JoyBelle Phelan is a writer, systems-builder, and the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Unbound Authors, a Colorado-based writing center partnering with the Department of Corrections to support incarcerated writers. Unbound Authors operates across 13+ facilities, offering writing labs, mentorship, and pathways to publication through its imprint, Mercury Mountain Media.
She serves as Project Coordinator for the American Penal Press Contest with the Pollen Initiative, where she leads submission systems, judge workflows, and infrastructure for a growing national network of prison newsrooms. She is also Co-President of Unchained Voices, Associate Producer for Colorado Radio for Justice, and contributes to coalition-building efforts through the Colorado Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (C-CHEP).
Formerly incarcerated, JoyBelle draws on her lived experience to build ethical, sustainable systems that center the voices of people inside. She is the recipient of the 2023 Solutions Journalism Audio Award and a 2024 Realness Project Exemplar Award, and is a graduate of the 2023 Dream Justice Fellowship. She has been featured on national podcasts and at TEDx San Quentin.