MEET THE TEAM

Michael Saavedra is a formerly incarcerated legal advocate and organizer who brings over two decades of lived experience within the prison system, including 20 years in solitary confinement—one of the most brutal and disabling forms of incarceration. Released in 2017, Michael emerged from that experience as a powerful jailhouse lawyer, educator, and activist. While inside, he helped organize and participated in the historic California prisoner hunger strikes against solitary confinement (2011–2013), using legal strategies to challenge the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and support others in asserting their rights.

Michael’s work and story are featured in the award-winning documentary The Strike, which chronicles his resistance inside prison and his continued efforts to dismantle solitary confinement and advance the rights of incarcerated people, many of whom experience long-term physical and psychological disabilities as a result of such conditions.

Since his release, Michael continues to fight for the rights and dignity of people impacted by incarceration, over-policing, and systemic injustice. He has led and supported campaigns addressing the harms of solitary confinement and structural ableism in carceral settings.

Michael is a graduate of the Pathway to Law School program at Riverside City College—where he founded the campus’s first organization for formerly imprisoned students—and earned his bachelor’s degree from UCLA in American Indian Studies with a minor in Chicanx and Central American Studies. While at UCLA, he was honored as a Harvard Law School Justice Catalyst and UCLA Law Fellow.

He now co-leads community-based post-conviction relief clinics with Dignity and Power Now that provide support to system-impacted individuals, helping them navigate the expungement processes, restore their civil rights, and access stable housing and employment.

Michael’s work is grounded in abolitionist values, disability justice, and an unshakeable belief in the leadership and humanity of directly impacted people.

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