Five Ways Our 2025 Ambassador Impact Campaigns Led Transformative Change
They underwent months of training and production last year, premiering their justice-centered films in Los Angeles, CA, in July and launching right into six-month impact campaigns. Now, we’re reflecting on how the Represent Justice 2025 Ambassador cohort used their stories not only to illuminate injustice within our carceral systems but to actively reshape them.
Our 2025 Ambassador Impact Report showcases how nine campaigns led by formerly incarcerated storytellers-turned-filmmakers moved beyond using their films to build awareness to using them as a powerful tool to shape policy, partnerships, and public will.
Here are just five of the report’s key takeaways:
Turning Stories Into Policy Change
In Massachusetts, Emmanuel “Noble” Williams’ film The Making of a Mask became part of advocacy efforts to end lifetime parole for young people. His work helped humanize the issue for lawmakers and communities alike, contributing to a bill that has now been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
In Minnesota, Autumn Mason helped develop a full legislative proposal. Her Family Stability & Justice Reform Package offers concrete solutions to keep families together and reduce recidivism, rooted in her film’s exploration of how incarceration impacts children.
And in Alabama and Texas, Ambassadors like Dena Dickerson and Marci Marie Simmons brought their films directly into spaces with policymakers, legal advocates, and justice system leaders, bridging the gap between lived experience and decision-making.
Building Community and Cross-Sector Partnerships
The power of a story to inspire change comes from the collective space it lives in.
Our 2025 Ambassador cohort partnered with universities, advocacy organizations, correctional institutions, arts organizations, and grassroots groups to expand the reach and impact of their campaigns. Take Angelique Todd and her film, Advocacy is Life or Death, for instance. She built partnerships with local organizations and universities to facilitate conversations that focused on policy and survivor-led advocacy.
From the University of Alabama to the Detroit Justice Center, from Watertown High School classrooms to reentry programs in Alabama, these partnerships created spaces for real dialogue, learning, and collaboration.
These Stories Change Minds
These films challenged harmful narratives about incarceration, trauma, and reentry—and replaced them with something far more honest: lived experience.
Heather Jarvis’ It’s Not Okay disrupted the myth of a “perfect” reentry story, while John Medina’s The Cure Complex exposed systemic failures in how substance use is treated, calling for people-centered care over punitive systems.
Educators, students, and community members reported leaving screenings with a deeper understanding of how systems shape behavior and how healing, not punishment, must be at the center of reform.
Reaching System-Impacted People
Ambassadors brought their films directly into prisons, reentry programs, and communities of people navigating the justice system—creating opportunities for reflection, healing, and connection.
In Illinois, NaJei Webster’s screenings reached women preparing for reentry, while state leaders in attendance were inspired to explore new community navigator programs.
And Coco Davis’ film was screened for 70 incarcerated individuals at Lake County Adult Corrections Facility, plus caseworkers, probation officers, and facility staff.
A Growing Movement of Storytellers and Changemakers
Collectively, these Ambassadors are part of a growing movement of system-impacted people reclaiming their narratives, reshaping public discourse, and driving change.
Their films are more than stories. They are tools for organizing, advocacy, and transformation.
Their work shows us that when we invest in directly impacted leaders—not just as storytellers, but as strategists, advocates, and partners—we can inspire and accelerate real, lasting change.