Bayron Wilson openly acknowledges he served time in prison. But he rejects the labels society places on people like him, which can become barriers as powerful as prison walls.

“I am not an ex-con,” Wilson said. “I am a father, I’m a husband, I’m a boss, I am a Black man. I have so many other things that I am, but I’m not an ex-con.”

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Changing the narrative around formerly incarcerated people is at the heart of Wilson’s work as chief operating officer and co-founder of Urban Alchemy, a San Francisco-based nonprofit. He and Dr. Lena Miller — a therapist, co-founder, and CEO —have grown Urban Alchemy into one of the nation’s largest employers of formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted people while providing services for unhoused residents and communities in crisis.

Trauma and Healing

The organization employs approximately 1,300 people, with Wilson estimating that nearly all of them have experienced arrest or incarceration, homelessness, addiction, or mental health challenges. All of them, he says, have value.

“We can be much more than what the world tries to call us,” Wilson said.

The organization’s roots trace back to San Francisco’s Hunters Point neighborhood, one of the city’s historic Black communities. Wilson recalled watching Miller, a trauma specialist, bring together young people from rival groups while teaching about the impact of trauma on behavior.

At the time, Wilson said he didn’t get Miller’s approach, in part because he was dealing with his own issues — including a crime that would land him in prison. “When you’re currently in it, you don’t understand all the facts of trauma,” he said.

After his release, Wilson turned his life around. He worked in reentry programs helping formerly incarcerated individuals find employment. What he observed troubled him: organizations that said they supported people returning home from prison but only offered dead-end jobs with little opportunity for growth.

Urban Alchemy was built to remove those barriers.

“There’s not going to be any ceilings,” Wilson says. “This is about opportunities. You can go as high as you want in the organization.”

Emotional Intelligence

The organization operates through three primary areas: housing communities, connected communities, and safe communities.

Housing communities include shelters and temporary housing that emphasize dignity and relationship-building. Connected communities include Oasis centers that offer showers, storage, restrooms and welcoming spaces for unhoused residents. And safe communities provide alternatives to traditional law enforcement responses for people experiencing homelessness, behavioral health crises and other nonviolent situations.

The approach, Wilson says, is rooted in trauma-informed care and empowering their clients. Wilson frequently references the idea that trauma can lead to emotional intelligence when people are given opportunities to heal.

“Those closer to the problem happen to be those closer to the solution,” he said, pointing to comic book superhero origin stories, like Spider-Man’s radioactive spider bite and the destruction of Superman’s home planet. 

“Every superhero goes through something,” Wilson says. “When you go through something, you’re either going to use your power for good or use your power for bad.”

Common Experiences

Many Urban Alchemy staffers share origin stories with the people they serve. That common ground often creates trust that traditional systems struggle to establish.

“A lot of Black men nowadays, we’re ‘justice impacted’” through their own arrest or incarceration or a loved one’s, Wilson says. “Our father, our brother, someone in your family might experience that. Whether you want to say it or not, it impacted you in some kind of way.”

Rather than focusing solely on past mistakes, Urban Alchemy encourages a focus on purpose.

“This isn’t a second-chance organization,” Wilson said. “I’m just living in my purpose.”

That philosophy extends to the people in Urban Alchemy facilities who are experiencing homelessness. Staff refer to residents as guests and strive for excellent service. 

“We want to give them a five-star treatment,” he said. “We believe in first and foremost, you have to know the story.”

‘Believe in Yourself’

The work has reshaped Wilson’s own understanding of people behind bars.

“What has surprised me is there are so many gifted, so many talented Black men and Brown men in prison,” he said. “They just need an opportunity.”

Wilson, a graduate of Grambling State University, said he encountered extraordinary intelligence while incarcerated.

“There were so many brothers back there that I learned had much higher EQ than I could ever imagine,” he said. “So many brothers that are so much more intelligent, read so many more books, understood the Bible so much better than I did.”

For parents raising children in neighborhoods where trauma is common, Wilson offers simple but powerful advice. Trust your heart as much as your mind, don’t allow life’s daily frustrations to dictate major decisions, and that something as simple as breathing can interrupt cycles of trauma and poor decision-making. 

“Believe in yourself,” he said. “Don’t let anyone or anything take you away from your light. You’re so much more to the world.”

For Wilson, Urban Alchemy’s mission is not merely about employment, housing or public safety. It is about restoring dignity and helping people transform hardship into purpose.

“We understand the vision,” he said. “We’re going to change the world.”

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