PRC Leadership

Built from the inside. Led with purpose.

PRC’s leadership combines lived experience, legal knowledge, public advocacy, and community strategy.

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Askari Lumumba

Askari Lumumba is a jailhouse lawyer, educator, organizer, and Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Prisoners Rights Clinic. After entering prison at 18 and serving nearly three decades, he has devoted his life inside to legal study, political education, mentoring, and the pursuit of meaningful reform.

His vision helped establish PRC as an organization shaped by people closest to the realities of incarceration. Askari’s work centers human dignity, informed participation, transparent parole review, and the development of leadership behind prison walls.

President & Chief Operating Officer

Marva Austin

Marva Austin is President & Chief Operating Officer of Prisoners Rights Clinic and leads the organization’s public advocacy, strategic development, community partnerships, and operational growth.

An outspoken advocate, organizer, and strategist, she works directly with incarcerated people and families, documents institutional concerns, communicates with government leaders, organizes public actions, and helps transform individual experiences into broader demands for accountability. Her leadership keeps PRC community-centered, disciplined, and committed to excellence.

Executive Director

Hassan Shabazz

Hassan Shabazz is a nationally recognized jailhouse lawyer, legal educator, and Executive Director of Prisoners Rights Clinic. He brings more than two decades of litigation, policy, and legal-education experience to the organization.

After serving more than 23 years, Hassan continues to use his firsthand knowledge to empower incarcerated people through procedural education, advocacy, and public engagement. He co-founded PRC to help make rights understandable, usable, and protected.