Compassion Ambassador

Michelle Ghilotti

Michelle Ghilotti, a yogi in business and in life, was named one of the nation's top creatives in ORIGIN Magazine and has been quoted by publications such as Forbes. She's the creator of Brand to Success, Creative Heroine, High Touch LIVE, CEO Changemaker, the Greater Good Party and Mom to Mogul. Michelle activates and supports socially-active entrepreneurial women (or those aspiring to be) to make a tangible difference in the world through businesses-turned-movements while also focusing on a more unapologetic selfexpression. She supports clients to integrate their more full roster of talents, multiple passions, values, creativity and spirituality into powerful brands that make others feel like they've known you forever. She believes the soul-ution to engaging people is ensuring that you, yourself, are engaged. Having lived in a few countries since 2002, Michelle considers herself a serial expat, however, she currently lives in sunny Los Angeles with her husband, Star Wars-obsessed son and pup named Holland.

Compassion Ambassador

Mark Anthony Johnson

Mark Anthony Johnson is a speaker, author, certified Dream Coach, Dream Coach Group Leader Coach. He an advanced Toastmaster, Prince Hall Mason, 32-degree Shriner, Rotarian and member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and psychology from Tennessee State University and master’s degree in human resources development from Webster University, Kansas City, Kansas. He retired from the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons and Sumter Correctional Institution, Bushnell Florida. He also served at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Leavenworth, Kansas, the military’s only maximum-security prison. He has worked as a correctional officer, case manager, case management coordinator, reentry coordinator, community corrections manager and unit manager. Mark is a disabled veteran having served tours Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe. He has given keynote and other presentations, impacting, encouraging and empowering lives in the process. He is an active mentor in YMCA, Junior Achievement, Upward Bound, Boys and Girls Club of Lake and Sumter County, the Micah Project and Department of Juvenile Justice Neighborhood Accountability Diversion Program.

Founding Member, Compassion Ambassador

Arthur Jeon

Arthur Jeon has always been passionate about helping animals and people. He’s created several non-profits, including co-founding Global Animal Foundation, which raises money and awareness for animals in need worldwide. Arthur worked as a writer in Hollywood until his interest in meditation and yoga led to Random House publishing two of Arthur’s non-fiction books: City Dharma and Sex, Love & Dharma. Both apply mindfulness to modern life – a practice Arthur is passionate about bringing to the incarcerated through Compassion Prison Project. Arthur has a BA in Humanities from Harvard and an MFA from USC Film School. Which might explain why he can’t quit his writing addiction, just releasing his first novel, an environmental thriller called Snowflake.

Compassion Ambassador

Nechi

Compassion Ambassador

Villond Cook

Villond Cook spent 32 years, 2 months, and 3 days in prison, most of which were in maximum security.

At the age of 12, Villond started selling marijuana on the streets of Los Angeles. He later sold crack, joined a gang, and was making thousands of dollars per week in “fast cash.”

Throughout his teenage years, animosity brewed between Villond and a rival crew. They followed him home several times, flashed guns, and threatened his mom and others. One night, after they showed up at his then girlfriend’s home, Villond decided to take matters into his own hands. Furious, he grabbed his gun, drove to their hangout spot, and opened fire. He shot and killed one person and harmed two others.

At 18 years old, Villond was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree attempted murder.

While incarcerated, he contemplated suicide. Drugs are easily available in prison and Villond considered overdosing on heroin in his cell. But he had what he calls a “spiritual awakening,” in which he vividly saw his grandmother telling him that everything would be okay.

His grandmother passed away shortly thereafter, but Villond immersed himself in various spiritual traditions, including Ifá, a way of life that originated in Nigeria and includes the idea that “anything that’s mentally conceivable is physically achievable.”

He read hundreds of books and took personal-development and victim-sensitivity courses, in which he learned to take responsibility for the ripple effect of his actions as well as to gain an understanding of the conditions that lead to his lifestyle.

After 32 years, 2 months, and 3 days, Villond was paroled and released in March of 2020.

When asked about his release, Villond said, “it’s still sinking in as far as I’m actually free, that I’m not living in a cage anymore…I can walk on the beach and listen to the ocean, I can sit under a tree and feel the breeze, I can go to a park with grass and watch children play and laugh…I can’t really find an adjective to describe or express what it’s like to be given a second chance at life basically; it’s like I’m being reborn again.”

