Witness to Mass Incarceration (WMI), a nonprofit affiliated with the Queens Economic Development Corporation that serves individuals affected by the legal system and their family members, recently won a 2026 Webby People’s Voice Award for Social Impact & Public Service for its new gaming platform, WITNESSGames.
Achieved via public vote and announced on April 21, the annual award recognizes innovative digital work that raises awareness and inspires action around social issues. The announcement came shortly after the launch of WITNESS to Mass Incarceration: Chapter 1, the first part of an interactive narrative game based on the lived experiences of Evie Litwok, a formerly incarcerated advocate who founded WMI.
Released on April 9, Chapter 1 tells the true story of Litwok’s first day inside federal prison. Through immersive storytelling and interactive action, players experience the emotional and psychological realities of incarceration—an experience rarely seen or understood by the public. “The night before I left, my mother told me prison would be harder for me than the concentration camp had been for her,” stated Litwok, the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. “That sentence stayed with me. Chapter 1 is an attempt to help people understand the reality of incarceration and the human beings who live through it.”
Developed as a 2D narrative-driven game using pixel art and point-and-click exploration, Chapter 1 allows users to interact with objects and environments that reveal the harsh realities of prison life. Through these mechanics, players experience the fear, uncertainty, and power dynamics that define the first hours of incarceration. It includes a depiction of a strip search and contains nudity that may be distressing to some viewers.
Once fully completed, the WITNESSGames series will follow Litwok’s journey through arrest, incarceration, and release, using interactive storytelling to build empathy, challenge stereotypes, and increase public awareness about mass incarceration in the United States. The other developers on this project are Adelina Simpson, Margo Nemanov, Sam Johnson, Alexandra Ericta, and Kaylin Frisaura.
“The Webby Award is a powerful recognition of WMI’s ability to tell the truth about incarceration in a way that reaches people,” Litwok added. “But our work does not end with awareness. Through WITNESSGames, The MAP Project, The Art of Tailoring, WITNESSWorks, and Witness-US, we are building pathways for people to be seen, to earn, to create, and to lead.”
WMI joined forces with QEDC in Fall 2024. Litwok remained at the head of her nonprofit while becoming QEDC’s Director of Re-entry Services. She and her associates work out of QEDC’s Entrepreneur Space in Long Island City, where they provide a wide array of services to help former inmates achieve long-term employment success.
QEDC strives to create and retain jobs in the borough via programs that grow neighborhoods, support small businesses, and promote entrepreneurship. Founded in 1977, the nonprofit focuses on boosting economic development, tourism, and community revitalization to enhance the borough’s prosperity.
WMI fosters economic liberation for formerly incarcerated individuals, system-impacted people, LGBTQ+ youth, women, immigrants, and other underserved communities. The nonprofit provides vocational training, social enterprise solutions, storytelling platforms, and employment pathways designed to cultivate economic independence, reduce recidivism, nurture generational wealth, dismantle systemic barriers, and advance equality.
Evie Litwok, a formerly incarcerated advocate who founded WMI.