Staff
Arnold Adams
Program Coordinator, Staten Island Youth Justice Center
Arnold Adams is the after-school coordinator/compliance monitor for Project READY (Richmond Engagement Activities for Determined Youth), the alternative-to-detention program within the Staten Island Youth Justice Center. In this role, he creates and facilities substantive after-school programming for young people with open delinquency cases in Family Court. Prior this position, Mr. Adams was a site coordinator at LEAP (Leadership Education Athletics in Partnership), in New Haven, Connecticut, where he ran an after-school program and summer camp for inner-city youth. He is a graduate of Post University in Waterbury, Connecticut where he received a BS in Marketing. Mr. Adams will be attending John Jay College in the Fall of 2011 in pursuit of a Master’s degree in Public Administration.
Julian Adler
Project Director, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Julian Adler is the project director of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, a multi-jurisdictional community court in Brooklyn, NY. Mr. Adler is currently co-chairing the Center for Court Innovation's evidence-based practices initiative and assisting with the launch of a community court project in Newark, NJ. Mr. Adler is a New York State Licensed Clinical Social Worker and an admitted attorney in the State of New York. He received his BA from Wesleyan University, his MSW from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, and his JD from Fordham Law School.
Liberty Aldrich
Director, Domestic Violence & Family Court Programs
Liberty Aldrich oversees the planning and implementation of the Center's Domestic Violence initiatives. This includes providing technical assistance to domestic violence courts, integrated domestic violence courts, family courts, and sex offender programs across the country. As General Counsel, Ms. Aldrich provides legal support to the Center's director, senior management team, and program directors on contract, personnel, real estate, and compliance issues. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Aldrich was the director of legal services at Safe Horizon, where she represented domestic violence victims in family and supreme courts and federal immigration proceedings, in addition to supervising staff attorneys and program development. Ms. Aldrich is the co-founder and a current director of Legal Information for Families Today, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to informing New Yorkers about their legal rights in family court. She has authored numerous articles on domestic violence law and policy, and she received the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s annual Equal Access to Justice award in 2000. Ms. Aldrich graduated from Harvard University and New York University School of Law.
Taí Merey Alex
Help Center Coordinator, Harlem Community Justice Center
Taí Merey Alex is the Help Center coordinator at the Harlem Community Justice Center. She oversees Help Center services which include legal and financial assistance, case management, mediation, and specialized referrals. She coordinates regular workshops for the public on topics such as housing rights, employment opportunities, mediation services, financial management, and community service. Taí is a New York Peace Institute (formerly Safe Horizon's Mediation Program) approved mediator and coordinates the HCJC Mediation Institute. Prior to joining the Center for Court Innovation, she worked at Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. Taí received her B.A. in English from Pace University and her J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law.
Maria Almonte-Weston
Project Director, Bronx Community Solutions
Maria Almonte-Weston is currently the project director for Bronx Community Solutions, the largest effort at going to scale with problem-solving by applying that approach to all misdemeanor cases in the Bronx Criminal Court Division. Prior to that position, Ms. Almonte-Weston worked at the Midtown Community Court where she provided direct case management and counseling services to mandated and voluntary clients. Ms. Almonte-Weston also collaborated with the NYPD to offer street outreach services to a homeless population living in the west Midtown area. Ms. Almonte-Weston received her Master's degree from Hunter School of Social Work which has enabled her to integrate those clinical skills within a non-clinical environment like the criminal justice system.
Jethro Antoine
Project Director, Newark Community Court
Jethro Antoine is currently the project director of Newark Community Solutions, the first community court in New Jersey. In this capacity, he is responsible for maintaining all aspects of the project, including programming, operations, development, and services. From 2007 to 2010, he was the project’s principle planner. Prior to that, Mr. Antoine was the deputy director of the Center’s technology team where he helped stakeholders and partner agencies integrate process improvements and new technologies into their organizations. Before he joined the Center, Mr. Antoine practiced law. He also served as a senior management consultant in the public and private sectors. He is a graduate of New York University, New York Law School, and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
David Aragon
Help Desk Support Analyst
Rebecca Arian
Project Associate
Rebecca Arian is the project associate for the Domestic Violence programs. She works with the domestic violence program staff in national and statewide planning initiatives. She also coordinates and facilitates trainings and site visits to domestic violence courts. Prior to joining the Center, Rebecca worked for the Vassar College Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention Program, where she trained students, faculty, and campus administrators in improving the campus coordinated community response to domestic violence and sexual assault. As part of this position, she also worked as a counselor/advocate with Battered Women’s Services, the local domestic violence agency in Poughkeepsie, NY. She graduated from Vassar College in 2009 with a B.A. in Political Science.
Aaron Arnold
Director, Syracuse Office and Tribal Courts Technical Assistance
As director of the Syracuse Office, Aaron Arnold is responsible for providing planning and technical assistance to problem-solving courts throughout upstate New York. Mr. Arnold is currently working to promote problem-solving justice in the greater Syracuse area. In addition, Mr. Arnold serves as director of tribal courts technical assistance. In this capacity, Mr. Arnold leads the Center's Tribal Justice Exchange, which seeks to promote the sharing of information between state and tribal courts, assist tribal communities in enhancing their justice systems, and explore ways in which state courts can benefit from traditional tribal justice practices. Before joining the Center, Mr. Arnold was a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix, Arizona, where he gained first-hand experience working in several problem-solving courts. He has also worked as a litigation associate at Fennemore Craig, one of Arizona's oldest law firms. Mr. Arnold is a native of Syracuse and a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Arizona College of Law.
