For Chief Patrick Flannelly of Lafayette, Indiana, his first experience with advocacy had an unexpected start.

In 2013, he was attending a conference when a state legislator came to the front of the room to discuss the issue of expungement. As the lawmaker told the audience impassioned stories about Indiana citizens whose one-time mistakes made it harder for them to secure jobs or move through society, it occurred to Chief Flannelly that, despite the legislator’s good intentions, he was telling only one side of the story.