Rhodessa Jones is a Co-Artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey, an acclaimed San Francisco performance company. She's a multi-talented activist, actress, teaching artist, director, writer, and social scientist. Rhodessa founded the award-winning Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women and HIV Circle, a transformative performance workshop for incarcerated women and women living with HIV. She has received prestigious fellowships and awards, including a "Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Artist-In-Residence Fellowship" in 2022-23 and an "Anonymous Was A Woman Award." In 2021, she lent her voice to Disney/Pixar's "Soul," which won an Academy Award. Rhodessa has also made significant contributions to academia, focusing on the role of the arts in social activism. She's been recognized and honored for her work, including being named The Frank H.T. Rhodes Chair at Cornell University and joining the roster of Montgomery Fellows at Dartmouth College. Her work has a global impact, and she's been acknowledged internationally, such as presenting a lecture at Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies. Rhodessa's dedication to using theater to transform, heal, and empower has been recognized at events like THE PULITZER CENTER's "Focus on Justice." Throughout her career, Rhodessa has been celebrated for her lifetime of artistic achievement, receiving awards like the Mayor's Art Award in 2013 and an Honorary Doctorate from California College of the Arts in 2004. She's authored significant works and contributed to the advancement of African-American theater, with her groundbreaking method highlighted in "Black Acting Methods."