In the news.
Interviews, features, videos and podcasts on the work of building Unlocked Labs. Each link opens the original publication.
Press and features
-
Prison Journalism Project (opens in a new tab) Article Meet the Program Teaching Incarcerated People How to Code (opens in a new tab)
Profile of Unlocked Labs and how it began.
-
The Marshall Project (opens in a new tab) Article How This ‘Out and Proud Trans Woman’ Navigates Missouri Men’s Prisons (opens in a new tab)
Article by Lexie Handlang that names Jessica as the plaintiff in a 2018 lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Corrections.
-
St. Louis Public Radio (opens in a new tab) Article and audio Computer program brings 'education, hope and opportunity' to St. Louis jail (opens in a new tab)
Report on Unlocked Labs coming to the St. Louis City Justice Center.
-
Inside-Out Innovation: Jessica Hicklin's Radical Rethink of Education in Prisons (opens in a new tab)
Profile of Unlocked Labs and its approach to education technology for incarcerated learners.
-
Tech Firm at Cortex Offers Second Chance to the Incarcerated (opens in a new tab)
On Unlocked Labs and its first graduating cohort. Read on Cortex's site.
-
Nightmare Success (opens in a new tab) Interview Our Guest: Jessica Hicklin's Journey from Darkness to Advocacy (opens in a new tab)
Interview and write-up.
-
MIT Solve (opens in a new tab) Interview Unlocking Education for Incarcerated Populations: A Conversation with Jessica Hicklin (opens in a new tab)
Q&A on the UnlockED platform and connecting corrections and university learning.
-
Tech & Learning (opens in a new tab) Article She Was Sentenced to Life Without Parole. Teaching STEM Gave Her Purpose (opens in a new tab)
Feature on Unlocked Labs and its approach to STEM education in prisons.
-
The Kansas City Star (opens in a new tab) Article Kobach sues Kelly admin to block trans Kansans from changing gender on driver's licenses (opens in a new tab)
Report by Katie Bernard and Jonathan Shorman on a Kansas lawsuit; Jessica is quoted.
-
KBIA (opens in a new tab) Article 'It's not about protecting kids': How one trans woman is fighting for her rights in Missouri (opens in a new tab)
Report by Katie Quinn and Anna Spidel; Jessica is quoted.
-
KMOV (First Alert 4) (opens in a new tab) Article Transgender community nervous, optimistic ahead of court battle that could severely limit trans medical care in Missouri (opens in a new tab)
Report by Jon Kipper; Jessica is quoted.
-
Out in STL (opens in a new tab) Article 'We Have to Fight': Incarcerated Transgender Missourians Are Latest Target of Missouri Lawmakers (opens in a new tab)
Article by Jet McDonald; Jessica is quoted.
-
Slate (opens in a new tab) Article We've Been Asking the Same Question About Prison Tech Training for 50 Years (opens in a new tab)
Reporting on prison coding programs, with comment from Jessica.
-
A Turning Point for Prison Education (opens in a new tab)
Article by Taylor Swaak on technology in prison education. Subscriber access.
-
Lambda Legal (opens in a new tab) Profile Where Are They Now?: Meet Jessica Hicklin (opens in a new tab)
Profile and Q&A from Lambda Legal's “Where Are They Now?” series.
-
The Guardian (opens in a new tab) Feature She spent 26 years in prison, where she transitioned. Now she is a free woman (opens in a new tab)
Long-form profile by Rebecca Gibian and Katrina Eroen, with photography by Jess T. Dugan.
-
BuzzFeed News (opens in a new tab) Article A Transgender Woman In A Missouri Prison Will Be Allowed Life-Saving Health Care (opens in a new tab)
Report by Nidhi Prakash on a 2018 federal court order in Jessica's health care case. BuzzFeed News closed in 2023, so this links the Internet Archive copy.
-
KSDK (opens in a new tab) Article To confirm Unlocked Labs: St. Louis organization aims to increase education in prisons (opens in a new tab)
Local TV report on Unlocked Labs.
Podcasts and audio
-
The Stack Overflow Podcast (opens in a new tab) Podcast From life without parole to startup CTO (Ep. 522) (opens in a new tab)
Conversation about learning to code and building Unlocked Labs.
-
Resilient Reentrants with Jessica Hicklin (opens in a new tab)
Podcast episode with Jessica as the guest.
- St. Louis Public Radio (opens in a new tab) Audio interview
UnLocked Labs brings STEM education to Missouri prisons (opens in a new tab)
St. Louis on the Air conversation about Unlocked Labs.