Since his release, Villond has been volunteering and mentoring people who were incarcerated on how to re-enter society successfully. An entrepreneur at heart, he’s been taking culinary classes and has a vision of starting his own food truck or bistro.

Founding Member, Compassion Ambassador

Monica Chiapa

Born in Mexico City, Mónica Chiapa is a psychologist and life coach, concentrated on human development and social transformation, utilizing tools of applied psychology in her practice. Before focusing on child development, Mónica worked in Microsoft Mexico, where she was the recipient of the Director’s Award for Excellence. In 1999, she moved to Los Angeles, California with her family, where she completed a MA in Spiritual Psychology, among other certifications that allowed her to expand the range of her work. Mónica has a private practice as an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapist with patients throughout Latin America, and has developed and implemented seminars on interpersonal relationships and authentic leadership. In 2019, she collaborated with two organizations that work with prisons in California: The Freedom to Choose Project and The Compassion Prison Project. In 2020, Mónica was a producer on the documentary “Step Inside the Circle” with the latter organization. Monica’s vision is to create awareness about the benefits of the authentic leadership, promoting personal and collective growth and wellbeing surpassing physical, mental, and emotional borders. In 2022, Monica was invited by the OEI (Organization of Ibero-American States) to develop a new educational framework, for Ibero-America joining the group of experts that created the “Modelo Educativo SER”, running the pilot program in Mexico. When Monica is not giving therapy or developing a seminar, she loves reading, exercising, watching movies, visiting museums, and enjoying life with her family and friends.

Compassion Ambassador at Kern Valley State Prison, Facility A

Reu’el

Compassion Ambassador at Kern Valley State Prison, Facility A

David D.

Compassion Ambassador, Nebraska Department of Corrections

Russell Wardlow

Marketing

Jolyn Armstrong

After facing the life-altering challenge of supporting a family member through a serious criminal accusation, Jolyn saw how little support there is for families of the accused. Right now, 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States alone and 6.5 million adults have an immediate family member currently incarcerated in jail or prison. With the horrific stigma that the families of those incarcerated people face, Jolyn couldn’t ignore the need for a support system. So Jolyn devoted her talents as a compassionate leader and coach to help those who are facing the same horror she faced. With that, the FOTA project was born. Nobody else should have to face this alone.

Prison and Community Outreach, Strategy

Shawn Whitsell

Shawn Whitsell is a volunteer teacher and facilitator with the School for Alternative Learning and Transformation at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, TN. Shawn proudly serves on the Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board and is a member of the Criminal Justice Working Group of Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH). He is also a part of the Nashville New Leaders Council class of 2020. Shawn is widely known in his community as an activist, poet, filmmaker, theatre artist and founder of the Destiny Theatre Experience. He has written, produced and directed a number of theatrical works that address pertinent social issues, ranging from police brutality, mental health and domestic violence to homelessness, childhood trauma and mass incarceration. His one-man show "23/1," which tackles solitary confinement, was recently named Best Blend of Theater and Activism by the Nashville Scene. When he's not performing, Shawn visits high school and college English classes, teaching literacy through spoken word, as a representative of the nonprofit organization Southern Word, Inc. He also teaches drama for Nashville Children's Theatre and Tennessee Women's Theater Project.

Healing Toolbox Advisor

Vicki Robinson

Vicki began her Feldenkrais practice in 2001 and continues to see clients and teach classes in Seattle, Washington. In 2013, she sought more training to address trauma and the effects on the body and mind, and she expanded her toolbox by becoming a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. (SEP). She’s also taken numerous advanced trainings that specialize in the healing of surgical, complex and developmental trauma. Her great satisfaction is supporting her clients and students to have optimal movement and connection to their bodies. Everyone should have the opportunity to feel safe and at home within themselves, and free to optimally move through life.

Fundraising and Development

Rosann Simeroth

Rosann Simeroth believes in the healing power of writing, creativity, and compassion. She taught writing and literature at Scripps College for over 12 years and led creative writing workshops at the California Institution for Men in Chino. While earning her Ph.D. in literature from the Claremont Graduate University, she created a poetry series for the dA Center, a community arts nonprofit in Pomona, CA, where she began her grant writing career.

