Teela Mickles

Teela A. Mickles is the founder and CEO of Compassion In Action, Inc., serving individuals confined in prison and families affected by incarceration since 1994. She also introduced the RAW DAWGS Youth Corps. Gang Prevention program for boys 5 to 13 to the city of Omaha in 2014 and created the Sister-To-Sister Program for girls 5 to 18 in 2004. She is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the African American Leadership Award, the Outstanding Non-Profit Administrator Award from the NE Chapter of American Society for Public Administration, the Partnership Award from the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and the Community Excellence Award from the University of Nebraska's Criminal Justice & School of Criminology. The latest, "Trailblazer" Award from Congress Don Bacon also noted in the Congressional Record. She currently serves on the Mayors Citizens Complaint Review Board and networks with a variety of agencies, faith groups and community advocates including OPD, OPS, UNO, Creighton University, Skutt Catholic High School and committed volunteers. Now celebrating more than 30 years of community service and preparing Compassion In Action Pre-Release Education/Reentry Preparation Program Curriculum to be distributed nationwide via technology. Teela is also the author of the book, "What If?" published in May of 2022 and is working on additional publications. She also facilitates a wellspring of information workshops and seminars to educate and activate the public and reunite broken families. Teela has a large family and is in preparation of including several offspring in the mission going forward. One granddaughter is getting her doctorate at UNMC doing research on Mental Health and Childhood Trauma while another is getting her Batchlors Degree in Health & Human Services. Teela attributes her longevity of success in serving the 'forgotten' population and related services, to her strong faith in God's love and His value for all human beings.