Change Agents The Podcast

The Foundation of Freedom: Maria Garza on Housing, Healing & Change

After over a decade behind bars, Maria Garza returned to a world with little support and even less stability. Facing housing insecurity and emotional strain, she saw firsthand the failures of a system that promised rehabilitation but delivered barriers. Determined to break the cycle, she co-founded Challenge II Change, a reentry organization that centers stable housing and mental health as the foundation for real second chances. Produced by Cary Robbins, with Noble Thompson and Noah Tomko-Jones ...

Harry Peña: From Prison to Purpose

When a rash decision changed the course of his life, Harry Peña spent decades behind bars. But prison didn't break him — it revealed his purpose. Determined to turn his painful past into a force for good, Harry founded the Life Impacters Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to disrupting the incarceration and recidivism cycle that traps so many formerly incarcerated people.

Wendell Robinson: Life Sentence to Reentry Reform

Sentenced to life in prison at just 19 years old, Wendell Robinson drew his own map to freedom. Now, through his work at Restore Justice, Robinson uses his experience and knowledge to help other formerly incarcerated people navigate the reentry system and find their place in society. Produced by Skylah Martinez, Bing Wang, and Eliza Westhusing for Reparations Media NFP | In collaboration with Wendell Robinson and Restore Justice Foundation Donate to Reparations Media & Change Agents Producti...

Struggle to Serve: Larry Sapp and the push for political inclusion

“Struggle to Serve: Larry Sapp and the push for political inclusion” Larry Sapp has dedicated the past 30 years to serving his community. In 2021, he was elected to the Sauk Village Board of Trustees, promising to get the community thriving again after years of decay. His dream was deferred when he was removed from the Board for a decades-old felony drug conviction that he had openly disclosed during his path to elected office. Now, Sapp is fighting for the rights of returning citizens to serve ...

Shimere Love-Shanklin: From Struggle to Strength

“Shimere Love-Shanklin: From Struggle to Strength” Finding employment and opening doors that seem permanently closed is a barrier that people with felony records continually face. Shamere Love-Shanklin knows this reality all too well. In this episode, Love-Shanklin shares her reentry journey—navigating the challenges, embracing the triumphs, and reclaiming her identity after years of incarceration—and how her criminal justice reform advocacy work transforms the system designed to hold people lik...

Rhymes & Resistance: King Moosa uses creativity to advance voting rights

“Rhymes & Resistance: King Moosa uses creativity to advance voting rights” Did you know that individuals with felony convictions in Illinois still retain the right to vote? Rockford-born hip-hop ARTivist Brian Harrington, aka King Moosa, is trying to spread the word. Sentenced to 25 years in prison at the age of 14, King Moosa experienced the isolating effects of incarceration firsthand. Through the support of community members and grassroots movements, he was encouraged to draw, write, and ...

Season 5 Trailer

A Place Called Home

When Matthew Cage’s father died, Matthew knew it fell on him to financially support his mom. But there was a problem. Matthew had just been released from prison — and many don’t want to rent or employ someone with a criminal record. Experts say a good indication of whether someone will return to prison is how quickly they find housing. A group of nonprofits across Chicago’s South and West sides are trying to break that cycle. Their solution: provide clean, affordable and dignified housing for pe...

Roots and Roofs: Building Wealth Through Chicago’s Two-Flats

When Mercedes Pickett set out to buy her first home, she wanted to do it in the same way her mom had — by living in a two-flat, renting out the bottom apartment, and making the building into an investment property. For over a century, owning and living in a rental property has been one of the most effective ways to build wealth for Black and Latino communities. Yet these quintessential Chicago homes are in danger of extinction. This is the story of how a new generation of Black and brown homeown...

Say Her Name: Women Survivors of Chicago Police Torture

Michelle Clopton was in her twenties when Chicago police attempted to force her to confess to a crime she didn’t commit. For 72 hours, she was brutally questioned, deprived of food, and tortured. Today, she is one of the few women to publicly share her experience of abuse. But she’s not alone. Under the leadership of CPD Commander Jon Burge, more than 100 Black people were tortured by Chicago police in the ’70s and ’80s to elicit false confessions. A group of survivors have created the Chicago T...

My Time

Produced by Dilpreet Raju | Criminal records can sometimes create seemingly insurmountable hurdles to employment, a key factor toward reducing recidivism rates. Defy Ventures teaches the incarcerated, and returning citizens how to build their own business. Their program is a game-changer, not just for the system impacted, but for business leaders who are given a chance to shed biases, and discover an invaluable stream of worker talent.

Sanctuary

Produced by Justin Agrelo | In 2010, a group of men incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center had a thought: how could they help stem community violence plaguing Chicago from the inside of a prison roughly three hours away? The men formed an academic study group they later named Community Anti-Violence Education (CAVE). They began examining the multiple layers of trauma and violence, both internally and externally hoping they could find a way to stem the damage done to their communities. What...

Reclaiming their Time

Produced by Daphne Watson | Behind the walls of the notorious Stateville Correctional Facility in Illinois, incarcerated individuals, educators, attorneys, students, activists, and legislators gather several times a month for the DePaul University Behind the Walls Law and Policy Think Tank. This collaborative space empowers its members — some serving life sentences — to draft real legislation aimed at dismantling felony disenfranchisement and restoring full citizenship to returning citizens. It'...

Ending Permanent Punishments

Produced by Jane Carlson | Marlon Chamberlain couldn’t chaperone his son’s field trip or be the executor of his father’s estate because of a decades-old drug conviction. He’s now leading a group of all formerly incarcerated members working to overturn or amend nearly 1,200 Illinois laws that restrict people with records from being full citizens, from being fully free.

