Melanie Griffin is a Queer Black artist and herbalist from Virginia, who now resides in LA. She is an ardent believer and lover of plant medicine, plant magic, and healing justice. The intersection of social practice, social justice, and healing is where her heart lies. Through her experiences with chronic illness, Melanie was moved to begin studying herbalism after becoming frustrated with the limitations of allopathic/ western medicine. She has studied on her own for many years and in formal settings. After drawing connections between the medical industrial complex, the prison industrial complex and systemic racism, she became impassioned about how wellness practices and mutual care can be used in the fights for liberation and abolition. As the Deputy Director of Health and Wellness, Melanie organizes with healers, artists, and community members to create programing that shows how wellness practices can be used to support formerly incarcerated people, their families, communities, and people targeted by state violence.