law School. In 2021, she also hosted Prosecution Leaders of Now ensuring executive education for emerging leaders in prosecution. She is a Galaxy Gives Fellow, a social entrepreneur at Draper Richards Kaplan foundation, an Ashoka Fellow, a Leadership in Government Fellow and a proud member of theCouncil on Criminal Justice.
Hillary is from the Bay Area, and lives in Oakland with her husband and two boys.
Want to learn more? Read about Hillary Blout and For The People in The New York Times.