About Mark L. Goldsmith

Mark L. Goldsmith is the Founder and CEO Emeritus of Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO), a non profit organization that works to help young men of color who have been incarcerated to re enter society through “education, employment and emotional wellbeing.”

Mr. G, as many of the young men he has worked with call him, founded GOSO in 2004, aged 68, having retired from a 35 year career on Madison Avenue as an advertising executive for several international cosmetics companies as well as having founded his own company.

The inspiration for forming GOSO came, post retirement, as a result of his wife Dr. Arlene Goldsmith recommending that he volunteer as Principal for the Day at the Horizon Academy at Rikers Island. He realized that many of the young men he was meeting had no hope, and saw no future for themselves beyond the world they already inhabited.  Goldsmith wanted to show the young men that they had skills that could be applied in the outside world to improve their lives.  His mentorship was so well received that he was invited to return to Rikers on a regular basis, and from there GOSO was born.

Over the 15 years that Goldsmith was at the helm, GOSO helped over 1000 inmates a year, and the recidivism rate at Rikers Island went from over 66% to under 15% for inmates between 16 -24 years of age.  Now aged 85, Goldsmith regularly receives updates and even Father’s Day cards from many of the young men he mentored.

In recognition of his work and commitment to helping young people stay out of the criminal justice system, Goldsmith was awarded the Encore.org Purpose Prize as well as a Richard Cornuelle Award for Social Leadership. In 2017, he also attended the White House summit on Reentry Services, where GOSO was commended as a program to be replicated throughout the U.S.

In writing “From Madison Avenue to Rikers Island”, Goldsmith hopes not only to share his life story and those of the young men he has helped, but, most importantly, to inspire others to use the skills they have honed in their working lives to give back and make a difference.