Expanding Labor’s Reach into Carceral Reform w/ Maya Ragsdale, Founder of Beyond the Bars

Join us for a conversation with Maya Ragsdale about anti-carceral unionism, cross-movement solidarity, and the political economy of prison labor.

Maya is the founder of Beyond the Bars, a worker organization fighting for better working conditions and safer communities for criminalized workers in South Florida — especially those bound by probation work requirements or subjected to coerced labor in prisons and work release camps. Beyond the Bars enables workers with criminal records and their families to reflect on their experiences in the context of larger economic and political systems, like racial capitalism, and build their power to participate in systems change.

Maya was previously Chief Counsel at Worth Rises, where she challenged the prison industry through regulatory, procurement, and policy advocacy, and a staff attorney at Dream Defenders, where she provided legal, policy, and strategic support to organizers on campaigns to divest from policing and incarceration.

Her perspective is informed by her personal experiences with the carceral system, in addition to her representation of working class people as a public defender and legal aid attorney. She is deeply committed to and connected with the movement community in Miami and nationally, having created and supported bail funds throughout Florida, built legal defense networks to respond to the George Floyd uprisings, and engaged in various other community and movement initiatives.