Video
-
Jessica Hicklin, Co-founder of Unlocked Labs (opens in a new tab)
Short clip on why standard learning platforms do not fit incarcerated learners.
- Lambda Legal (opens in a new tab) Video
Jessica Hicklin: Rising for Gender-Affirming Care in Prison (opens in a new tab)
Two-minute video from Lambda Legal.
-
Jessica Hicklin's Story (opens in a new tab)
Ninety-second YouTube short.
- MIT Solve (YouTube) (opens in a new tab) Video
Jessica Hicklin, Chief Technology Officer, Unlocked Labs, 2023 Solver (opens in a new tab)
Four-minute video from MIT Solve.
-
New Profit (opens in a new tab) Video Meet Jessica Hicklin (opens in a new tab)
Short video from New Profit on Instagram.
-
Ascendium Education Philanthropy (via Unlocked Labs, LinkedIn) (opens in a new tab) Video Changemakers: Jessica Hicklin, Part One (opens in a new tab)
First part of Ascendium's Changemakers series, as reshared by Unlocked Labs on LinkedIn.
- New Profit (Vimeo) (opens in a new tab) Video
Unlocked Futures Round Table 2024: FreeAmerica x New Profit (opens in a new tab)
Five-minute roundtable with social entrepreneurs from the Unlocked Futures program; Jessica is listed for Unlocked Labs.
-
Nightmare Success Podcast clip (opens in a new tab)
Promotional reel from the host for the podcast episode with Jessica.
-
Unlocked Labs | LSE 100x Summit Day 2023 (opens in a new tab)
Pitch at the 100x Summit Day at the London School of Economics.
-
Fast Forward (YouTube) (opens in a new tab) Video Jessica Hicklin of UnlockedLabs Pitches at Fast Forward Demo Day 2022 (opens in a new tab)
Five-minute pitch video from Fast Forward's 2022 Demo Day.
- New Profit (Facebook) (opens in a new tab) Video
Meet Jessica Hicklin, CTO & Co-founder of Unlocked Labs (opens in a new tab)
Short video from New Profit on Facebook.
- Lambda Legal (Facebook) (opens in a new tab) Video
We've said it before, and we'll say it again (opens in a new tab)
Video post from Lambda Legal on health care for incarcerated transgender people.
-
Roadtrip Nation (opens in a new tab) Video Jessica Hicklin Highlight (opens in a new tab)
Short video profile.
Talks and panels
-
Code for America Summit 2024 (opens in a new tab)
Jessica says she presented a view of a justice system that works for people, per her LinkedIn post.
- MIT Solve (YouTube) (opens in a new tab) Panel Self-reported
MIT Solve 2024 Opening Plenary (opens in a new tab)
Jessica says she spoke in this plenary, per her LinkedIn post; not confirmed from the video itself.
-
Aspen Institute Youth Opportunity Forum (opens in a new tab) Panel Self-reported Youth Opportunity Forum panel (Jobs for the Future) (opens in a new tab)
Jessica says she joined a Jobs for the Future panel at the forum, per her LinkedIn post.
-
Milken Institute Global Conference (opens in a new tab) Panel Innovators Rethinking Criminal Justice Systems (opens in a new tab)
Panel session at the 2024 Global Conference; Jessica is listed as a speaker.
- Milken Institute Global Conference 2024 (opens in a new tab) Panel
Innovators Rethinking Criminal Justice Systems (opens in a new tab)
Official panel page listing all speakers; the video replay needs a login.
-
Empowering Incarcerated Learners through Technology Solution (opens in a new tab)
Panel with Ved Price, Rob Scott and Catharine Bond Hill; session page from Ithaka S+R.
-
Skoll World Forum (opens in a new tab) Delegate Skoll World Forum 2024 (opens in a new tab)
Listed as a delegate on the forum's session page.
-
Jessica Hicklin, speaker profile (opens in a new tab)
Speaker profile on the summit's event site.
-
Second-chance hiring presentation (opens in a new tab)
Jessica says she presented with her co-founder, per her LinkedIn post.
- Skoll World Forum (opens in a new tab) Delegate
Jessica Hicklin, Skoll attendee profile (opens in a new tab)
Attendee profile on Skoll's site.
Awards and recognition
-
Michelson 20MM Foundation (opens in a new tab) Appointment Advancing Smart Justice in California: Meet the 2025 Spark Community Advisors (opens in a new tab)
Lists Jessica among the 2025 Spark Community Advisors.