Fundraising and Development

Lea Silvert

Lea Silvert holds a master's in clinical psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is curious about all things related to psychology, spirituality, and experience. Part of Lea's training involved studying childhood trauma and its long-term effects on adult development and relationships. Through her studies, she came to the understanding that many marginalized communities-- including incarcerated individuals-- face unique stressors and stigma that disempower and disconnect a person from themselves and their communities. She believes that these unique stressors warrant specific practices and policies at the relational and systemic level in order to harness growth. Her research focuses on identity and ways to reclaim voice and agency.

Compassion Ambassador

Regann Flynn

Regann Flynn is the Communications Coordinator of CPP. She currently attends Pepperdine University and has always had a mind for social justice. Regann and a group of friends at her university led a three-day sit-in against gun violence in the school's cafeteria. She currently majors in political science and plans on becoming a human rights lawyer. She joined CPP in January 2020 and her devotion to social justice makes her all the more passionate about this cause.

Compassion Ambassador at Kern Valley State Prison, Facility A

Alex

Compassion Ambassador at Kern Valley State Prison, Facility A

Reuben

Compassion Ambassador

Ted Kamp

Ted Kamp is a highly seasoned television producer who has worked across such genres as comedy, documentary, unscripted, late night and game show. As much as he has enjoyed working with such luminaries as Mike Rowe, Dave Coulier, Larry The Cable Guy, Carson Daly, Wil Wheaton and (especially) Charles Nelson Reilly, he now wishes to use his talents to help heal the suffering of our most traumatized people.

Compassion Ambassador

Tavackus L. Dawson

[Author of THE HURT/HELP BOOK and CEO of The Hurt Help Group, T. Dawson] like anyone else, has had his share of run ins with troubled behavior. He has overcome a lot of obstacles he created in life, through trial and error. He speaks from years of experience with the knowledge he shares in his action guide workbook. He hates being told he’s an exception to the rule as to why he made it. Dawson believes anyone can be an exception to the “RULE” with self-determination and a willingness to receive transformation in their life. A native from Louisiana via Los Angeles; he’s an active pillar in the community where he speaks and inspire others to become a better them. He exercises daily his favorite quote; “Iron Sharpens Iron”. BOOKING INFO… thehurthelpgroup@gmail.com

Compassion Ambassador

Terence Ayodi

Terence Ayodi, a career Kenya correctional services officer and counselor, currently based at the Regional Prisons Commanders’ Office in Kakamega County in the Western Region of Kenya. He is a graduate from the Kenya Prisons Staff Training College and with a Higher Diploma in psychological counselling from the Kenya Institute of Professional Counselling. As a counsellor, Terence works with prison inmates and Kenya Institute of Professional Counselling as a private practitioner. With 27years experience in different correctional facilities, he has developed keen interest in reaching out to inmates in humane way to help them actualize their potential and access their personal resources by creating awareness and enhancing self-worth. He initiated several counselling services in all the institutions he has worked for. He now actively practices Logosythensis (a guided change model) as a quicker means of reaching out to inmates and staff at a regional level. Having worked in Borstal Institution (a correctional facility for youthful offenders) for five years he was in 2013, nominated as the best correctional officer in the Borstal Institution and certified. He began the first ever computer programme for youthful offenders and was the editor for the Borstal Horizon newspaper for five years. He has inculcated in those under him the spirit of teamwork, a concept he uses when working with inmates as a means achieving a common goal. He has a strong conviction in the humanistic approach and providing a climate of congruence, empathy and positive regard, particularly in preparing the incarcerated for a successful and compassionate re-integration into society. He has successfully reintegrated several former inmates and boys who are now in government and in private practice, enhancing community development. He supports children accompanying their mothers to prison up to the age of four years by actively sourcing for basic needs.

Compassion Ambassador

Kevin Mays

Kevin Rondu Shabazz Mays walked out of Woodbourne Correctional Facility on June 10th, 2019, having spent 28 years in prison. Kevin’s educational background is vast: he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Syracuse University, an Associate’s Degree in Humanities from Duchess Community College and he is a certified paralegal. Kevin created and developed a 16-week program/workshop called “Authentic Reconciliation” that addresses pathological anger that young adolescents and young adults suffer from stemming from their primary and secondary stages of growth and development. Kevin is heavily active in the Restorative Justice Community, helping justice-impacted individuals. Kevin is the Co-Chairman of Survivors of the System, a support group for returning citizens focusing on developmental and prison trauma and searching for solutions in our political system. He has worked with several Not-for-Profits including: Common Justice, Network Support Services, Inc., The Parole Preparation Project and American Friends Service Committee (Quakers). Kevin’s mission is to work with “at promise” youth of all ages with his program “Authentic Reconciliation” modeled after the program he developed in prison. He spends his free time working out, enjoying his family and his twin brother and researching and advocating for prison reform.

