Meet the Host & Guests of ‘Into the Mix: Season 2’

Ashley C. Ford’s New York Times best-selling memoir, Somebody’s Daughter, was published by Flatiron Books in June 2021. Ford is the former host of The Chronicles of Now podcast and former co-host of The HBO companion podcast Lovecraft Country Radio. She currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, poet and fiction writer Kelly Stacy, and their chocolate lab Astro Renegade Ford-Stacy.

Ford has written or guest-edited for ELLE Magazine, Slate, Teen Vogue, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Domino, Cup of Jo, and various other web and print publications.

Desmond Meade is a formerly homeless returning citizen who overcame many obstacles to eventually become the President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, a graduate of Florida International University College of Law, a Ford Global Fellow, and a McArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellow.

Recognized by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2019, Desmond presently leads efforts to empower and civically re-engage local communities across the state, and to reshape local, state, and national criminal justice policies. His work has resulted in being named Floridian and Central Floridian of the Year 2019.

As President and Executive Director of FRRC, which is recognized for its work on voting and criminal justice reform issues, Desmond led the FRRC to a historic victory in 2018 with the successful passage of Amendment 4, a grassroots citizen’s initiative which restored voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions. Amendment 4 represented the single largest expansion of voting rights in the United States in half a century and brought an end to 150 years of a Jim Crow-era law in Florida.

Most recently, Desmond served as a Commissioner on the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice which was co-chaired by former U.S. Attorney Generals Loretta Lynch and Alberto Gonzalez. He is also a member of the Council on Criminal Justice. A sought-after speaker, Desmond has made numerous appearances on radio and television, and has spoken before national organizations. Desmond has testified before Congressional members and the United Nations regarding disenfranchisement in Florida. Desmond orchestrated a historic meeting at the White House between returning citizens and President Obama’s administration. He has appeared on numerous shows such as Al-Jazeera, Democracy NOW, MSNBC with Joy Ann Reid, FOX News with Dana Perino and Tucker Carlson, Samantha Bee, and All in with Chris Hayes. Desmond has been featured in several newspaper and magazine articles and was chosen as a “Game Changer” by Politic 365, as well as being recognized as a “Foot Soldier” on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC. Desmond is married and has five beautiful children.

Michael Thompson, prison reform champion and Flint native served 25 years in prison for the sale of 3 pounds of marijuana before his sentence was commuted by Governor Whitmer, January 28, 2021. Michael Thompson began to build life beyond his youth on the streets of Flint, but a sting landed him behind bars with a 40-60 year sentence. With boundless determination and the help from social justice warriors on the outside, Michael was released from prison on January 28, 2021 after serving 26 years for a non-violent cannabis related crime. Today, he works tirelessly for his non-profit The Michael Thompson Clemency Project to help those left behind.

Cynthia Roseberry is a lifelong criminal justice advocate, international speaker, and educator. Presently, she is the Acting Director of the ACLU’s Justice Division, where she leads the organization’s team of strategists, policy counsels and lobbyists, in the work of drastically reforming the criminal legal system at the federal and state levela. She also co-convenes the Justice Roundtable, co-chairs the Criminal Justice Working Group at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and serves on the board of the Deason Criminal Justice Center.

During the Obama administration, Cynthia served as Project Manager of the historic Clemency Project 2014. Often referred to as “the nation’s largest law firm,” with nearly 4,000 lawyers providing pro bono support to obtain the release of nearly 2,000 people. She also served on the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, a nine-member, bipartisan, Congressionally-mandated, blue-ribbon panel that released the groundbreaking report: Transforming Prisons, Restoring Lives: Final Recommendations of the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, in January of 2016.

