Geri Silva was a founding member of Mothers Reclaiming Our Children (Mothers ROC) in 1992, Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes (FACTS) in 1996, Fair Chance Project (FCP) in 2009, California Families Against Solitary Confinement (CFASC) in 2011, and Families United to End LWOP (FUEL) in 2017.  She is presently the co-director of FCP and a lead organizer with FUEL.

Dortell introduced himself to Geri with articles sent from inside Lancaster prison in the late 1990s. Today, they collaborate on various projects and are close friends.

Sonali Kolhatkar is an award winning multimedia journalist and author. She is host of Rising Up With Sonali, a national syndicated TV/radio program. In the early 2000s, Dortell wrote to her from Lancaster prison and since then has appeared on her program as a commentator many times over the years. She recently brought him on a special correspondent from Mule Creek State Prison. Sonali quoted Dortell In her 2025 book Talking About Abolition: A Police Free World is Possible and has co-authored an essay with him for YES! Magazine.

Sister Mary Sean Hodges is the 4^th of 9 children, born in New York, raised in Los Angeles. She entered the convent with the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.  After teaching for almost 40 years, she began the Partnership For Re-entry Program (PREP) in the Archdiocese of LA. Sister Mary Sean has known Dortell through the ministry since 2005.

Lois Ahrens has been an activist and organizer for social justice for almost 60 years. In 2000 she founded The Real Cost of Prisons Project. One part of the Project was creating three comic books, and 135,000 copies were sent free of charge to people incarcerated in the U.S. A set of the three comics were sent to Dortell Williams, which is how Lois and Dortell met.

James King is the Director of Programs at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and a 2025-27 Leading Edge Fellow with the Rosenberg Foundation. As an advocate and organizer with over a decade of experience in criminal justice reform, James leads initiatives that challenge mass incarceration and champion community reinvestment.