Jameed Jones

CEO & Owner, Divaz and Conz

To the Divaz and Conz community,

Divaz and Conz was born during the COVID-19 pandemic from a simple but powerful realization: incarcerated people deserve more than a pen-pal website.

After spending 22 years incarcerated, I have experienced many of the challenges that come with long-term incarceration firsthand. I know what it feels like to be separated from family, to feel forgotten, to battle hopelessness, and to wonder whether there is still a meaningful place for you in the world outside those walls.

I also learned something important during those years:

That belief became the foundation for Divaz and Conz.

I assembled a team of people who shared my vision because I wanted to create something that addressed the things traditional inmate social and pen-pal websites have overlooked. I wanted to build a platform that could help people establish genuine connections while also providing access to education, information, resources, and opportunities for personal growth.

Divaz and Conz is not simply another pen-pal site. It is a social community created for people who want to connect, communicate, learn, grow, network, and pursue a better future.

Behind every profile is a person with a story.

At Divaz and Conz, we believe incarcerated individuals should have the opportunity to be seen for more than their convictions.

There are people who want friendship. People searching for companionship. Parents trying to maintain relationships with their families. Artists looking for an audience. Entrepreneurs developing ideas. Students looking for knowledge. People preparing for reentry. And people simply looking for someone willing to listen.

Our platform is designed to bring those people together. Divaz and Conz provides a place where members can create profiles, introduce themselves, build meaningful connections, communicate with others, and become part of a larger community.

But we do not want to stop there. We are working toward creating a platform that provides opportunities for social connection, education, networking, entertainment, self-expression, legal education, and personal development in one environment.

Our vision includes features and resources such as:

• Incarcerated-person profiles
• Social networking
• Pen-pal and friendship connections
• Searchable profiles
• Audio and video content
• Educational resources
• Networking opportunities
• Family and supporter engagement
• Reentry-focused resources
• A dedicated legal research library
• Information designed to encourage personal growth and self-development

The goal is simple: give people something productive to participate in while they are incarcerated and something meaningful to take with them when they return home.

Sometimes the first step is simply learning how to ask the right question.

One of the most important parts of our vision is the Divaz and Conz Law Library. This project is especially important to me because I understand what it is like to be incarcerated and have questions about your case, your sentence, your rights, or the laws that affect you — and not know where to begin looking for answers.

Legal information can be difficult to understand. Court decisions can be hundreds of pages long. Statutes can be complicated. Legal terminology can be confusing. And simply knowing that a legal resource exists does not necessarily mean an incarcerated person knows how to find or use it. We want to help close that information gap.

The Law Library is being developed as an educational and legal research resource where members can access publicly available legal information and learn how to conduct their own research — including constitutional law, state and federal statutes, case law, sentencing and criminal-law resources, appeals and post-conviction resources, civil-rights resources, and legal research education itself.

Our goal is not to pretend that a website can replace an attorney. It cannot. Divaz and Conz is not a law firm, and the Law Library does not provide legal representation or guarantee a particular legal result. What we can do is help provide access to information and research tools.

I am particularly grateful to the paralegals and legal-minded individuals who have volunteered their time and knowledge to help us develop this part of the platform. Their contribution is helping turn an idea into something that can potentially benefit thousands of people.

I did not create Divaz and Conz because I wanted to build another website. I created it because I know what it feels like to need something that does not exist.

For 22 years, I have watched people struggle with isolation, limited opportunities, lack of information, and the difficulty of maintaining meaningful relationships from behind prison walls. I wanted to create a place that says:

That is the spirit behind Divaz and Conz.

This Is Our Community

Divaz and Conz belongs to the people who believe in what we are trying to accomplish. It belongs to the incarcerated person searching for friendship. It belongs to the family member trying to stay connected. It belongs to the person who wants to learn. It belongs to the person preparing for redemption. It belongs to the person developing a business idea. It belongs to the person who refuses to allow incarceration to become the end of their story.

This is a site for people seeking redemption, growth, connection, and opportunity. And we want to build it with you.

I want to personally express my gratitude to every friend, supporter, family member, and person who has stood beside me throughout this journey.

Building something from inside a correctional institution comes with obstacles that most people will never understand. There were times when this vision existed only as an idea in my mind. There were times when I questioned whether it could actually become reality.

But people believed in me. Friends supported me. People offered their time and knowledge. And members of the team helped turn the vision into something tangible. Without that support, Divaz and Conz would not be where it is today.

I am especially grateful to the people who endured the struggle with me and continued supporting this endeavor when it would have been easier to walk away.

And to the paralegals who stepped forward to help us build the Law Library: thank you. Your contribution is bigger than simply helping build a website. You are helping create access to knowledge for people who desperately need it.

I want to end this message by speaking directly to you.

Never give up on yourself. Do not allow a sentence to become your identity. Do not allow incarceration to convince you that your life has no value.

Use your time. Read. Study. Learn. Build relationships with positive people. Develop your mind. Develop your skills. Write down your ideas. Prepare for your future. And when opportunities to improve yourself appear, take advantage of them.

Napoleon Hill wrote about the power of a desire for freedom that becomes strong enough to inspire action. That principle has remained meaningful to me throughout my own journey.

Wanting freedom is important. But wanting it strongly enough to work toward becoming the person capable of sustaining it — that is where the real work begins.

So keep fighting. Keep learning. Keep believing. Keep preparing. And never allow anyone to convince you that your past is the only thing that defines you.

It is not what they sentenced you to. It is what you accept.