Leadership
Advisory Board
Suzanne Costello
Suzanne Costello is a dance/theater director, choreographer, performer, and educator whose 40-year career has been devoted to storytelling and amplifying underrepresented voices. Beginning her career in New York, she has toured nationally and internationally, bringing her distinctive approach to movement and narrative across diverse communities.
Her innovative program, Moving Beyond Bars, brings movement, creative writing, theater, and visual art to justice-impacted individuals in prisons, juvenile centers, and re-entry communities across the U.S. Designed to recognize participants as human beings first, the program fosters identity reclamation and creative agency.
Suzanne has been a featured presenter at major conferences worldwide, including the 2024 International Congress on Parole & Probation, The Hague, the Netherlands, the 2022 International Congress on Parole & Probation, Ottawa, Canada, the International Conference on Culture, Health, and Wellbeing, Bristol, UK, the National Organization for Arts in Health, Austin, TX, Expressive Therapies Summit, NYC, NY, and the Performing Arts Alliance, Atlanta, GA.
Walter Dunn
Walter Dunn, an individual with a background in incarceration, has established himself as an author, radio host, and advocate for criminal justice reform. His experience includes a period of incarceration initiated at the age of 26, where he served a 12.5-year sentence. Notably, prior to his conviction, Mr. Dunn held the esteemed position of Director of Admissions at a public university, adding a layer of complexity to his professional history.
Mr. Dunn’s narrative is characterized by a distinctive turn of events. He proactively engaged in self-education, acquiring legal expertise and obtaining certification as a law clerk during his time in prison, ultimately leading to the overturning of his own sentence. Since his release in July 2022, Mr. Dunn has authored two significant books, titled “Through Innocent Eyes” and “How to Navigate through the Criminal Justice System.”
Beyond his written contributions, Mr. Dunn actively shares his experience of wrongful conviction on a national scale. He engages in extensive public speaking engagements, addressing audiences at universities, criminal justice conferences, and summits throughout the country, contributing to the broader discourse on the need for justice reform.
Eddie Fordham
Eddie Fordham describes himself as “justice-impacted, not justice defeated.” At 18, he was sentenced to life in prison and spent over 31 years incarcerated. Education became his lifeline: he earned an Associate’s Degree from Miami Dade College with a 4.0 GPA, becoming Florida’s first formerly incarcerated college graduate to receive an Academic Achievement Award.
Since his release, Eddie has turned resilience into leadership—mentoring through Auburn University’s Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project, shaping resources in the Alabama Re-entry Guide, and advocating for access to higher education. Now a Public Policy major at FSU, where he is also earning credit toward a Master’s in Public Administration, he has received national recognition through awards like the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship and the FSU IDEA grant. Eddie also volunteers with the Innocence Project of Florida and is passionate about connecting people and policymakers to advance reentry success.
Jessica Grosholz
Dr. Jessica M. Grosholz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at USF on the Sarasota-Manatee campus. She also serves as the Sarasota-Manatee Campus Chair and the Director for the department’s Master’s in Criminal Justice degree program. Dr. Grosholz earned her Ph.D. from Emory University in 2014. Her research centers on carceral studies, particularly in the areas of prison and reentry programming, recidivism, and health, as well as on white extremism, specifically the white power music scene. She specializes in qualitative methodology. Dr. Grosholz’s research has been published in significant outlets such as Crime & Delinquency, Criminal Justice & Behavior, Deviant Behavior, Feminist Criminology, Health & Justice, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Race & Justice.
Dr. Grosholz teaches undergraduate classes in criminological theory, research methods, prisoner reentry and recidivism, and miscarriages of justice. She also teaches graduate courses in corrections and qualitative methodologies. Dr. Grosholz has received numerous awards for her work, including the USF Outstanding Community-Engaged Teaching Award as well as the USF Sarasota-Manatee Student Government Association Outstanding Professor Award and the Faculty Senate Excellence in Community Engagement Award.
Dave Gussak
David Gussak, Ph.D., ATR-BC., has taught for the Florida State University Art Therapy program for more than 20 years; for 10 of those years, he also served as the Chairperson for the university’s Department of Art Education. Prior to this, he served as faculty and program director for Emporia State University’s Graduate Art Therapy program. He also provides numerous lectures and workshops for various educational programs all over the world. Dr. Gussak has more than 30 years of clinical and practical experience; this includes various forensic systems, several correctional institutions and settings, a private practice, and most recently, he currently serves as the Program Coordinator for the FSU/Fl Department of Corrections Art Therapy in Prisons program.
Dr. Gussak has served the art therapy field and community in many capacities. He served as chairperson, board or committee member for numerous professional and community organizations over the years, including for several state art therapy associations, AATA and the ATCB. These include his experiences as Past Board Director for the American Art Therapy Association, Treasurer of the Art therapy Credentials Board, chair for AATA’s Nomination Committee and its GAC, and member of the ATCB ethics committee. He currently sits on the editorial review board for Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association and the Arts In Psychotherapy, and is a frequent guest editor for The International Journal of Offender Treatment and Criminology. He is also the co-Editor-in-Chief of the new International Journal for Creativity Inside. In 2022, Dr. Gussak was granted the American Art Therapy Association’s Honorary Lifetime Member (HLM) award.
Kathie Klarreich
Kathie Klarreich is the author of Madame Dread: A Tale of Love and a contributor to two anthologies: So Spoke the Earth and Women, Writing, and Prison. In 2010 she received a Knight International Journalism Fellowship to train journalists in investigative reporting in Haiti, where she spent half of the last 24 years reporting for print, radio and television, including Time, The New York Times, ABC, and NPR. Kathie started facilitating writing workshops in the correctional system in 2009 and began the writing exchanges with academic institutions in 2013. She graduated from the University of Michigan and received her MFA from Leslie University.
