Date: Wednesdays,
July 23, 30 & August 6
(3 sessions)
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM (CT) / 8:00 - 9:30 PM (ET)
Facilitator: Valerie Cartonio & Guests
About the Prison Pod:
The Prison Podcast is accessible to incarcerated individuals nationwide through tablets provided across correctional facilities. It is also available to the public on all major podcast platforms—including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and YouTube—making it widely accessible both inside and outside the walls.
Hosted on the Edovo platform, a trusted educational resource for incarcerated people, the podcast has the potential to reach over 970,000 individuals—representing nearly 50% of the total U.S. incarcerated population.
Edovo’s platform is currently active in 1,200+ correctional facilities across the country.
Panel Topics
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Session 1 - July 23: Panelist: Dr. Alissa Ackerman & Guest Speaker
A Psychosocial Perspective:
Session 2 - July 30: Panelists: Felix Rosado & Chris Miner A Prison Perspective
Session 3 - August 6: Panelists : Dr. Alissa Ackerman A Spiritual Perspective |
The Facilitators & Guests:
Valerie Cartonio ran a non-profit organization called the Maine Native Prison Project for 20 years. During this time she worked as a prison advocate for Native Americans experiencing incarceration. In 2006, she moved mid-State Maine to finish her BA in Sociology, and continued her education at the University of Maine earning an Interdisciplinary Masters degree with a concentration in Peace & Reconciliation Studies in 2021.
Valerie has done many aspects of work around prison issues including monthly visits to various jails and prison facilities, one on one visitations, court appearances, pre-release planning, re-entry work, substance abuse prevention training and support services, and Wellbriety (similar to AA). She worked at a Mental Health Agency for 4 years providing these services in the community, along with HIV testing and counseling. Valerie and her husband Tony have a roommate who was formerly incarcerated as a juvenile in the adult system, and served 15+ years in the Maine prison system.
She has been married for 38 years, to her husband Tony; between them they have 5 children and 9 grandchildren, along with a 13 year old pittie. She has lived in Maine all her life.
Prison POD Productions was a Master’s project, a brand new program at the University of Maine, instead of doing a thesis. The podcast was developed in 2021 and just wrapped up Season 4, is available on tablets in jails and prisons.across the country. Ms Valerie, as she is called by her Southern listeners, maintains a post office box where her listeners can write; many show ideas come from these letters.
Alissa R. Ackerman, Ph.D. , is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at California State University, Fullerton and owner of Ampersands Restorative Justice. She is a “pracademic” and “survivor scholar” in that she incorporates her academic training, practitioner, and personal experiences with sexual violence in her work.
Alissa writes extensively on topics related to sexual violence, sexual offending, and sex crime policies in academic journals, books, and OpEds. She is an internationally sought-after speaker, consultant, and trainer. Along with Casey Ballinger, MSW, Alissa is the co-recipient of the 2024 Gail Burns-Smith Award.
Felix Rosado is co-founder of Let's Circle Up, a restorative justice (RJ) education project and author of Justice from the Inside Up: A Restorative Justice Education Facilitator's Manual (Living Justice Press 2024).
In 2022, Felix narrowly escaped death by incarceration via governor clemency after 27 years. While inside, he also co-founded the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration, earned a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Villanova University, and served in leadership of the Alternatives to Violence Project and Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program.
Today Felix serves as Program Manager of Healing Futures, a youth RJ diversion program at the Youth Art & Self-empowerment Project, teaches RJ at Chestnut Hill College and Community College of Philadelphia, resides in southwest Philadelphia, and is the proud father of Jubilee, born a week shy of his two-year freedom anniversary.
Chris Miner is a formerly incarcerated, anti-incarceration agitator and a PhD student in Criminology, Law, and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also holds undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Urban Planning, as well as a Master of Social Work degree, all from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Chris has worked with local organizations in Champaign, Illinois including First Followers, the Education Justice Project and Women in Need Recovery, and founded his own non-profit, A Way In, which assists people with felony convictions access higher education.
Chris has taught courses in Victimology, Community Corrections and Introduction to Criminology at UIC, has facilitated various reentry courses with the Hinda Institute, works as a program development specialist for DREAAM, and serves on the Champaign County Mental Health board of directors.