Compassion Ambassador

Jill NielsenFarrell

Jill has worked in the not-for-profit sector for 30 years engaging in community organizing, strategic planning, fund development, volunteer coordination and policy work. She has a personal, professional and spiritual connection to the work of the Compassion Prison Project. When she's not collaborating with her kindred spirits at CPP, she is at Wenatchee Community Acupuncture where she offers trauma-informed acupuncture and yoga to her local community.

Compassion Ambassador

Noah Bleakley

Noah Bleakley is studying Music and English at Bennington College. He is passionate about the impact of music and storytelling on social change and is searching for the best ways to serve his community. Noah has a particular interest in mass incarceration and hopes to play a role in dismantling it.

Compassion Ambassador

Lesa Lacey

Lesa Lacey and her husband run an award winning construction company in Fraser Valley, British Columbia. Lesa spends time volunteering with Canadian Corrections helping incarcerated individuals connect with construction training and employment. She is passionate about volunteering with Hustle 2.0 and Compassion Prison Project - it is in this work she finds true joy and humanity.

Compassion Ambassador (CPP International)

Nina Zolezzi

Nina Zolezzi studied Psychology, Political Science & Sociology then qualified as a systemic Family Therapist with a focus on Childhood Trauma. As a young therapist, overwhelmed by the emotional weight of her work, she left her profession to spend 25 years as the CEO of a cross-cultural Communication consultancy in Germany. With her team at EnglishBusiness, she trains, coaches and builds leadership communication competencies for international teams. In 2020, she joined CPP, returning to her intention of making society more humane and therefore safer, kinder and fulfilling for children by breaking the perpetual cycle of trauma where our most traumatized citizens are found. Her vision is to translate the compassion in action work of CPP into actionable policy & practices in Europe - pioneering the boldness to imagine not having better prisons but something better than prisons.

Compassion Ambassador

Emily B. Evans

Emily B. Evans, LPCMH, NCC is a therapist, community educator, and social justice advocate. She has spent her career helping adults, adolescents, and children heal from the effects of developmental, systemic, and institutional trauma. She operates a private practice in Middletown, DE and specializes in the treatment of PTSD, substance addiction, attachment disorders, ADHD, mood disorders, and anxiety. She utilizes evidence-based practices in her work which focus on healing the mind-body connection through the practical application of neuroscience and collective restoration. She volunteers on various community action teams throughout the state of Delaware, and is passionate about reducing incarceration, recidivism, treatment barriers, and racial disparities in the legal system.

Compassion Ambassador

Lizanne Ury

Lizanne is a group facilitator and coach, focusing on self-development and self-knowledge. For the last fifteen years, she has conducted workshops and courses in the US, Europe, India, and Brazil. She has worked with individuals and couples, as well as with inmates in the state prisons of Colorado/US and Boulder County Jail, holding groups of self-awareness. She is also a Somatic Experience therapist and facilitates groups in the Authentic Relating method. A resident of Boulder, she is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is married and has three grown children.

Compassion Ambassador

Hailey Fortson

Hailey Fortson joined Compassion Prison Project in May 2020 as a policy volunteer and has been a mentor for Community Refugee and Immigration Services in Columbus, Ohio for several years. She is currently doing research for CPP on Ohio prison policy. She received a BA in international studies from The Ohio State University and hopes to start her career in social services and human rights. She was born in Mexico City and spent much of her time in college traveling. While in college, she worked as a lab assistant for Ohio State’s Office of Disability Services.

