As Beth Waitkus — a life-long nature lover, environmentalist, and social justice activist — was exploring ways to regain her faith in humanity after 9/11, she had the opportunity to tour and potentially volunteer at San Quentin State Prison. After visiting the prison’s reentry yard, she was asked if she would grow a garden there. It was the question that changed everything. 

Beth’s first years at Insight Garden Program (initially a project of the Insight Prison Project were focused on “planting seeds of change” — organizing weekly classes focused on environmental awareness and gardening skills, building stakeholder relationships in the prison to plan and install a flower garden on H-Unit, as well as doing thesis research on the Impact of a Garden Program on the Social Climate and Physical Environment of a Prison Yard at San Quentin State Prison.

After multiple meetings with prison staff and leadership, planning with volunteers, and a week-long installation process, the first flower garden was built a year later during Winter Solstice in December 2003. The garden offered IGP’s participants real hope and opportunity for change, shifting hearts and minds, as well as prison culture. 

Through the following years, as the program deepened and volunteer support expanded, IGP was able to navigate the complexities of California’s criminal justice system through multi-stakeholder collaborations and relationship-building with community members, prison staff and leadership, IGP participants, and people who had returned home. These connections were key to IGP’s initial growth and reputation.

Under Beth’s Leadership IGP expanded to ten additional California prisons, two youth facilities in Indiana, and an adult male facility in Ohio.

In July 2020, after 18 years, Beth stepped aside to make way for new leadership. As she mentioned in her transition statement, “IGP is at a historical inflection point. We have the biggest window of opportunity ever to advocate for change in IGP and beyond. As our seeds have grown and flourished, we offer so much more than we did in the early days. This opens a door for new leadership to guide the organization to greater depth in its work, culture, and community. My heart is full and my faith in the goodness of people and their capacity for change has been proven time and time again.”