​Through research on education programs in prisons, Dr. Hughes has seen how education plays a part in encouraging personal transformations and also in shifting a prison’s culture towards one that promotes meaningful activity and hope for the future. Since 2016 she has served as Founding Director of Fresno State’s Project Rebound, a California State University support program that helps formerly incarcerated students pursue a degree. Dr. Hughes is grateful for the opportunity to have assisted with the project’s expansion from one campus – San Francisco State – to now nine. Building partnerships with local prisons, working to increase rehabilitative offerings while enabling Fresno State students to gain greater insight into the meaning of Mandela’s words, has been an honor for Dr. Hughes.  ​