Compassion Ambassador

Lisa Udelson

Lisa Udelson is a graduate of the UCLA Training in Mindfulness Facilitation Program, with a special interest in teaching patients that struggle with chronic illness, pain, and the resulting stress and anxiety. Lisa’s unconventional style springs from lessons she learned having been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, a blood disorder. An award-winning filmmaker, Lisa’s current work combines written essays and the affiliated mindfulness meditation practices that carried her from mystery illness to remission. Lisa is grateful to be involved as a volunteer with the Compassion Prison Project. lisaudelson.com

Compassion Ambassador

Adriana Holst

Adriana Holst is currently developing introductory programming course materials for CPP, and she attends Ohio University with a double major in computer science and musical theater. Adriana first became active in working to seek out and heal trauma three years ago with her still active non-profit, Grant A Guitar, that “strives to make music available to anyone and everyone - and especially where it can help us heal and grow.” She has been coding for three years, and spent her senior project at NASA last year. Adriana is hoping that the CPP training materials will help to open minds and doors.

Compassion Ambassador

Amy Pham

Amy Pham is a homeschool teacher and has returned to pursue graduate education in mental health. She has a passion for ACE's research and creating solutions to incarceration. As an instructor she has spent the last ten years leading students in MAKER space and STEM related workshops. With a degree in Biological Sciences Amy works with kids today in conservation projects, BSA Scouting programs, and developing project based passion projects.

Compassion Ambassador

Corey McCarthy

Corey McCarthy is a consultant and team leader for Compassion Prison Project. Corey is on the Board of Directors for "PeacePrints of WNY" which serve returning citizens. He will also be on the Special Advisory Board to the Erie County Jails next year. He is the owner of McCarthy I.E., a home restoration and renovation company in Buffalo, NY. He's devoted to prison reform, flying to over 3,000 each way to California to spend nearly all his vacation days working with the incarcerated population.

Compassion Ambassador

Misan Harriman

FOUNDER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, WHAT WE SEEE Misan Harriman developed curatorial skills before he was 10 years old, long before he knew the meaning of the word. Nigerian-born, from a young age in England was fascinated with film, music, the arts and anything that would make him feel something. And upon encountering an extraordinary work, would be compelled to share it. The dawn of the internet gave him an almost endless supply of content and the growth in social media platforms provided the channels necessary to build a global, premium social publisher. Today, What We Seee is a network of over 27 media brands across web and social platforms reaching over 300 million people around the world and has clocked up over 2 billion video views in the last two years. What We Seee aims to fulfill the cultural promise of the internet: to surface and amplify uplifting and inspirational stories in a curated stream of the best output from a diverse, eclectic and exclusive array of voices, artists, archives and brands raising the tone of online conversation.

Compassion Ambassador

Seth C. Kadish

Seth C. Kadish, Psy.D., Director of Group Therapy at PCH in Mar Vista and former Clinical Director of Milestones Ranch Malibu, was Staff Psychologist at California State Prison, Los Angeles County, counseling maximum-security inmates. Prior to that, Dr. Kadish worked with Probation youth at Penny Lane in North Hills, CA where he was named Clinician of the Year 2001. An inspiring educator who leavens serious topics with humor, Dr. Kadish has spoken at a number of conferences in the U.S. and Canada including CAADE, U.S. Journal Counseling Skills, and Brief Therapy on Pattern Identification and Reduction Therapy and Facilitating Compelling Groups. Dr. Kadish was Adjunct Professor at California Graduate Institute, teaching popular courses including The Criminal Mind, The Prison Mind, and Psychotherapy With Difficult Clients. Dr. Kadish, author of “Pop Your Patterns: The No-Nonsense Way to Change Your Life” and the “Facilitating Compelling Groups Workbook,” is currently featured on the “Pop Your Patterns” YouTube channel. Dr. Kadish has also appeared in print, podcast, radio and television including the Oprah Winfrey Network documentary series, Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals (2011) and the award-winning documentary, Iceberg Slim (2013).

Compassion Ambassador

Gilian Villatoro

Gilian Villatoro is an administrator at a national non-profit organization, researcher, entrepreneur, and producer. He manages operations at Defy Ventures, a national non-profit that teaches entrepreneurship in correctional systems, and provides an incubator platform for formerly incarcerated individuals. He is currently co-authoring two academic research articles with professors from California State University Los Angeles, where his work inside the correctional system is being used as the foundation for a research pilot. He is Co-founder of S.M.A.R.T. Alliance Solutions, an online tool that helps system impacted people navigate and reintegrate back into society, and is currently working on a film project that focuses on the devastating effects of trauma, in its many forms, within the correctional system. Having experienced incarceration for over a decade, Gilian is an advocate for change and a fierce promoter of second chances.