Giving Others Dreams

Produced by Citlali Perez | Women are being imprisoned at higher rates than ever. As they return home they face a unique set of challenges, because they are often their families primary caretakers they face harsher parole oversight, making it all the more difficult to reckon unresolved trauma. G.O.D. helps these women meet their immediate needs (such as clothing or housing), and then works with them to find a path back to a productive and happy life.

Navigating Homeownership

Produced by Corli Jay | Chicago’s Choose To Own program gives low-income residents the educational and financial support to buy their first home, helping them navigate a confusing and discriminatory mortgage and appraisal system. Still, some participants worry their newfound financial stability may push them out of the program — jeopardizing the wealth the program was designed to build.

Season 4 Trailer

Change Agents Season 3 Trailer

How to Tackle Antiblackness

How to Tackle Antiblackness "Together we are powerful." "Black and Brown solidarity." "Yellow peril supports Black power." Interracial solidarity is foundational in the fight for racial justice for all, but often interracial conflict steals headlines instead. Just how can people of color transcend deep differences and internalized anti-Blackness? Listen to how Chicago-based organization People Matter forged a path to true interracial solidarity through education and compassion....

Justice That Heals

Justice That Heals Chicago can be cruel to its youth, especially to youth of color living in marginalized communities. Restorative justice practices have begun to emerge in the city aiming to remedy the root causes of harm that is plaguing the streets with crime and violence. BUILD has become a fierce proponent of the restorative justice framework and has added it to its tool kit as it expands its reach in the Austin community. Alongside BUILD, are recently founded restorative justice courts ext...

Building Equality in Construction

Produced by Leslie Hurtado | History shows that Chicago’s building trades have excluded construction workers of color. But the attention on George Floyd’s death three years ago inspired a movement toward racial justice everywhere, from schools to jobs. While some construction companies have made commitments to stopping racism and discrimination in the workplace, industry experts say more work needs to be done to build equity in construction. A nonprofit called Revolution Workshop is training eme...

On the Way Home

On the Way Home Youth who are experiencing homelessness in Chicago are undercounted and frequently clumsily represented. This story’s intent is to counteract public bias around what someone experiencing homelessness looks like. The story of Shawne Hinkle winds us through a personal account of housing difficulties. Her story is one that is incredibly specific to her situation, but also speaks to broader experiences of homeless youth. Shawne is now an employee at the drop-in center for the Lyte Co...

Restaurando La Maceta - Restoring La Maceta (Spanish version)

Restaurando La Maceta Hay un refrán que dice que la aflicción es como una maceta rota. La maceta nunca se va ver igual o funcionar igual a lo que era antes que se rompió— igual a que una familia no se va ver igual o funcionar igual antes de la muerte de una persona querida. El Centro Sanar pelea contra la cultura tradicional y medicinal para el cuidado de salud y trauma. Los clínicos de la organización acompañan a los miembros de la comunidad en su camino para recuperarse de sus traumas con serv...

Restoring La Maceta

Restoring La Maceta There’s a metaphor for grief that describes the healing process as gluing a broken flower pot or in Spanish – una maceta – back together after it breaks. The pot will never look or function the same as it did before it was broken – just as a family will never look or function the same as it did before the death of a loved one. Centro Sanar seeks to challenge the traditional medicalized culture of mental health and trauma care. The organization’s clinicians’ accompany communit...

Cooking Up Opportunity

ChiFresh is a thriving food service contractor run by worker-owners who are all formally incarcerated. On busy days ChiFresh can prepare and deliver upwards of 500 meals for clients ranging from nursing homes to schools. Soon though, they will be able produce TEN TIMES that number, as they ready themselves for a move to a much larger space in the city's westside. Join Change Agents producers Charles Tharpe and Justin Myers as they introduce us to these entrepreneurs and share their stories of se...

Growing a Greater Englewood

Where do you get food when the grocery stores aren't open, or when their shelves have gone bare? Many Chicagoans asked themselves this question for the first time during the 2020 Covid pandemic, but for those living in the food deserts of the city's West and Southside's, the question wasn't a new one. Join Change Agents producers Liz Murice Alexander, and Dylan Cohen as they take a look at the urban farming collective Grow Greater Englewood, who works in partnership with community stakeholders t...

Change Agents: The Road to Reclaiming History

As communities across the nation grapple with the racist symbols of their past in the form of statues and monuments, in University City, Missouri citizens have embarked on their own journey of racial reckoning, centering the debate on a less discussed, but more common form of memorial. As part of the Renaming Streets Task Force, seven citizens had 120 days to research over 200 street names and determine which ones should be targeted for change. Join Change Agents hosts Victoria Benefield and Emi...

Know History, Know Self

Description: Many crucial historical perspectives are missing from classrooms all over the nation. Specifically, Asian-American students are not properly represented in the curriculum, and in many cases, not represented at all. When a Chicago-based organization spearheads the TEAACH Act, the prospect of mandating Asian-American curriculum in Illinois schools finally becomes a possibility.

Do the Math

A parent and community-led coalition is fighting to keep three elementary schools in the North Lawndale neighborhood open after another community group proposes to close the schools in exchange for one STEAM school. Students, parents and teachers rally against the closures and come up with a proposal of their own.

Trust, Learning, Caring

​Trust Learning Care,​ covers the Brighton Park Neighborhood Councils as it brings parents and teachers together to demand a say in how Chicago Public Schools will allocate the $1.8 billion dollars it has coming from the American Rescue Plan.