DeWayne Barton, Founder & CEO of Hood Huggers International, is a visual and performing artist. He is involved in justice issues both through his art and his community involvement. Barton is a 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health Leader. In addition, he is the co-founder of the Burton Street Community Street Gardens and co-founder of a job training program designed to prepare Asheville area youth and adults for “green color” jobs, among his many other activities.

J. Hackett, Executive Director of Green Opportunities, which trains hard-to-place employees (specifically including felons) to work in the culinary and construction fields and helps them find well-paying jobs with opportunities for advancement. Hackett was formerly incarcerated.

Stephen Smith, formerly incarcerated and current entrepreneur, and owner of M.S. Lean Landscaping, LLC. Smith has created REACH (Recognizing Expectations and Hope) working with men and women released from prisons to help them get employment and connect to services.

Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad, Director of Peace and Justice Studies at Warren Wilson College and the author of Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives and the Struggle for Justice (2017). Dr. Vesely-Flad has done extensive research in the area of race and disproportionate policing and imprisonment.