Biography

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Calvin Burnett, affectionately known as Cal, is an African-American novelist, publisher, screenwriter, entrepreneur, prison program facilitator and motivational speaker from Oakland, California. Cal was raised in a single parent home on the east side of Oakland, California and at an early age strayed down a negative path of violence, drug dealing, and substance abuse. He would spend over ten years (14-25) of his life running the streets, going back and forth to jail, and causing havoc throughout his community.​

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In 2021, Cal partnered with an Ohio based, prison reform organization, named C.L.E.A.N. Together they've conducted several financial literacy workshops for incarcerated men and women in Colorado, Georgia, and Ohio. Furthermore, Cal along with partners Antonio Smith and Sean Ross, have key-noted leadership workshops to probation and parole officers (American Probation & Parole Association; American Counseling Association; Ohio Wardens and Superintendant Conference) in Seattle, Wa, Indianapolis, In, Orlando, Fl, and Las Vegas, Nv.

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His proudest act of service came from developing a curriculum for a class he instructed called, The Fatherhood Circle Program. This class sponsored by the non-profit, Black Infant Health of San Francisco, taught absentee fathers skills and provided resources on how to reconnect with their children after hiatuses due to substance abuse, incarceration, inconsistent parenting, and other obstacles.

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Cal's ultimate goal is to reach back to those still trapped in the matrix and offer his testimony as proof that anyone who commits to change can be delivered from what appears to be an unbreakable cycle.