Compassion Ambassador

Rose Kleinberg

Rose Kleinberg is the Director of CPP New York City. Out-Of-The-Box is the best way to describe this Brooklyn-based professional Life Coach’s career, modalities and personal style. From teaching empowerment and self-expression workshops with inmates at The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, to helping teens and adults recognize and overcome their limiting beliefs, Rose is able to expertly reset people’s trauma and fear.The effects of her work include unconditional self-love, confidence, peace and unlimited freedom. This Mother of three holds a BA in Communications from Rowan University. Helping harmonize humans is how she’s hard-wired and her real-world connections and personal experiences have always been the impetus to ignite her passion through coaching, teaching and volunteerism in NYC. Rose intends to assist in the strategic planning and development of CPP to ensure that HOPE finds a home in the heart of every soul whose fully capable of rising up through rehabilitation.

Compassion Ambassador

Ryan Matthews

Ryan Matthews is an inspirational speaker, author and decorated veteran who trained elite Army K-9s and then became a civilian dog-trainer using his proven formula (RCTR) to train over 3,000 dogs. Ryan is passionate about bridging the gap of communication between dogs and their owners. He does with World Of Dog Training (online dog training videos) and Peace Of Mind CBD, a natural health option for dogs with pain, illnesses and behavioral issues. Despite Ryan’s overwhelming success building a dog-training empire, he felt like a failure. As a self-professed workaholic, Ryan put all his energy and focus into his work rather than into himself. After years battling childhood trauma and combat PTSD, the result was multiple life-threatening diagnoses and 5 near-death experiences, and losing everything thing along with receiving negative press nationwide from a criminal case he was involved in. Through self-discovery, Ryan has transformed his life and has made it his mission to share his gifts and talents to positively transform the lives of others.

Compassion Ambassador

Colleen Koch

Colleen Koch is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (license #111260) practicing in Los Angeles, CA. She has earned her Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology ~ offering a holistic, individualized approach to therapy. She strongly believes that each person holds the answers to their own wellbeing and she is passionate about supporting and empowering teenage girls that are struggling with self-esteem issues. Currently, Colleen is earning her certification in EMDR (eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing) with the Parnell Institute. In addition to psychodynamic therapy, she is trained in mindfulness meditation and somatic experiencing (SE). Colleen has also gained professional training at Burbank Family Services working with women and children who struggled with the trauma of domestic violence, as well as The Los Angeles Women's Clinic and Family Counseling Center in West Los Angeles. She is honored to be a Compassion Ambassador walking with our incarcerated men and women to healing.

Compassion Ambassador

Suzanne Beaumont

Suzanne Beaumont is a teacher, certified coach and consultant that believes in bringing more compassion to the classroom through her “The Compassionate Kid” initiative. She understands that hurt children hurt, and knows that childhood trauma is at the root of addiction, crime and abuse in adults. Suzanne also knows that young people who have experienced trauma and disruption in their lives are at greatest risk of punitive harm in schools and also render them more vulnerable to the juvenile court system. Suzanne left the classroom in 2016 to self-represent in the public inquiry held into the death of her brother who died a suspicious death while incarcerated. At that time, she embarked on a personal quest to uncover her brother’s Truth, and, in doing so, she also found her own. Since then, Suzanne is committed to dismantling the school to prison pipeline by creating an ecosystem within our schools where children feel safe and teachers feel supported in their capacity to provide guidance and learning, which, in turn, begins to codify some of the tenets laid out for a more just and humane criminal justice system.

Compassion Ambassador

Aaron

Compassion Ambassador

Guy Felixbrodt

Guy Felixbrodt is a social entrepreneur, educator and juggler of many trades, literally. Guy believes deeply that volunteering and giving back is the only way to address privilege and make the world a better place, which is why he’s passionately involved with the compassion prison project. Guy lives in New York State, and has worked with teenagers almost all his life. He’s an avid nature lover, earther, TriArtist, and published a Hebrew poetry book.

Compassion Ambassador

Vanessa Gutierrez

Born in Aguada, Puerto Rico, Vanessa Gutierrez settled in Brooklyn, New York more than two decades ago. Having lived through her own childhood trauma of abuse, Vanessa chose to take care of others with compassion and love. Vanessa has been a nanny, a caretaker and a personal chef but it was her love of yoga where she found her true calling. As a 500-hour yoga teacher, Vanessa credits her practice with saving her life and helping her connect her body and soul. As a Compassion Prison Project Ambassador, Vanessa has earned her certificate in trauma-informed yoga and is currently training to integrate the discipline of qigong into her yoga practice. She dreams of a world with less judgment and more compassion and wants to help people reconnect with themselves and their communities.

