Texas
Marci Marie Simmons is a justice reform advocate, educator, and storyteller who centers the experiences of incarcerated women and gender-expansive people. Through her work, she raises awareness about gender-specific challenges in the criminal legal system while fostering healing, empowerment, and community support for those impacted by incarceration.

California
John Medina Jr. is a program manager and criminal justice reform advocate who transformed his life through education after a childhood shaped by adversity, bullying, and incarceration. Now holding a Master’s Degree in Social Work, he supports formerly homeless adults navigating complex behavioral health challenges, including co-occurring disorders, through systems navigation, practical, community-based support, and person-centered approaches that empower individuals to take action, build belief in their ability to transform, and move forward with purpose. His work is grounded in a vision of communities where people live with dignity and autonomy, have access to the resources they need, and are not defined by systems, diagnoses, or past experiences.

Virginia
Kemba Smith Pradia, once sentenced to 24.5 years in prison for drug-related offenses, became a prominent advocate for criminal justice reform after receiving clemency from President Clinton, and now works as a public speaker, author, and consultant while continuing her activism through various organizations and her own foundation.

Georgia
Waleisah Wilson is a passionate criminal justice reform activist and organizer who founded NewLife Second Chance Outreach, Inc. after her release from prison in 2011 to provide essential employment and entrepreneurship services and workshops for individuals with criminal convictions, while advocating for disability justice, voting rights, bail reform, faith community inclusion, an end to solitary confinement, fines & fees, mass incarceration and prison labor in Georgia, and the removal of barriers to reentry.

Louisiana
Norris Henderson, Founder and Executive Director of VOTE and Voters Organized to Educate, leverages his 27 years of wrongful incarceration to advocate for public policy reform in areas like police accountability and public defense, while actively working to uplift communities of color across Louisiana through various leadership roles and community outreach.