Previously, Cynthia was the Executive Director of the Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Georgia, Inc. and taught at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. For more than 10 years prior to teaching, Cynthia practiced federal and state criminal defense in Georgia, and was a founding board member of the Georgia Innocence Project, going on to become the first African-American female president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

In collaboration with Chester State Prison, Cynthia delivered the critically acclaimed TEDx talk, “My Father, My Hero”, shedding light on the impacts of incarceration on children and families. Her usage of the word, decarceration, is the first cited in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Rubinay Aguilar is a 26-year-old from Chiapas, Mexico. He came to Vermont 5 years ago to work on dairy farms. He currently works as a milker on a farm enrolled in the Milk with Dignity Program.

Teresa Mares is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Graduate Program in Food Systems at the University of Vermont. She received her PhD from the University of Washington in 2010. She is the author of Life on the Other Border (University of California Press, 2019) and is currently working on her forthcoming co-authored book Will Work for Food: Labor Across the Food System. Dr. Mares’ research focuses on the labor in the food system, food security and food sovereignty, and migration from Latin America.

Oliver (Oli) Aram Oski is a 19-year-old student in his freshman year college, currently attending Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Oli is majoring in Global Studies and minoring in Spanish and Theater performance. He hopes to be able to dedicate his life to traveling the world and making world travel more accessible to all people. Oli grew up in Burlington Vermont with his parents Jessica and Jon and has been continually supported by the most amazing community of people. Having not only identified as queer for much of his life it has now been 5 years since he came out at Transmasculine. Oli has spent many years being an activist for Trans and LGBTQ+ rights along with many other movements he his passionate about. Oli wants to thank Vox Media and the Into the Mix podcast team for all their amazing work and for navigating the hardships of the trans community in a respectful and elegant way. Oli also wants to thank both of his parents for their unconditional love and support, his best Friend Audrey and all his amazing friends and mentors that have positively shaped his life and without whom he wouldn’t still be here.

As the Executive Director, Dana is responsible for overseeing the organization’s strategic direction while inspiring Outright staff, partners, and supporters to take meaningful action in support of our mission. Dana keeps his eyes on the horizon and his hands on the wheel, ensuring that Outright is steady, queer, and always advancing towards a bold Vermont where all LGBTQ+ youth have Hope, Equity, and Power!

By articulating both the shared vision and values behind our goals and the key strategies that get us there, Dana anchors Outright’s role as a trusted community partner and reliable resource for information and support.

As a recognized thought leader on issues that impact LGBTQ+ youth, Dana identifies and promotes opportunities for change. In addition to ensuring the fiscal success and smooth operations of the organization, Dana cultivates leadership and opportunities for Outright community members to grow personally and professionally.

Dana’s graduate degree in Mediation and Applied Conflict Studies shaped him into the relationship-builder he is today. He knows that accountable and fruitful relationships require an ability and willingness to ask the hard questions, and that difference is an opportunity for growth and connection.

Fun fact about Dana: he is a twin! He is older by 2.5 minutes. He’s also a little competitive. In his free time, Dana enjoys playing music with his indie-pop band and getting sassed by his two kids. He is a Jewish New Yorker through and through!

Vera is a fifth-generation Texan and parent to two truly exceptional kids, one of whom is transgender. She and her family are part of a growing population of internally displaced Americans who fled their home due to anti-trans state legislation and violence. Now that her family has found relative safety in Vermont, they are empowered to be more vocal advocates for those they left behind.

Depending on the time and place, Vera has been found co-leading a trans affirming Girl Scout troop, managing a NAEYC accredited preschool, whupping butt at Mario Kart, haunting the corridors of the Texas State Capitol, and pulling a firetruck up Church Street with the help of new friends. She has grown accustomed to enjoying snow and basic utilities simultaneously.

Zahra Shaheer is an Afghan journalist, women’s rights activist and mother, who was evacuated from Afghanistan to the UK in August 2021.

Single mum of two, Zahra defied social norms to become a top television anchor in Afghanistan, before her life changed dramatically when the Taliban took control of the country. Zahra was evacuated to the UK and has now settled in Buckinghamshire with her children.

