Prison Radio International (PRI) is catalysing the development of prison radio across the globe by fostering a collaborative international community network that shares best practices, resources, and expertise.

Via our Global Prison Radio Survey, we are mapping prison radio activity around the world, building connections between projects regionally, discovering what support is required to drive this work forward, and working with the PRI Advisory Board on our strategic aims, which respond to the most pressing needs of the international community.

Prison Radio International’s activities are overseen by an Advisory Board whose members are from different countries and regions of the world. PRI’s Advisory Board members all have experience of developing or supporting projects that use audio in criminal justice settings to support people in prison or after release. The Prison Radio International Advisory Board’s Statement of Organisation and Purpose guides its work in setting and achieving its stated aims. Advisory Board members are committed to respecting the agreed Prison Radio International Values.

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Advisory Board Members

Heather is an Associate Professor with the School of Humanities, Language and Social Sciences at Griffith University in Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia, where she teaches journalism and media studies.

Her research focuses on prison radio, community and alternative media, and the ways in which media can support those most marginalised in society.

Heather has volunteered in community broadcasting since the early 1990s, mostly as a journalist, producer and trainer.

She was a presenter for Locked In – a requests program for incarcerated folks on Meanjin radio station 4ZZZ –  for over ten years, and a production support worker for Radio Seeds, a program on WOW-FM in Tarntanya, made by and for women of lived prison experience.

Heather has worked on action research projects in both men’s and women’s correctional institutions in South Australia, exploring how audio production can support people during their prison induction period.

She is a co-founder of the Prisoner Radio Network, an informal network dedicated to broadcasting incarcerated voices in Australia and her first book, Raising the Civil Dead, examined relationships between community radio and incarcerated people, in Australia and Canada.

Heather is currently editing an anthology called “This is Prison Radio!”, due for publication by Routledge in 2025.

Dr Ruth Armstrong is an academic, lawyer and criminologist with over 20 years of experience working with education, criminal and social justice organisations in the UK and internationally.

Ruth is passionate about co-producing solutions to intractable social and organisational challenges and thrives on bringing people together, listening, understanding, and generating and sharing evidence. 

Ruth is the director of Justice Matters, a consultancy that supports organisations, individuals and initiatives to develop leadership capacity and strategic direction, focussing on putting relationships at the heart of systems change. In this capacity, since 2023, she has worked with the CEO of the Prison Radio Association, Phil Maguire, to develop the strategic direction of Prison Radio International and its governance frameworks.

Ruth is a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge and has published extensively on the realities of prison, life after prison and desistance from crime in the UK and internationally.

Urszula is Associated Professor and Head of the Department of Journalism at the University of Warmia and Mazury, Poland.

Her monographs and scholarly papers centre on radio and community media. She is also the author of the articles about prison radio.

Phil worked in the fields of social work and education before following his passion for radio. After gaining a master’s in broadcast journalism he worked as a BBC radio producer, reporter and project manager.

In 2005, as Prison Radio Project Manager, Phil led a partnership between the BBC and HMPPS. In 2006 he became the founding Chief Executive of the Prison Radio Association (PRA) – an award-winning charity that uses radio to support prisoner rehabilitation.

In 2009, in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, the PRA launched National Prison Radio, the world’s first national radio station for people in prison.

In 2022, the PRA launched the ground-breaking, critically acclaimed and award-winning Life After Prison podcast, supported by the National Lottery Community Fund.

In the 2019 Phil was appointed an OBE for ‘Services to Radio Production and Prison Radio’.

He also sits on the boards of:

– Prison Radio Kenya – supporting the development of East Africa’s first prison radio initiative.

– Prisoners Abroad – a human rights and welfare charity providing humanitarian aid, advice and emotional support to British people affected by overseas imprisonment.

– The Charles Parker Trust – a charity dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of legendary radio producer, Charles Parker.

– The Radio Academy – the UK audio industry charity, dedicated to promoting excellence.

Karine is a social entrepreneur and media expert who has worked extensively with Radio Focus, an Israeli prison radio station. She has used her expertise to develop innovative and creative solutions for rehabilitation within the prison system.

Karine’s work with Radio Focus has gained international recognition. She has been invited to speak at conferences and share her insights on using radio as a tool for rehabilitation.

Today, as Principal CEO of Head Media House for Rehabilitation, she is developing a social enterprise using radio and media to rehabilitate people with post trauma from war and is launching a new program for veterans.

Karine leads and manages a diverse and talented team of media professionals, artists, and therapists, who produce and distribute high-quality content and programmes for various audiences and communities with disabilities and special needs.

Juan Pablo is Associate Professor and researcher at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He teaches Literary Theory in the School of Philosophy and Literature and coordinates the university’s Prison Extension Program.

Since 2005 he has developed and managed a range of academic and cultural projects in prisons, including radio.

Juan Pablo’s research focuses on prison writing, pedagogical interventions and cultural practices in confinement. He has delivered courses and lectures on the subject in different parts of the world and his work has been published in books and academic journals.

In 2023, he co-organised, together with La Tribu and Prison Radio International, the first Latin American Prison Radio Conference, which brought together teachers, professionals and activists from different projects and institutions in the region. 

Since 2002, Garth has been co-host and co-producer (with his wife Natasha Nunez) of Eye on Dependency, a weekly radio show broadcast on i95.5 FM. The show’s primary focus is substance abuse, and related issues such as treatment, trafficking, law enforcement and corrections.

Eye on Dependency has been sponsored by several private sector companies, Government Ministries and diplomatic missions. This support has enabled the couple to visit the UK, Canada and USA on fact-finding missions in an effort to seek and promote international best practice on a wide range of issues.

In 2012, Garth and Natasha launched RISE Maximum Radio, a prison radio station run and managed by a team of incarcerated people and prison officers at the Maximum-Security Prison in the town of Arouca.

Garth joined the military in 1982 and enjoyed a promising few years as a soldier in the Trinidad & Tobago Regiment, and later as a Regimental Police Physical Training Instructor. However, his military career was cut short when, in 1989, he discharged as a result of a crack cocaine addiction. In 1990, he was sentenced to six months in prison for larceny. Garth has been in successful recovery from addiction for the past 32 years and he is the holder of a Presidential Pardon from the State.

Eli Wirtschafter is the director of Uncuffed, a leading prison radio training program and podcast from KALW Public Media in San Francisco, California.

A musician as well as a journalist, Eli first visited San Quentin prison to play violin for Jewish services.

Eli graduated from KALW’s Audio Academy, and served as the station’s transportation reporter before teaching with Uncuffed and leading the launch of the Uncuffed podcast.

Eli grew up in Northern California and now lives in Los Angeles.