Our Mission
Who We Are
The Illinois Prisoner Rights Coalition is an abolitionist group of advocates made up of professionals, students, faith leaders, incarcerated and directly impacted members of our community.
(All ILPRC members are volunteers. We cannot provide legal, mental health, or medical advice.)
Our Mission
We advocate for incarcerated people in the state of Illinois who are mistreated and neglected and demand transparency and accountability from the carceral facilities that often have little to no oversight or accountability for their actions.
As a coalition we acknowledge our organization will not always have the right resources or expertise for every situation and so we bring together like minded individuals and organizations across the state, to ensure that incarcerated people have access to a well connected network of advocates.
Our Values
We believe that regardless of the crimes that someone has committed (or is accused of), all people have legal and human rights that deserve protection.
We work to ensure that incarcerated community members are met with compassion. We provide support and intervention in instances of abuse, neglect, and violations of civil and human rights.
We believe that the carceral system in Illinois is inherently unjust and we support and work to achieve a reimagined justice system that will focus on alternative forms of justice and rehabilitation rather than punishment. So long as this system exists, we ensure that incarcerated people are treated with humanity and that their civil liberties remain intact.
We believe in empowering and protecting people from harm rather than empowering the systems that are causing the harm.
Get Involved
Attend Events
Support us by showing up to demand change with us at rallies, die-ins, and whatever else comes this way.
Meet the Board
Mya Hendrix
Sophia Bos-Shadi
Sophia Bos-Shadi
Mya is a college student that studies political science at Southern New Hampshire University. She was born in Kankakee County, where she currently resides. She was directly impacted by law-enforcement failures that led to quadriplegia and because of that she began her work in advocacy. Mya is on the board of a few social justice organizations and also leads the state in disability advocacy as Ms. Wheelchair Illinois.
Sophia Bos-Shadi
Sophia Bos-Shadi
Sophia Bos-Shadi
Sophia is a college student studying Justice and Peace studies at Georgetown University. She was born and raised in Kankakee, Illinois, and has been involved in activism efforts to achieve racial justice in her communities for the last six years.
Noah Palm
Sophia Bos-Shadi
Noah Palm
Noah is a dedicated working class organizer hailing from Pekin, Illinois, with a strong commitment to social justice. Having personally experienced the detrimental effects of the incarceration system on working class families through his father's ten-year prison sentence, Noah developed a deep understanding of the systemic issues plaguing the justice system. He has channeled this passion into his work, volunteering for various non-profit organizations such as the NAACP, Peoples World, and Illinois Prisoner Rights Coalition.