Since then, Zahra has worked to rebuild her life in the UK, undertaking a journalism course, as well as courses on cultural integration, employment and leadership through the International Rescue Committee. She has gone on to secure a fellowship with the Refugee Council and a role as a freelance journalist at the BBC.

David Miliband is the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. He oversees the agency’s operations in 40 crisis-effect countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs throughout Europe and the Americas. The IRC’s mission is to help the world’s most vulnerable people, whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster, including the climate crisis, to survive, recover, and regain control of their future. In 2020 alone, the IRC provided more than 31 million people with access to health care, 2.6 million people with clean water, and more than 800,000 children with education.

Prior to joining IRC, David had a distinguished political career in the United Kingdom. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the 74th Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, representing the United Kingdom throughout the world.

David is also the author of the book, Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time. As the son of refugees, David brings a personal commitment to the IRC’s work and to the premise of the book: that we can rescue the dignity and hopes of refugees and displaced people, and if we help them, in the process we will rescue our own values.

Kai Brown is BLK QUEER radical multidisciplinary visual artist and poet from Des Moines, IA. They are 4 time grand slam champion including the Brave New Voices festival, and several state slams. Besides competing, Kai also published a small collection of poems last spring called “The Story In Which the Poet Says:GOODBYE”. They are a teaching artist, and a First Wave Scholar at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where they are studying education

Lyric Sellers (she/her) is an award-winning advocate, national speaker and community leader from Des Moines. She currently serves as a YSS Board Member, a Pyramid Theatre Board Member and as an AmeriCorps member with the Iowa Department of Human Rights where she is leading efforts to advance restorative justice and cultivate healing-centered school environments. While attending Des Moines East High School, Lyric co-founded the district’s racial equity and justice movement which led to curriculum changes and the replacement of School Resource Officers with restorative justice professionals and practices that centered sustainable student-led change. Currently, Lyric is a rising sophomore at Iowa State University majoring in Communications and co-leads the Color of Love, a student-led organization that builds community with students of color and provides opportunities for student-based organizing.

Endi Montalvo-Martínez is a first generation Mexican American and first generation college student studying Healthcare Management at Iowa State University. While attending Des Moines East High School, Endi worked to remove School Resource Officers and reinvest funds to restorative justice professionals and practices. Currently, Endi works to sustain this process, advance restorative justice and cultivate healing-centered school environments.

Tyler Whittenberg is Deputy Director of Advancement Project’s Opportunity to Learn Program. In this role, he supports grassroots campaigns led by youth of color fighting to end the criminalization of Black and Latine students and create liberatory systems of education. Prior to joining AP, Tyler was Chief Counsel for Justice System Reform at Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Tyler’s entire career has been dedicated to ending the school-to-prison pipeline and dismantling oppressive structures systematically imposed upon Black and Latine youth. He began his career as an 8th grade social studies teacher in Columbia, South Carolina before

After graduating from The University of North Florida with a BFA in graphic design, Andrea worked as a freelance designer and volunteered with local nonprofits providing after school art instruction in Title I schools. This work inspired her to change career paths and focus on becoming an educator.

She spent a year transitioning to teaching through a local initiative that partnered professionals with mentor teachers. Now, with more than a decade of experience as an elementary classroom teacher and reading interventionist, understanding and supporting struggling students in low socio-economic environments has always been at the heart of her teaching. Fostering an atmosphere within the classroom that will ensure a safe, trusting, and loving environment conducive to learning, has always been her top priority.

It is with a heavy heart that she decided not to return to the classroom for the 2023-24 school year. Many factors, including the current climate of education, the politicalization of the classroom, as well as a second diagnosis of cancer influenced this decision.

The barrage of legislation aimed at educators has not only impacted her ability to connect with students, instill a passion for reading, and stolen the agency and autonomy that every professional educator deserves, but has also influenced her core values as an educator.

Mrs. Phillips, as her students call her, has no plans to leave education entirely. She plans to focus most of her time on her family and personal interests while her health will allow her to do so. She also hopes to continue sharing her passion for reading and to support the students who will become the future leaders and members of her community.

