Kiana's Mission: From Prison to Purpose

Kiana’s Mission is a powerful, decade-in-the-making documentary that traces the extraordinary journey of Kiana Calloway, from a teenager wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 17 years in Louisiana, to a transformative leader working to break cycles of poverty and injustice.

At just 17, Kiana’s life was upended by a flawed conviction rooted in systemic inequities. After his release, he chose not only to rebuild his own life, but to uplift others, founding a mentoring program for at-risk youth and joining the global movement Roots of Renewal. Through the innovative Poverty Stoplight, Kiana began mapping a path from survival to purpose, first for himself, then for countless others navigating reentry after incarceration.

The 50 minute film captures his evolution into a leading voice for justice reform, advocating for policies that restore dignity and opportunity, including the fight to restore voting rights and dismantle Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury law, a legacy of Jim Crow. More than a personal story, Kiana’s Mission reveals how individual transformation connects to systemic change.

Spanning ten years and reaching global stages, from the Cerrito Forum to Catalyst Now’s Catalyzing Change Week and the Skoll World Forum, the documentary also showcases how the Poverty Stoplight is being used worldwide to help communities identify barriers, build agency, and end poverty at its roots.

Ultimately, Kiana’s Mission is a story of resilience, redemption, and the power of lived experience to drive lasting change, demonstrating that those closest to the problem are often closest to the solution.

Murder & Consequences

Murder & Consequences is the full-length sister documentary to Kiana’s Mission. A gripping, decade-in-the-making documentary that unravels the intertwined lives of two people bound by a crime that neither could escape, and the decades-long pursuit of truth that followed. At just 17, Kiana Calloway was wrongfully convicted of a double murder and feticide in Louisiana, a crime he has always maintained he did not commit. At the same time, three-year-old Kayla Gassen lost her mother, growing up in the shadow of a tragedy that defined her life. What began as a devastating act of violence would go on to connect their stories in unexpected and deeply human ways.

Spanning 25 years, the film traces the emotional and investigative journey that brings these two lives into alignment, revealing the complexities of justice, the weight of wrongful conviction, and the enduring impact of loss. As new questions emerge and long-held assumptions are challenged, Murder & Consequences explores what accountability, healing, and redemption truly mean.

Directed and produced over ten years alongside an Emmy-winning filmmaker, this feature-length documentary is both intimate and far-reaching, blending personal testimony with a relentless search for answers. As it makes its way through the film festival circuit, Murder & Consequences promises to spark conversation, challenge perceptions, and illuminate the human cost of a justice system under scrutiny. Ultimately, this is not just a story about a crime, it is a story about the lives shaped by it, and the possibility of truth and reconciliation against extraordinary odds.

Filmmakers

Kiana Calloway

Award-winning filmmaker, documentarian, and activist dedicated to telling powerful stories that spark meaningful conversations and drive social change. With a background in Criminology and Film, Kiana brings a unique perspective to his work, crafting compelling narratives that explore themes of justice, redemption, and human resilience. As a wrongfully convicted individual who has experienced the harsh realities of the justice system firsthand, Kiana's personal journey informs his passion for creating content that amplifies marginalized voices and challenges systemic injustices. As the founder of Project Detour, Kiana has worked tirelessly to empower young people and create positive change in his community. His commitment to social justice and authentic storytelling makes him a compelling voice in the film industry.

Learn more

Carl Byker

Documentary filmmaker Carl Byker has won the Primetime Emmy for best non-fiction series of the year, the Peabody award, the DuPont silver baton, the Producers’ Guild of America’s “Kodak Vision Award,” and the Investigative Reporters and Editors “IRE” award for best multi-platform project with Frontline, NPR and ProPublica. Carl’s scripts for his films have received six nominations from the Writers’ Guild of America for best non-fiction television script of the year and he has won the award twice.

Learn more

Christopher Hedge

Christopher Hedge is a composer and sound artist focused on immersive audio in field recording, musical performance and exhibition. He is known for his performances at the Olympics, his records and film soundtracks, and spatial sound design for art exhibitions as well as the Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco. Hedge has collaborated with artists from all over the world to create a unique sound that seamlessly blends musical forms from various regions. His music is often inspired by natural sounds and the environment around him, and he has used his talents to contribute to documentaries that explore our relationship with nature. Hedge's commitment to creating music that reflects the beauty of the world has earned him widespread recognition, including his two Emmy awards.

Learn more

The Poverty Stoplight x Kiana’s Mission

Kiana’s Mission is more than a story, it is a window into a global movement redefining how poverty is understood and eliminated.

At the center of this movement is the Poverty Stoplight, an innovative methodology now used in more than 60 countries to help individuals and families design their own path out of poverty. Rather than treating poverty as a single condition, the Stoplight breaks it down into the real, everyday challenges people face, from income and housing to health, education, and community connection. Through a simple, visual self-assessment, participants identify where they are thriving (green), struggling (yellow), or in crisis (red), turning an overwhelming problem into clear, actionable steps.

What makes the Stoplight transformative is its shift in power: families are not passive recipients of aid, they become agents of their own change. With personalized “Life Maps,” participants prioritize their goals, connect to resources, and track progress over time, while organizations and governments use real-time data to target solutions where they are needed most.

This global model is now taking root across the United States through Thrive Lights, the U.S. leader of the Stoplight movement. Working with a network of community organizations, nonprofits, and social enterprises, Thrive Lights adapts the methodology to local contexts, supporting individuals and families as they move from crisis to stability, and ultimately, to long-term thriving.

In cities like New Orleans, Dallas, and beyond, partners—including Roots of Renewal, where Kiana Calloway leads—are using the tool to support reentry populations, at-risk youth, and underserved communities. By aligning services directly with the self-identified needs and aspirations of participants, these programs are creating more effective, human-centered pathways out of poverty.

Kiana’s Mission brings this work to life, showing how one person’s journey intersects with a global solution. As Kiana uses the Stoplight to rebuild his own life and empower others, the film reveals a powerful truth: ending poverty is not about imposing answers, but about unlocking the potential that already exists within people and communities.