Leaders, Activists and now FILMMAKERS

Ambassador Stories

Leaders, activists, and now FILMMAKERS.

Check out the latest Ambassador class, who capped their year-long ambassadorship by using their stories to create impact in their communities!

Ambassador Films
Advocacy is Life or Death
Advocacy is Life or Death

By Angelique Todd

Advocacy is Life or Death follows an advocate for young women and girls experiencing sexual violence and trauma who finds herself navigating a bureaucratic system that refuses to question the status quo.

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Autumn
Autumn

By Autumn Mason

Autumn is a moving exploration of an often-overlooked fallout of incarceration: its devastating impact on children with parents behind bars.

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How Did I Get Here?
How Did I Get Here?

By Coco Davis

After serving over a decade in federal prison, a mother returns to a world filled with barriers, not just for herself but for her children, who carry the weight of her absence.

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It’s Not Okay
It’s Not Okay

By Heather Jarvis

In It’s Not Okay, a formerly incarcerated woman stands alone under a spotlight in an empty warehouse, reciting a raw, rhythmic spoken word poem that unravels the myth of the perfect reentry story.

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The Cure Complex
The Cure Complex

By John Medina

"The Cure Complex" uncovers the systemic failures that perpetuate Substance Use Disorder (SUD) through ineffective "evidence-based" practices and exposes how these systems, driven by Big Pharma, trap individuals in cycles of dependency through fear and control instead of empowering them to rebuild their lives.


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The Making Of A Mask
The Making Of A Mask

by Noble Williams

The Making of a Mask unearths the devastating link between childhood trauma and mass incarceration. The film challenges audiences to confront society’s role in perpetuating masks, and how we can help ourselves and others foster true healing and liberation. 

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The Trauma We Carry
The Trauma We Carry

By Dena Dickerson

 The Trauma We Carry details their journey helping others navigate re-entry from prison while fighting for justice and reform in the juvenile justice system that fails to address the root causes of childhood pain.

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The Truth Behind The Mask
The Truth Behind The Mask

By JeiJei Webster

The Truth Behind The Mask unpacks the significant challenges people experience when reentering society after prison.The film challenges audiences to remove judgement, embrace empathy and truly show up for people in reentry. 

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Whispers Beyond Bars
Whispers Beyond Bars

By Marci Marie Simmons

Whispers Beyond Bars details the reality of life in prison for pregnant women, exposing the lack of compassionate care for mothers who are incarcerated. The film follows a young pregnant woman who finds a journal revealing the harrowing journey of an incarcerated mother-to-be, only to discover a shattering truth: she is the child born within those very walls.

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Turning Stories Into Action

At its core, Represent Justice is about using the power of media to engage audiences in reimagining the justice system, and creating real demand for change.

  • Represent Justice’s mission is to turn stories into action by building narrative power within system-impacted communities and mobilizing audiences to transform the legal system.

  • Represent Justice’s vision is a fair legal system for system-impacted individuals and communities and an end to extreme sentencing and mass incarceration.

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Kemba
Kemba

Kemba is based on the true story of Kemba Smith, who as a college student fell in love with a man who turned out to be a drug kingpin and leads her down a dangerous path.

Songs from the Hole
Songs from the Hole

A documentary visual album, Songs From the Hole follows James “JJ’88” Jacobs through a musical opus of hip-hop and soul, inspired by his innermost struggles as both a person who has committed and experienced violent harm.

A Million Dollar Cage
A Million Dollar Cage

A Million Dollar Cage, produced by Ambassador Kent Mendoza, follows his journey as he fights to transform L.A. County’s youth justice system and create alternatives to incarceration.

Little April
Little April

Little April follows April Grayson, a Represent Justice Ambassador whose traumatic upbringing in foster care led to her involvement in the justice system, highlighting the struggles faced by youth like her and envisioning a transformative path to justice.

2026 Ambassadors

The Represent Justice Ambassador Program provides narrative power building training and opportunities to formerly incarcerated nonprofit leaders, advocates, and artists. Each Ambassador has a desire to grow their personal storytelling skills while also wanting to leverage those skills to disrupt harmful narratives and to advocate for change in the justice system.

Ambassadors
Angie Frias
2026 Ambassador
Angie Frias
2026 Ambassador

Angela “Angie” Frias, a justice-impacted creative and youth navigator in Long Beach, empowers young people through arts, film, and mentorship, using storytelling as a tool for healing and change.

2026 Ambassador
Courtenie Jackson
2026 Ambassador
Courtenie Jackson
2026 Ambassador

Courtenie Jackson, mother, author, and advocate, transforms lived experience into action—building pathways for justice-impacted people and redefining what true restoration and equity mean.

2026 Ambassador
Cecilia Zavala
2026 Ambassador
Cecilia Zavala
2026 Ambassador

Cecilia Zavala, Executive Director of Nation Outside, is a Detroit leader using lived experience to drive justice reform, equity, and healing through visionary reentry and policy work

2026 Ambassador
Cesar Garcia
2026 Ambassador
Cesar Garcia
2026 Ambassador

Cesar Garcia, a Chicano activist, legal advocate, and social entrepreneur, builds tools and policies that shift systems from punishment to possibility through community, tech, and justice reform.

2026 Ambassador
Julius Irving
2026 Ambassador
Julius Irving
2026 Ambassador

Julius Irving, activist and community leader from Gainesville, builds movements for equity, and empowers Black men through advocacy, creativity, and healing.

