Welcome to
I_AM_HUMAN
About Us
At I_am_HUMAN, we believe that every person deserves dignity, fairness, and freedom. Our movement began by helping those facing homelessness in New York and Miami. Today, our mission has grown into a powerful call to stand up against wrongful convictions — one of the greatest injustices of our time.
We raise awareness, build community, and advocate for change because every human being deserves to be seen, valued, and free.
Our Story
In 2022, siblings Abby and Matthew Pollak co-founded I_am_HUMAN to serve those society often overlooks. As teens, they distributed over 1,000 pairs of socks, 300 beanies, and T-shirts in New York City and Miami, sold socks to fund deliveries, organized food drives, and volunteered hundreds of hours in shelters. These early actions proved that small acts of compassion can grow into powerful change.
Partnerships deepened their impact. The LOHM and Dr. Topeka Sam connected them with justice-impacted communities, while Women Over Dinner invited them inside prisons to listen and help women preparing to return home.
Everything shifted when Dr. Topeka Sam introduced them to the Waverly Two, two innocent men imprisoned for 26 years, and was introduced to their attorney, Jarrett Adams, founder of Life After Justice. Abby led a two-year campaign—meeting with the Department of Justice, Senators, the White House, and President Biden—that secured their freedom in 2025.
Under Abby’s leadership and Matthew’s entrepreneurial and financial guidance (now continuing as he studies at Columbia University), I_am_HUMAN has raised over $150,000 for justice-impacted causes and launched the I_am_HUMAN Fellowship for Young Artists with the Center for Art & Advocacy, funding artists aged 18–24 to share their vision and challenge mass incarceration.
What began with socks and beanies is now a national call to action: every human deserves dignity, freedom, and to be seen.
Thank you! Your support means the world to us.
Meet our founders
Abby Pollak
Co-founder, I_Am_Human.
At 14, Abby co-founded I_am_HUMAN with her brother Matthew, combining her drive for justice with his entrepreneurial and financial leadership. Together they handed out over 1,000 pairs of socks, 300 beanies, and T-shirts in New York and Miami, sold merchandise to fund donations, and volunteered hundreds of hours in food drives and shelters.
By 16, Abby had taken the lead and turned I_am_HUMAN toward wrongful-conviction activism. Through a powerful connection with Dr. Topeka Sam, Abby learned about the case of the Waverly Two—two innocent men imprisoned for over 26 years—and was introduced to their attorney, Jarrett Adams, founder of Life After Justice. Abby spent two years working with their legal team, lobbying Senators she had served as a page, engaging the Department of Justice, and meeting President Biden. In 2025, her persistence paid off when the Waverly Two received a presidential pardon. She celebrated with their families in Richmond and welcomed the exonerees to Times Square and onto her podcast.
Abby’s leadership has raised over $150,000 through art auctions hosted in her Miami home, featuring the works of exonerated artists like Russell Craig, Valentino Dixon, Gary Tyler, and Billie Allen. Under her direction, I_am_HUMAN also launched a $20,000 Fellowship for justice-impacted young artists, providing financial support, mentorship, and visibility for their work.
“Through I_am_HUMAN, I want to awaken the humanity in all of us. To see those society has left behind, not as statistics, but as people. Because change begins when we recognize each other as human.”
Today, Abby continues to blend action with national advocacy, proving that age is no barrier to impact and that when compassion meets persistence, justice can prevail. Her vision and courage drive I_am_HUMAN forward and inspire others to stand up against wrongful convictions.
Matthew Pollak
Founder, I_Am_Human.
At sixteen, Matthew Pollak co-founded I_am_HUMAN, determined to build a self-sustaining social enterprise serving people society often overlooks. Guided by empathy and action, he and his siblings delivered over a thousand socks, hundreds of beanies, and warm meals to unhoused neighbors in New York and Miami, funding these efforts through merchandise sales.
Matthew shaped I_am_HUMAN as a movement where compassion and business fuel lasting change, proving that small, consistent acts can grow into powerful impact. Now a freshman at Columbia University, he continues to strengthen the organization’s entrepreneurial foundation and champion dignity and justice.
What We Do
Advocacy & Awareness
At I_am_HUMAN, advocacy begins with listening and telling the stories that are too often ignored. Wrongful convictions are not numbers on a page but lives interrupted, families broken, and futures stolen. Through education, storytelling, and collective action, we work to make these stories visible, to remind the world that behind every case there is a human being who deserves freedom and dignity.
Partnerships
Change happens when we unite. We proudly work with organizations such as Right of Return, Life After Justice, The Salvation Army, The Cure Alliance and The LOHM with Women Over Dinner to expand the reach of our advocacy and amplify the impact.
Fellowship for Artists Impacted by Incarceration
Creativity is resistance. Through our artist fellowship, we support artists who have been directly impacted by incarceration and wrongful convictions, giving them resources and opportunities to tell their stories and reclaim their futures.
Roots in Action
We began by distributing over 1,000 pairs of socks, 300 beanies, and T-shirts to people experiencing homelessness and organizing community fundraisers. Those first acts of compassion taught us that small steps can spark change. From there, we grew to support the wrongfully convicted by raising money through art, creating awareness campaigns, and pressing politicians to act.
Why We Do It
Because injustice anywhere is a threat to humanity everywhere.
Because human dignity should never be negotiable.
Because when we stand together, we can rewrite the story.
How we do it?
At I_am_HUMAN, we believe real change comes from persistence and presence. We take stories that are too often ignored and bring them to the highest levels of power — from community conversations to the halls of the Department of Justice and even the White House. We build trust through partnerships, we channel creativity through art, and we keep humanity at the center of everything we do. Our method isn’t complicated: we refuse to stay silent, we show up where it matters, and we keep fighting until justice is seen and freedom is restored.
Join Us
The story of our impact is still being written. Stand with us as we continue to fight wrongful convictions and bring humanity back to justice.