Michael Kostis
Michael Kostis serves as the Statewide Coordinator for the Florida Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (FCHEP). A recent graduate from the University of Central Florida with dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Sociology, Michael brings a rich background in advocacy. Previously, he was the Program and Volunteer Coordinator for the Florida Prison Education Project (FPEP), Co-Editor-In-Chief of the FPEP Post Magazine, and a Student Body Senator in the UCF Student Government. As an organizer, poet, and activist, Michael is dedicated to addressing class struggle and economic inequality, striving to mobilize working-class individuals toward a more equitable society. At FCHEP, he is committed to expanding and strengthening the network of organizations that provide higher education in prisons, aiming to enhance access and opportunity for incarcerated individuals.
Aiya Messina
Aiya Messina is the Student Program Coordinator for FPEP. She is a first year graduate student in the dual M.P.A. in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management program. She is a passionate advocate for prison reform, working as the Editor in Chief of the FPEP Post to educate the public about mass incarceration in America.
Lady Perez Musan
Lady Perez Musan, MSW, MPH(c), RCSWI is a psychotherapist, researcher, and advocate committed to advancing equity in mental health and higher education for system-impacted communities. Formerly incarcerated herself, she brings both lived experience and professional expertise to her work, bridging the gap between research, practice, and policy. She is the founder of MIND Whole Wellness, a growing initiative dedicated to holistic and trauma-informed care, and she provides psychotherapy throughout Florida with a focus on evidence-based and mindfulness approaches.
Lady is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health in Population and Health Sciences at the University of Michigan, building on her Master of Social Work from Michigan with a concentration in interpersonal practice, integrated health, and mental health. At Michigan, she has served as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Level Up Lab, collaborating on NIH- and NIJ-funded projects addressing employment equity and reentry outcomes for underserved groups. She also partners with The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan on research supporting female youth of color impacted by the legal system.
Her career spans advocacy, higher education, reentry support, and human services, including work with User Voice (UK), Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates, and organizations across Florida. Her contributions have been recognized with multiple honors, including the University of Michigan’s Impact Award – Person of the Year, and the Latina/o Researcher of the Year Familismo Award from Puentes. A frequent speaker, Lady has presented nationally and internationally on incarceration, reentry, trauma, and community healing.
Lady’s work is guided by the belief that education and mental health are vital pathways to reintegration, belonging, and justice for system-impacted individuals.
Kiara Rucker
Kiara Rucker is the Senior Manager of Community and Workforce Development at Operation New Hope, where she leads workforce initiatives, employer partnerships, and community engagement to expand opportunities for justice-impacted individuals across Central Florida. Before joining Operation New Hope, Kiara worked in Government Relations for her alma mater, Florida A&M University (FAMU). She is passionate about building strong partnerships, advancing reentry services, and creating pathways to economic stability for individuals and families.
Chloe Scott
Chloe Scott is a senior majoring in political science at the University of Central Florida. She is the secretary of UCF’s Students For Education in Prison and currently works as a Research Associate for The Carrier Pigeon Post. After graduation, she hopes to attend law school and work as a criminal defense attorney.
Derrick St. Fort
Derrick St. Fort is the founder of Mitigation & Justice. He’s a board-certified criminal defense investigator, licensed private investigator, and mitigation specialist with more than 20 years of experience at both the state and federal levels. His work spans from juvenile offenses to high-profile capital criminal cases, bringing a unique perspective shaped by both investigative expertise and clinical training. Derrick holds a Master’s degree in Social Work, which inspired him to the mitigation space by merging investigative skills with social work insight. His approach centers the voices and lived experiences of clients, blending compelling narratives with factual evidence to advance advocacy that is both effective and compassionate. He is the author of Mitigation and Justice: Where the Truth Meets the Heart of Story and a speaker on issues of social justice and second chances. More information can be found at www.mitigationandjustice.com.
Amanda Tarver
Amanda Tarver is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of 300 Letters Inc. Drawing from her own experience with incarceration and her background in criminal justice journalism, Amanda and her husband launched 300 Letters in 2021. The organization is dedicated to breaking the cycle of intergenerational incarceration by providing emotional support, mental health services, early childhood education resources, and community connections to families with young children impacted by incarceration and committed to healing together.
By fostering a safe and transparent environment, 300 Letters empowers families to process their experiences, rebuild, and thrive. The organization’s guiding belief is simple yet powerful: incarceration is not an individual issue—it is a family affair.
Heather Vazquez
Heather Vazquez, MFA, MA, is the Education Coordinator for FPEP and a faculty member in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at UCF. Her teaching and interests include first-year composition, multilingual writing, language diversity, translingualism, and World Englishes. As the Education Coordinator, she works with current and prospective FPEP teachers in the planning and implementation of courses.
Keri Watson
Keri Watson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Watson’s research on art and activism has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the Terra-Fulbright Foundation. Inspired by her experiences teaching for the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, she started FPEP to bring educational opportunities to incarcerated people in her home state.
Wendy Wolters
Wendy Wolters Hinshaw received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. She teaches courses in rhetoric, literacy, women’s literature and prison writing, as well as a service-learning course in writing for nonprofits. Her articles on the rhetoric of trauma, teaching testimonial literature, and pedagogical approaches to student resistance have appeared in the journals JAC and Transformations. Her work on representations of trauma and lynching received the Elizabeth Flynn Award from the journal JAC. Professor Hinshaw’s current research examines art and writing by prisoners.