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A Letter from the Editor:
I hope our faithful readers will forgive a shift in tone and perspective, but I felt a personal reflection was the best way I could honor the invaluable contributions Tobey Oxholm has made to PLSE and express my gratitude for his mentorship as he enters his retirement. When I joined PLSE in the summer of 2020, dread was the pervasive mood as we collectively struggled to find a new way of being in a world turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. This societal upheaval coincided with a period of disrupted stability for me personally, as a few months prior I’d quit my job without a plan, went through a breakup, and moved out of a shared apartment. I found myself in a state of paralysis brought on by a denial of the overwhelmingly untenable precarity of my own situation; I was more concerned with finding a new TV series to add to my streaming queue than finding a job.
When I first saw the listing for the Criminal Record Expungement Project Program Assistant position at PLSE, I initially thought it was a reach as I previously had no experience in law, but I believed strongly in PLSE’s mission and was also in the middle of binging the “The Good Wife”. Like many other listless 20 somethings, I’d started thinking about going to law school, though this was perhaps less an earnest intention than it was something to tell folks when they asked what I was up to, and a job at a pro bono law firm seemed like a good way to dip my toes in the water. I combed through PLSE’s website and was impressed by the bios on the staff page, especially by that of the ED at the time, Carl (Tobey) Oxholm III. Having a boss with an impressive bio and name with an ordinal number seemed like an appropriately adult thing, so I applied and eventually was offered an interview.
If you are at all familiar with Tobey’s distinguished career, or even have just spoken to him briefly on a Zoom call, it will come as no surprise that Tobey is a tough interviewer. In our first phone interview, we spoke for over an hour; any question to which I provided a meandering or unclear answer wasn’t left unchallenged. When it came time to negotiate my salary, my diffident attempt at self-advocacy was met with a characteristically Tobey “C’MON, MAN. You can do better than that!”. That is the type of response which perfectly exemplifies Tobey’s approach to mentorship. In my time working with him, Tobey has never once let me get away with undervaluing my own worth. He constantly challenges others to do more and to do better, not because he is focused on what is lacking, but rather because he possesses a genuine belief in the depth of their strength and capacity. Tobey is a great mentor and a great leader because he never underestimates anyone. He always sees in others a fount of potential and challenges them to tap and harness it. This is especially true when they do not perceive it within themselves.
Even a heavily abridged summary of Tobey’s accomplishments at PLSE would take up more space than appropriate in a newsletter. PLSE has only grown since my time here and that is partly a result of Tobey’s constant and unwavering presence. As Director of the Pardon Project, Tobey’s indefatigable efforts to create a more equitable environment for individuals with criminal convictions has led to the creation of a network of 30 county-level pardon projects across the commonwealth. In Philadelphia, the number of individuals who have access to free record clearing services continues to increase because of Tobey’s work during his tenure as PLSE’s Executive Director and his continued support thereafter. It is no exaggeration to say that without Tobey Oxholm, Pennsylvania would be less healthy and less just.
I have no doubt that countless others could say the same, but I am a smarter, more empathetic, and more confident leader because of Tobey’s mentorship. Though I certainly didn’t realize it at the time, the sure and certain arrival of a string of emails from Tobey between 6 and 8 every morning during the dark days of the pandemic provided me with the structure I needed to keep myself going. When I talked to him about my mental health struggles, he listened with empathy, kindness, and understanding. Whenever I feel my confidence slipping, I think of Tobey and say to myself, “C’MON, MAN. You can do better than that!”. Because of Tobey’s example, I try to see in each person I encounter a wellspring of untapped potential and remind myself that my own success as a leader is contingent on their ability to harness it and sometimes all it takes is a little encouragement. Tobey, thank you for always encouraging me to do better. I am so excited to see what new adventures await in your well-deserved retirement.
- Patrick Jackson Keough, PLSE Program Director
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