Compassion Ambassador

Katie Shannon

KATIE SHANNON HIGH PERFORMANCE COACH TO THE AMBITIOUS-ADDICTED PROFESSIONALS
Katie understands how to co-create the leaders of tomorrow while balancing ambition-fueled personalities and big careers.
She enjoys infusing energy into every client she works with by creating raw space to be unapologetic. Brave communication and forward momentum encapsulate the demand for Katie's coaching partnership.
As a leader and peak performer for brands such as Four Seasons Hotels and Plank Industries (Family office of the CEO of Under Armour), Katie balanced her highs of generating massive revenue and building brands with lows of indecision, self-sabotage and compulsive behavior.
Due to burnout and depression, Katie decided to dive deep into her emotional self and psyche as a driven professional and better understand the subconscious motivations that created havoc in her life.
Through deep work and studying the genetics of the Ambitious Archetype, Katie teaches the naturally driven how to harness their blueprint in a healthy way.
Katie has coached Senior Leadership represented by the IFC, Four Seasons Hotel Company, CLEAR, Billion Dollar Fund, Under Armour and Nike.
In her spare time, you will see her styling returning citizens for their next big life chapter in gently worn donated suits, on behalf of non profit, Sharp Dressed Man. Life is beautiful!

Compassion Ambassador

Izabella Tapia

High Senior at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California

Hobbies: Softball, Listening to Music, Spending time with family and friends

Intended Major for College: Business (Entrepreneurship)

Why interested in ACEs and CPP?: For my AP Research project, I was asked to take a deep dive into a topic of inquiry I wanted to better explore. I was able to find great interest in juvenile delinquency and through my research, I developed a strong opinion which is that I personally believe that people are not born good or bad. I think we are all born with a clean slate and that our environmental factors paves the way for our behavior. Because of this, I strongly believe that most men and women who are incarcerated are our criminal justice system for a bigger reason than just committing a crime and that’s where I found ACEs and it’s lineage to juvenile delinquency and adult crime. While scrolling on Instagram, I stumbled upon the Compassion Prison Project and became inspired by the work this organization has done. I especially admire how this company not only identifies an issue that a lot of people do not take into account when trying to understand why people commit crimes, but the fact that it also works to rehabilitate criminals from trauma and transform they way we see these people.

Plans w/ CPP: Supplement Research, inform peers about ACEs and its prevalence in our world

Outreach Coordinator

Darnell Green

To live is to suffer. To survive is to find meaning in the suffering (Earl Simmons). I can attest because I have had my fair share of trauma. Growing up in poverty, and losing my brother (from another mother) to gun violence is tough. Add to the fact that I went to prison for aiding and abetting a strong arm robbery that I had nothing to do with is a miscarriage of justice. Some would say it sounds like a movie, I say it's my reality.
Instead of becoming a bitter person I turned to my passion - education. My focus became to better my mind, body, and soul with each day that passed. With hard work and dedication I attained my GED and four Associates of Art degrees. I have been put in some tough situations but my emotional resilience turns them into valuable life lessons. I have survived because I am the Gift, the Dream, and the Hope of our ancestors!!!! (Maya Angelou). I am a constant reminder that we are what we do repeatedly. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit. (Confucius)

Compassion Ambassador

Elissa Berrol

Elissa Berrol is the founder of Luminary Consulting & Coaching. She is committed to human transformation with over 25 years helping leaders increase their capacity to successfully navigate complexity and embrace paradox. Elissa supports clients to challenge old narratives, examine default habits and tap into their inherent wisdom. She works with leaders and teams at all levels to connect them to their values and practice courageous and authentic behaviors.
Elissa has an ability to quickly break down barriers and cultivate environments where honest dialogue, genuine connection, and experimentation with new ways of seeing and leading flourish. Her deep compassion, humor and insight allows individuals and teams to reality check self-limiting beliefs, rewire fear-based thinking and lay down habitual armor. This work is ultimately about self liberation so we can show up fully and imperfectly and share our talents, ideas and gifts with the world. Elissa is a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, an ICF certified coach and holds masters degrees in Adult Education and Organization Development.