Jesse Hagopian teaches history and is the co-adviser to the Black Student Union at Garfield High School — the site of the historic boycott of the MAP test in 2013. Since the fall of 2020, Jesse has been on leave from the classroom to work as a lead organizer with the Zinn Education Project.

Jesse is an editor for the social justice periodical Rethinking Schools, co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives and Black Lives Matter at School, and editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing.

Jesse is a founding national steering committee member the Black Lives Matter at School, a founding member of Social Equality Educators (SEE), a recipient of the 2012 Abe Keller

Chrissy Isaacs (carried by the stars) is a mother, grandmother , artist, singer and long time advocate for the water land and future generations. She has lived in grassy narrows most of her life and is passionate about protecting the natural way of life for her community.

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger is Dënesųłiné from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) and Executive Director and founder of Indigenous Climate Action (ICA). Deranger is a member of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, and sits on various boards including Bioneers, It Takes Roots Leadership Council, Climate Justice Resiliency Fund Council of Advisors, and WWF Canada; and was a founding member of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus.

Deranger’s work focuses on Indigenous rights and building intersectional dialogue between Indigenous rights, climate justice and other social justice movements. She is recognized for her role as a spokespersons for her community (ACFN) in the international Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign and developing the Tar Sands Healing Walk. This included developing one of the first Indigenous rights-based divest movements; lobbying government officials in Canada, the US, the UK and the EU; supporting and leading mass mobilizations against the fossil fuel industry & climate change; and bringing international recognition to issues in her territory with celebrities and politicians alike.

Deranger has written for the Guardian, Yellowhead Institute, The National Observer, Red Pepper Magazine; has been featured in documentary films including Elemental (2012); and is regularly interviewed for national and international media outlets including Democracy Now!, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), and CBC.

Megh Kumar is a fourth-year medical student based in Kentucky pursuing a career in Obstetrics and Gynecology. In her undergraduate years, she discovered her passion for advocacy. She continued this path in medical school, joining and leading organizations such as Medical Students for Choice, and seeking out opportunities to be trained in abortion care. The Dobbs decision came out during her time in medical school instantly rendering abortions illegal in Kentucky, a trigger-law state. Now in the process of applying for residency, she must navigate selecting competitive OB/Gyn programs while understanding the impact of state-imposed restrictions on abortion training.

ACTIVIST. STRATEGIST. FUTURE POTUS.

Deja Foxx is 23 years old and leading thought at the intersection of social justice and social media. She is the founder of GenZ Girl Gang, a recent Columbia University graduate, and a Digital Creator with Ford Models who got her start advocating for reproductive justice after experiencing homelessness in her teenage years. At just 19, she worked for Kamala Harris as the Influencer and Surrogate Strategist and became one of the youngest presidential campaign staffers in modern history.

Priscilla Ndiaye Robinson is a native of Asheville, North Carolina. She grew up in Southside and loves her community. Priscilla is a community advocate and transformational leader. Her life’s journeys and mission is to empower and educate others. Priscilla’s 14-year exploratory research referencing The Impact of Urban Renewal verifies her commitment. You can see by visiting www.urbanrenewalimpact.org.

Rob Thomas, Executive Director, Racial Justice Coalition: Rob is a 35-year-old African American male, Asheville native and Community Activist. Rob is a formerly justice-involved individual with first-hand experiences related to the inequities that are congruent with the disparities that he now works passionately to unravel. As the Racial Justice Coalition’s Director of Strategy, Rob has facilitated and been a keynote speaker at over 4 dozen community related events. Rob is the recipient of CoThinkk’s 2020 community leader award, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, 2021 Service Award, the Peacemaker of 2020 in Western North Carolina award, the Tzedek Social Justice Fund’s 2020 Impact Award, and Fayetteville P.A.C.T. ‘s Certificate of Appreciation. As a public speaker, team collaborator, and systems change advisor, his achievements are related to empowerment, strategizing and support that redirects the power back to communities of color. As a former justice-involved individual who has spent around 11 years incarcerated, he understands the negative impacts and disparities faced by people of color in America. Rob has taken part in organizing and leading several protests, including the June 6th protest in Downtown Asheville with over 10,000 people in attendance. Rob uses his lived experience in collaboration with his native connections to inform, educate and mobilize the community to produce systems change. Rob believes that true transitional justice requires redistribution of power and fights to place vulnerable and disenfranchised community members in a decision-making position over processes where they are the most impacted demographic.

