Attorney pays it forward
Her own experience drives her to help children of incarcerated parents
In her heart, an Oklahoma City attorney considers children of the incarcerated part of her extended family.
Francie Ekwerekwu, 30, said she knows what it is like to live without a parent due to imprisonment because her own father was incarcerated from the time she was age 5 until she turned 27.
“I feel like these kids are my brothers and sisters,” she said.
That empathy fuels her passion for her work with The Education and Employment Ministry, also known as TEEM.
By working on behalf of people coming out of jail and prison, Ekwerekwu said she feels like she is indirectly helping their children and entire families lead better lives.
“Who is the underdog here and how can they be helped?”
“It's not always easy to share because it's something that society has told us we should be ashamed of. Society tells us that children like myself and my brothers are seven times more likely to end up in prison or in jail just like our parents.” Francie Ekwerekwu
said she of youths who have incarcerated parents.
“I'm like wow, I know that life.”
The attorney currently represents TEEM's community sentencing clients in Oklahoma County family court, walking them through such issues as child custody, paternity and divorce. Before that, she worked exclusively as the nonprofit's attorney arguing for lower bail bonds for the agency's clients.
She said she didn't learn that her dad was in prison until she was 16. She grew up thinking that he had gone back to his native Nigeria. Ekwerekwu said her mother, who divorced her father, is the “champion” of the family because she raised Ekwerekwu and her two brothers well, with support from their Arlington, Texas, community. The attorney said in many ways, she and her siblings were shielded from the stigma and negative experiences that often dog youths who have an incarcerated parent because they didn't learn about their father's imprisonment until they were older teens.
However, “even though we had a really strong mom, you can't run from the effects of an incarcerated family member,” she said.
After doing an internship for a Chicago organization that worked with incarcerated Illinois mothers, Ekwerekwu said she knew she wanted to help the incarcerated population in some way.
Paying it forward
Ekwerekwu made her way from Texas to Oklahoma via a volleyball scholarship at the University of Oklahoma.
After earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees in human relations at OU, she considered becoming a counselor but thought she might want to be a judge someday. Knowing that route meant law school, Ekwerekwu went to DePaul University, a private Catholic university in Chicago, where she earned her law degree in 2015.
“The principal of paying it forward has always appealed to me. I like helping people find solutions to better their lives,” she said.
Returning to Oklahoma, she made contact with the state task force on Children of Incarcerated Parents and heard Kris Steele, TEEM's executive director, speak at one of the group's meetings. Shortly before she passed the Oklahoma bar exam and became a practicing attorney in 2016, she was hired by TEEM as a case manager. After she became an attorney, she began working with the faith-based agency on the legal end.
Ekwerekwu said she hasn't always shared her personal testimony but she has changed over the years.
“I feel like God has given me this awesome vehicle and He is like `I need you to share your story because you are going to help so many people,'” she said.
“It's not always easy to share because it's something that society has told us we should be ashamed of. Society tells us that children like myself and my brothers are seven times more likely to end up in prison or in jail just like our parents. Hearing that I'm like `Oh no! I'm going to help these kids shatter that. That's not going to be my clients' kids— we're going to beat that.' “
Shavonna Moore, case manager II supervisor at TEEM, said Ekwerekwu is an “inspiration” whose compassion shines through all that she does.
“She knows and instills in me that AfricanAmerian women can be anything we want. She's always encouraged me,” said Moore, who is black.
“She always has something very powerful to say from the Word and she's always there with a smile. To know her is to love her.”
Serving in the community
Ekwerekwu's service doesn't end with her day job.
She has been a member of Fifth Street Baptist Church in northeast Oklahoma City since 2006.
Ekwerekwu said the church, led by the Rev. A. Byron Coleman, is an integral part of her life and she and her son Samson, 6, may be found there most Sundays.
Coleman, Fifth Street's senior pastor and chaplain for the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team, said Ekwerekwu is a great person to have in the pews where she is a good example for everyone, not just the young girls she often helps mentor. “She is a wonderful individual, just in terms of what she contributes to the ministry,” Coleman said. “She keeps us informed politically and legally. She's the type of member every pastor wants.”
Last year, Ekwerekwu extended her mentoring role when she became a volunteer coach for a girls' volleyball team at Thelma Parks Elementary School. Ekwerekwu said the team was formed through the Police Athletic League through a friend she made as a member of Leadership Oklahoma City Class 36.
The attorney recently broadened her horizons beyond the arenas of church, sports and the courtroom when she began to offer her talents to the world of academia.
She is currently an adjunct professor at her alma mater OU, teaching undergraduate and master's classes in the human relations department.
“God is good!” she said of her new opportunities.