David Ayala

David Ayala is the National Organizer for The Formerly Incarcerated Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM), a network of over 50 human rights organizations that is led by people with criminal records. FICPFM is committed to finding alternatives to criminalization, restoring the rights of those previously criminalized by the system, and working toward a society where prisons do not exist.

A native of Brooklyn, NY, David was raised by his single Puerto Rican mother. Needing to survive the English-speaking inner city, he became bilingual and bicultural as both Puerto Rican and African American. Considered an at risk youth at the age of 12, he entered the revolving doors of the criminal justice system. His new life began in 2006 when he was released from federal prison at the age of 33. Today, he holds an Associates of Arts degree in Business Administration from Valencia Community College, a Bachelor of Arts in Nonprofit Management from the University of Central Florida and is pursuing his Masters degree in Nonprofit Management from the University of Central Florida.

Since his release from prison, David has served as the first chapter President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, an organization dedicated to ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination of people with criminal convictions, and as the Southeast Regional Organizer for LatinoJustice. In that latter role, he used his felony-disenfranchisement expertise to develop the groundwork in the Latino community to help pass Amendment 4, which restored voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians with felony convictions.