Flo has spent his entire life in Chicago, in that time he has called the city’s north, south and west sides, home. He loves good music, good food but most of all, he loves good people. In 2016, he was incarcerated pretrial because he could not afford to pay a money bond. That experience cost him his job and kept from friends and family for several months. The Chicago Community Bond Fund worked alongside his partner to bring him home while he awaited trial. Since then, Flo has jumped at every opportunity to share his story and advocate for policy changes that would prevent other people from having to go through the same experience he did. His efforts helped make Illinois the first state in the country to end money bond with the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act.

Sharlyn Grace (she/her) is the Senior Policy Advisor at the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender, where she helps develop and implement the Public Defender’s strategic goals. Prior to her current role, Sharlyn was a founding member of Chicago Community Bond Fund and served as CCBF’s first Executive Director until early 2021. Before joining CCBF full-time, she was the Senior Criminal Justice Policy Analyst at Chicago Appleseed. In those roles, Sharlyn was part of launching and helping lead the Coalition to End Money Bond in 2016 and the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice in 2019. In 2021, their joint statewide legislative campaign culminated in the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act, which made Illinois the first state to completely eliminate money bail.

Sharlyn has provided legal and organizing support for grassroots movements in Chicago since 2012 and has served on the boards of the National Lawyers Guild at the national and local levels. She is a current board member of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Illinois Public Defender Association. Sharlyn also teaches a course on prison industrial complex abolition for graduate students at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. She is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and an Illinois licensed attorney.

Johnny Perez - Director of NRCAT’s U.S. Prisons Program - Johnny is a highly accomplished criminal justice reform advocate, public speaker, and thought-leader in the field of ending torture and inhumane treatment in the U.S. prison system. As the Director of NRCAT’s U.S. Prisons Program, he champions an end of solitary confinement and equips faith communities and affected individuals to engage in education and legislative changes nationwide. Johnny represents NRCAT in several collaborative efforts with other organizations, including Unlock the Box, a national campaign to end solitary confinement and the Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce (FAST).

Johnny proudly serves on the Board of Directors of the national Multifaith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration, JusticeAid, New York City’s Urban Justice Center, and The Appeal. He is as an ambassador for the End The Exception Campaign and serves as an advisory board member for the DC-based Urban Institute’s Prison Research and Innovation Initiative. As a committee member to the ARCH Network Committee at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), he helps advance initiatives to improve the well-being of both incarcerated people and staff.

Johnny is dedicated to mitigating the profound effects of incarceration on individuals and society. His insights, including drawing from lessons learned during 13 years of incarceration, make Johnny a sough-after speaker for law schools and universities across the country, and media interviews and op-eds. In addition to his professional achievements, Johnny wears the hats of a devoted father, mentor to formerly incarcerated students at St. Francis College of Brooklyn (his alma mater), and founder of Day 1 Pictures, showcasing his talent in photography.

Bianca is the Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises, a national criminal justice organization working to dismantle the prison industry and end the exploitation of those it targets. Bianca is one of the nation’s leading experts on and advocates against the prison industry. She led the first successful campaign in the country to make jail phone calls free, has blocked a major merger in the prison telecom market, and denied prison profiteers millions of investment dollars.

Every year, under her leadership, Worth Rises publishes innovative research about the prison industry, including the nation’s largest dataset of corporate prison profiteers. In just three years, her work has cost the industry and its investors over a billion dollars, and saved communities tormented by incarceration millions.