In this episode, 2025 Kroc School Women Peacemakers Fellow Dr. Estefanía Castañeda Pérez, a professor at USC and lifelong transborder commuter, shares her research and lived experiences navigating life between the U.S. and Mexico. She unpacks how violence at the border is not only physical, but also structural and psychological, shaped by state power, discretionary enforcement, and immigration policies that deeply impact transborder commuters’ sense of belonging and inclusion. Estefania explores transborder justice as a framework that centers the fragmented realities of living between two nations, reflects on the importance of giving back to her community, and emphasizes the need to amplify women’s voices in peacemaking, drawing from her experience as the first Transfronteriza selected for the Women Peacemakers Fellowship at the KROC IPJ.

Estefania is looking for transborder commuters willing to participate in a confidential interview to discuss their border crossing experiences for a research study from the University of California (USC) Department of Political Science and International Relations. If you are interested fill out this survey to check eligibility: https://qualtricsxmqjfdk6cf6.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bqiLX2XfbSyzByK

Estefanía’s instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/transborderjustice/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/estefan%C3%ADa-cp/

We kick of Season 7 of the Kroc Pod with a blockbuster -- in this episode, Kroc School Alumni Ryan Shipley shares his transformative journey from incarceration to becoming a leader in social justice through the Sisu Freedom Foundation. Shipley, the winner of the 2025 Necla Tschirgi Civic Engagement Award, discusses the challenges faced by system-impacted individuals during reentry, the importance of education in reducing recidivism, and the need for community support.

Ryan emphasizes the significance of lived experience in leadership roles and advocates for a shift in language to better represent those affected by the justice system. He also outlines future plans for the Sisu Foundation and offers advice for young people looking to create change in their communities.

Links:

• https://www.sisufreedom.org/
• https://www.sandiego.edu/torero-urban-scholars/
• https://thephoenix.org/app

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What happens when the system gets it wrong? In this episode, we dig into the haunting realities of wrongful convictions with Amanda Knox, one of the most well known exonerees of our time and Professor Justin Brooks, founder of the California Innocence Project. Together with other leading voices in law and interrogation techniques, we unpack the hidden mechanics behind false confessions, implicit bias, and the 4,000 documented wrongful convictions in the U.S. since 1989.

Check out these links for more information related to this episode:

• The Innocence Center -- https://theinnocencecenter.org/
• You Might Go to Prison Even Though Your Innocent by Justin Brooks -- https://www.youmightgotoprison.com/

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