Armando Lizarraga is a doctoral candidate in the Program in Higher Education Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. His work is rooted in his experiences growing up in a working-class, Black, Brown, and immigrant community in Inglewood, California.

Through Project MALES, the Texas Prison Education Initiative, and Texas Appleseed, Armando has supported incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students across education and policy. His research focuses on access to higher education in carceral environments, particularly for women, as well as financial aid, student debt, and reentry.

Armando earned an M.A. in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College at Columbia University, a B.A. in Chicana/o Studies and Sociology from UCLA, and an A.A. in General Studies from El Camino College.

Donna Zuniga has a passion for helping incarcerated students improve their circumstances and find hope for the future through education. As Associate Vice President of the Lee College Huntsville Center, she oversees the academic, technical, and fiscal components of a program offering associate degrees and certificates to more than 1,200 students across six TDCJ units.

Donna previously served as program director and counselor for the Lee College Huntsville Center. She holds a master of education in counselor education and school counseling and a bachelor of science in psychology from Sam Houston State University. She is a licensed professional counselor in Texas and a former member of the National Institute for Leadership Development Program.

Dr. Mel Webb (they/them) is a Professor of Instruction in Philosophy and Classics and Program Director of The Philosophy & Literature Circle and Texas Education Justice Alliance-South. They are a queer theological social ethicist who believes in the power of circle processes to transform lives and communities, foster trust and accountability, and generate possibilities for more just, peaceful, and liberatory futures.

Mel founded and directs The Philosophy and Literature Circle, which brings together participants who are incarcerated and university students to engage with and create works in literature, philosophy, and the arts. They have more than fifteen years of teaching experience in universities, seminaries, online classrooms, churches, and prisons.

As a member of the Humanities and Liberal Arts Assessment Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Mel studied the ways the humanities support personal well-being and catalyze civic engagement and political participation.

Building on the success of The Philosophy and Literature Circle, Mel now directs the development of the Texas Education Justice Alliance-South. TEJA-S links institutions of higher education to make high-quality, arts- and humanities-based postsecondary education accessible to people incarcerated in South-Central Texas and upon return to their communities.