Seth Stern
Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. He oversees efforts to promote policies that protect press freedom and stand up for journalists and whistleblowers who have been denied their rights. Prior to joining FPF, Seth practiced Media and First Amendment Law in Chicago for over a decade. Before that, he worked as a reporter and editor in the Chicago, Illinois, and Atlanta, Georgia, areas.
Malcolm Tariq
Malcolm Tariq is a poet, playwright, and social impact strategist from Savannah, Georgia. He is the author of Heed the Hollow (Graywolf, 2019), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and the Georgia Author of the Year Award in Poetry. As a playwright, he has served as an apprentice at Horizon Theatre Company and completed a residency with Liberation Theatre Company. He has developed strategic communications and/or directed literary programs at The Friends School of Atlanta, The Center for Alternative Sentences and Employment Services, and Cave Canem. A graduate of Emory University, Malcolm holds a PhD in English from the University of Michigan. Through his communications and engagement consultancy, Third Place Solutions, he helps small nonprofits and businesses increase their impact and capacity. He lives in Brooklyn, New York and serves as director of the Prison and Justice Writing Program at PEN America.
Deborah Zalesne
Deborah Zalesne is a CUNY School of Law professor, writer, and activist for prison reform. Her scholarship interrogates the legal and structural conditions that enable carceral violence. She is a co-author, along with Christopher Blackwell, Kwaneta Harris, and Dr. Terry Kupers, of the forthcoming book Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement (Pluto Press, September 2025). With Christopher Blackwell, she is co-director of a Writers Development Program for aspiring incarcerated writers. You can follow her on Twitter at @DebbieZalesne.
Dr. Terry Kupers
Dr. Terry Kupers is a psychiatrist with a background in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, forensics and social and community psychiatry. He is Professor Emeritus at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. Dr. Kupers’ forensic psychiatry experience includes testimony in several large class action litigations concerning prison conditions, sexual abuse, and the quality of mental health services inside correctional facilities. He has written on numerous topics including public mental health, the damaging effects of solitary confinement, and gender / toxic masculinity. He is a consultant to Human Rights Watch and Disability Rights California.
Jimena Pinzón
Jimena Pinzón is a researcher, journalist, and advocate based in Brooklyn, NY. She is currently an advocacy and policy researcher at Freedom of the Press Foundation, where she works to amplify the work of independent journalists and supports efforts that champion and protect press freedom. She also interned with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project and is a third-year law student at Brooklyn Law School. As a law student, Jimena works with the Criminal Defense and Advocacy Clinic, where she represents currently incarcerated individuals seeking resentencing under the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act. Prior to law school, Jimena was a researcher for the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin and served as the copy desk chief for The Daily Texan, the local student-led newspaper.
Kevin Gosztola
Kevin Gosztola is the editor The Dissenter Newsletter at TheDissenter.org, which covers press freedom, whistleblowers, and government secrecy. He hosts a podcast called “The Dissenter Update” that is published as part of the newsletter. He has reported and chronicled attacks on journalists and whistleblowers and the lengths that government agencies will go to hide their actions for 15 years. From 2015-2023, he was the managing editor of Shadowproof.com, which regularly published writing from incarcerated journalists/writers.
Jason Boss
An Ex-Googler and Extreme Nerd with a lifetime in the IT field, Jason Boss is the host of Behind the Bars, a podcast featuring raw interviews with currently or previously incarcerated people. By featuring unheard voices and real accounts of prison life and the justice system, Behind the Bars aims to break misconceptions and offer a platform for reflection, redemption, and change.