2026 Ambassador
Kenneth Webb
2026 Ambassador
Kenneth Webb
2026 Ambassador

Kenneth Webb is an artist and storyteller who uses painting, performance, and public art to foster healing, challenge injustice, and build community.

2026 Ambassador
Leigh Scott
2026 Ambassador
Leigh Scott
2026 Ambassador

Leigh Scott, justice-impacted leader from Gainesville, co-founded Released Reentry and the Justice Impacted Collaborative, using lived experience to drive reform, equity, and lasting change

2026 Ambassador
Marcus Kelley
2026 Ambassador
Marcus Kelley
2026 Ambassador

Marcus Kelley, Founder of The Change Up, is a human rights advocate who turns his wrongful incarceration into action—fighting for dignity, fair labor, voting rights, and justice for all

2026 Ambassador
Starling Thomas
2026 Ambassador
Starling Thomas
2026 Ambassador

Starling Thomas, writer, director, and founder of Soulture, turns lived experience into storytelling that uplifts marginalized voices, drives systemic change, and reimagines justice through culture and art.

2026 Ambassador
Todd Jones
2026 Ambassador
Todd Jones
2026 Ambassador

2026 Ambassador
Featured
Introducing the 2026 Represent Justice Ambassador Cohort
Introducing the 2026 Represent Justice Ambassador Cohort

Each Ambassador brings unique perspectives from their lived experience with the justice system. The cohort represents six of the nation’s top 20 states with the highest incarceration rates: California, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, and Oklahoma. This alignment is intentional and reflects Represent Justice's commitment to investing in leaders whose communities bear the greatest weight of mass incarceration. By uplifting their stories, we challenge the perpetuation of harmful narratives and initiate change where it is most urgently needed.

Represent Justice Teams Up with Sundance Collab to Support Ambassadors as Emerging Filmmakers
Represent Justice Teams Up with Sundance Collab to Support Ambassadors as Emerging Filmmakers

At the July 2025 Ambassador Film Showcase, Represent Justice welcomed to the stage Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director of Sundance Institute’s Artist Programs, to announce a new offering for Represent Justice Ambassadors through Sundance Collab, Sundance Institute’s year-round digital space for global artists to learn, create, build a community, and champion independence in filmmaking.

The 2025 Represent Justice Ambassadors Set to Showcase Their Films July 23 in Los Angeles
The 2025 Represent Justice Ambassadors Set to Showcase Their Films July 23 in Los Angeles

The 2025 cohort of the Represent Justice Ambassador Program, comprising ten system-impacted storytellers, created a powerful collection of short films, each offering a firsthand perspective on the justice system and the resilience of those affected by it. The 2025 Ambassadors will celebrate the completion of their film projects and the launch of their film impact campaigns on July 23, 2025, with a red-carpet-style showcase in Los Angeles, California.

We Stand With LA Immigrant Communities
We Stand With LA Immigrant Communities

Represent Justice condemns the violent ICE raids terrorizing Los Angeles communities, urges solidarity with immigrant families, and calls on the public to reject systems of punishment in favor of compassion and collective care.

Represent Justice Stands With Public Media - Statement by CEO Daniel Forkkio
Represent Justice Stands With Public Media - Statement by CEO Daniel Forkkio

We at Represent Justice stand in our unwavering support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the public media ecosystem, and our incredible partners at PBS. 

Represent Justice’s 2025 Open Call Impact Campaign Awarded to The Strike
Represent Justice’s 2025 Open Call Impact Campaign Awarded to The Strike

Represent Justice is awarding its 2025 Open Call Impact Campaign to The Strike! This award-winning documentary tells the story of a generation of California men who endured decades of solitary confinement and, against all odds, launched the largest hunger strike in U.S. history.

Introducing the Represent Justice Speakers Bureau
Introducing the Represent Justice Speakers Bureau

Through this new program, we will continue to uplift the extraordinary ecosystem of system-impacted movement leaders, artists, campaign leaders, filmmakers, and film participants who work day in and day out with us to transform the legal system.

30 Mother’s Days without my mom
Extreme Sentencing
30 Mother’s Days without my mom
Extreme Sentencing

For the past 30 years, I have spent Mother's Days with my mom, Michelle West, in prison due to a mandatory federal life sentence that wouldn't be imposed today, and I urge you to support her clemency so she can finally come home.

Extreme Sentencing
Open Call Impact Campaign Announcement
Open Call Impact Campaign Announcement

Represent Justice's first-ever Open Call impact campaign will support the feature film "Kemba," which tells the story of Kemba Smith, a college student sentenced to over 24 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute drugs despite not handling them, highlighting the disproportionate impact of harsh drug laws on women of color and mobilizing audiences to support reform.

CEO Daniel Forkkio named a 2024 Elevate Prize winner
Art & Culture
CEO Daniel Forkkio named a 2024 Elevate Prize winner
Art & Culture

Represent Justice CEO Daniel Forkkio has been selected as a 2024 Elevate Prize Winner, recognizing his leadership in social impact alongside nine other global nonprofit leaders, and supporting their mission to transform the criminal legal system through storytelling and collective action.

Art & Culture
A Letter from Sansón
A Letter from Sansón

Sansón, an individual currently incarcerated in Tehachapi State Prison, shares his life story in the new film "Sansón and Me," highlighting the harsh realities of the judicial and immigration systems, and encourages society to advocate for a more just and fair system.

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