Monalisa Weber
Founder of Probation Station Miami, FL Award Year: 2021Monalisa Weber is the founder of Probation Station, an educational radio program that helps those challenged by the criminal justice system. The mission of Probation Station is to provide juveniles and young adults, defendants, returning citizens, their families, and their community with guidance in navigating both probation and the criminal justice system. She founded Probation Station after discovering how many people are not fully aware of their rights through her work for the Florida Department of Corrections. There, she managed caseloads of up to 130 felony offenders and mental health cases and served as a Senior In Court Probation Officer working alongside a Broward County Felony Judge. Her journey has included interviews with Sybrina Fulton (Trayvon Martin’s mother), Tariq Nasheed, Dr. Umar Johnson, and David Banner. Monalisa was honored to be a panel member on An American Conversation on Sirius XM in New York City with the Black Eagle. She earned a BA in Criminal Justice from Florida Atlantic University and has been mentoring incarcerated youth since 2015.
Monalisa is using her award to provide education on soil health, growing food, food deserts, and food insecurity to the youth of South Broward, FL, and Probation Station partnered up with a local high school to create a community garden at the school.
Monalisa is also using her award to host a local smoothie and fruit bowl contest and will take several youth to a farm in Northern Florida to show the benefits of growing one’s own food.