-
Social Impact Award, 2024 GESAwards Global Finals (opens in a new tab)
Unlocked Labs named a Social Impact Award winner at the Global Finals at Bett London, per the Global EdTech Startup Awards profile.
-
Public Safety & Justice transition committee, Mayor Cara Spencer (opens in a new tab)
Jessica says she served on the committee, per her LinkedIn posts.
-
Robin Hood (opens in a new tab) Recognition Nine Finalists Advance in Pursuit of Up to $4 Million in Awards Conferred Through Robin Hood's AI Poverty Challenge (opens in a new tab)
Unlocked Labs named a Workforce finalist for UnlockEd. Jessica is not named in the announcement.
-
Rockwood Leadership Institute (opens in a new tab) Program Self-reported Leaders in Higher Education in Prisons Fellowship, inaugural cohort (opens in a new tab)
Jessica says she joined the inaugural cohort, per her LinkedIn post; I could not find the cohort roster to confirm.
-
Unlocking Opportunity: Tools for Incarcerated Learners (opens in a new tab)
2024 Growth Prize winner for UnlockEd.
-
Social Impact Talent Report 2024 (opens in a new tab)
Featured as a Fellowship Finalist, per Jessica's LinkedIn post about the report.
-
ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (opens in a new tab) Appointment Metro Trans Umbrella Group, Form 990 filings (opens in a new tab)
Lists Jessica as Board Vice President in the organization's filings for 2022, 2023 and 2024.
- St. Louis Public Radio (opens in a new tab) Award
St. Louis tech company wins big in national justice reform competition (opens in a new tab)
Report that Unlocked Labs won one of three $250,000 Justice Innovation Prizes from Dream.org; Jessica is quoted.
-
Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (opens in a new tab) Award 2023 winner: Unlocked Labs (opens in a new tab)
Grand prize and Audience Choice Prize, per Penn GSE Magazine.
-
City of St. Louis (opens in a new tab) Appointment LGBTQIA Advisory Board (opens in a new tab)
Listed as a member of the City's advisory board, term 2023 to 2026.
- MIT Solve (opens in a new tab) Recognition
UnlockED (opens in a new tab)
Solution page for UnlockED, selected for the Learning for Civic Action Challenge.
-
Roddenberry Foundation (opens in a new tab) Program Roddenberry Fellowship, 2023 Fellow (opens in a new tab)
Fellow profile listing Unlocked Labs on the foundation's Meet the Fellows pages. The live page has been taken down, so this links the archived copy.
-
Social Impact Talent Report 2022 (opens in a new tab)
Jessica says she was a Fellowship Finalist featured in the report, per her LinkedIn post.
- Fast Forward (opens in a new tab) Program
Introducing: The Tech Nonprofits in Our 2022 Accelerator! (opens in a new tab)
Accelerator cohort announcement listing Unlocked Labs.
-
UnlockEd (opens in a new tab)
2022 Catalyst Prize winner for UnlockEd.
Publications
-
EDC (STEM-OPS) (opens in a new tab) White paper Principles and Standards for Information & Communication Technology in Prison (opens in a new tab)
White paper with Jessica among its eleven co-authors.
Court records
-
Missouri Supreme Court (opens in a new tab) Court opinion To confirm Opinion, docket SC97692 (opens in a new tab)
Court opinion on Justia. Case name to be confirmed.
From organizations and social media
- St. Louis Public Radio (Facebook) (opens in a new tab) Post
Jessica Hicklin learned how to code without the internet (opens in a new tab)
Social post from St. Louis Public Radio promoting its Unlocked Labs coverage.
-
Jessica Hicklin believes that AI can be a “partner in learning” for people who are incarcerated (opens in a new tab)
Social post from the McGovern Foundation about Jessica and the UnlockEd platform.
-
Jessica Hicklin spoke to the Catalyst cohort (opens in a new tab)
LinkedIn post about a talk Jessica gave to the Catalyst cohort.
-
Leadership for Our Next Chapter (opens in a new tab)
Post from Unlocked Labs' own blog, not independent coverage.
-
I met Jessica Hicklin yesterday morning (opens in a new tab)
LinkedIn post about watching Jessica's pitch at the Milken-Penn competition.
- New Profit (opens in a new tab) Announcement
Meet New Profit's 2023 Unlocked Futures Cohort (opens in a new tab)
Cohort announcement listing Unlocked Labs, with Jessica named as its social entrepreneur.
-
MacArthur Justice Center (Facebook) (opens in a new tab) Post Women's History Month spotlight (opens in a new tab)
Social media spotlight from the MacArthur Justice Center.
Working on something that needs this kind of build? Start a conversation.