Julio Aviles
Alternative Sanctions Associate, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Linda Baird
Program Coordinator, Youth Justice Board
Linda Baird is the Program Coordinator of the Youth Justice Board. She is responsible for curriculum design, lesson planning, outreach to program partners, facilitating Board sessions and supervising a project associate and interns. Prior to joining the Center, she worked as the National Policy Coordinator at The After-School Corporation, organizing a six-city initiative to increase the scale, funding and sustainability of after-school programs. She has extensive experience working with young people, having served for three summers as a counselor at The Thurber House youth writing camp in Columbus, Ohio, and for three years as a Citizen Schools Teaching Fellow in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and her M.Ed. from Lesley University.
Sonia Balaram
Youth Court Coordinator, Harlem Community Justice Center
Sonia Balaram is the coordinator for the Harlem Youth Court, an early intervention program for youth who have committed violations, minor misdemeanors, and other minor offenses. As coordinator, Ms. Balaram trains youth court members on the various roles of the youth court, facilitates youth court sessions, conducts outreach with community members, and manages the cases referred to the youth court from schools, police precincts, probation, the Law Department, and criminal court. Ms. Balaram is a member of the New York State's Juvenile Justice Strategic Planning Working Group and a volunteer organizer of DC Desi Summer, a social justice leadership and empowerment program for South Asian youth. Ms. Balaram first joined the Center for Court Innovation as a Youth Justice Board member in 2004 and since then she has worked extensively on youth development and justice-related projects. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Balaram taught high school in the Bronx as part of the Teach for America program. She has also interned at the Legal Aid Society and South Asian Youth Action. Ms. Balaram graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a degree in Political Science.
Raye Barbieri
Director of Implementation
Ms. Barbieri joined the Center in 1994 and is currently responsible for developing, planning and implementing a host of new initiatives each year. She also oversees the Harlem Community Justice Center and Queens Engagement Strategies for Teens (QUEST). Further, Ms. Barbieri provides ongoing guidance and oversight for various Center staff in the planning, implementation and provision of court and community programming and social services. Ms. Barbieri has held numerous positions at Center projects including the Midtown Community Court and the Brooklyn Treatment Court. She also served as Director of the Manhattan Family Treatment Court and the Harlem Community Justice Center. Prior to the Center, Ms. Barbieri served as a social worker with the Legal Aid Society’s Parole Revocation Defense Unit. Ms. Barbieri is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work. She holds a BSW from Wheelock College and an MSW from Columbia University.
Kate Barrow
Project Director, Bronx Futures
Kate Barrow is the project director of Bronx Futures, a juvenile justice/mental health project for youth with delinquency cases. Prior to this position, she was the youth services coordinator at Midtown Community Court for two years, where she developed programming for court-involved youth, enhanced services for LGBT sex workers, and co-authored a trauma-informed client assessment. Before joining the Center, her work focused on creating programs for marginalized youth, including mentally ill adolescents in foster care, homeless LGBT youth, and educationally at-risk teens. Ms. Barrow has received awards from New York University and the National Association of Social Workers-NYC Chapter for her community organizing work, and spoken around New York about integrating social work and anti-oppressive practices. She received her B.A. in Contemplative Psychology from Naropa University and her M.S.W. from the Silver School of Social Work at New York University.
Greg Berman
Director
Greg Berman is the director of the Center for Court Innovation. Part of the founding team responsible for creating the Center, he has helped guide the organization from start-up to an annual budget of more than $20 million. He has accepted numerous awards on behalf of the Center, including the Peter F. Drucker Award for Non-profit Innovation. He is the co-author of Trial & Error in Criminal Justice Reform: Learning from Failure (Urban Institute Press, 2010) and Good Courts: The Case for Problem-Solving Justice (The New Press, 2005). He has contributed chapters to numerous books including Peter Drucker's Next Management, Judicial Politics, and Resolving Family Conflicts. In addition, his written work has appeared in The Judges Journal (guest editor), Law and Policy, Judicature, New Statesman, The Guardian, National Law Journal, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Philadelphia Inquirer, American Criminal Law Review and other publications. Prior to being named director of the Center for Court Innovation in 2002, he served as deputy director of the Center and as the lead planner of the Red Hook Community Justice Center. In the early 1990s, while working for the New York Foundation, he created the New York Common Application, a universal form designed to expedite the foundation grant proposal process for community groups in the New York area. He has also worked in development (New Israel Fund) and as a freelance journalist (Providence Journal). He has served on numerous boards and task forces including: New York City Board of Correction, Wesleyan Center for Prison Education, Coro New York, Poets House, Police Foundation, and Cy Vance/Manhattan District Attorney Transition Team. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and a former Coro Fellow in Public Affairs.
Willie Bernandez
Intake Specialist, Bronx Community Solutions
Debbie Boar
Deputy Director of Reentry Initiatives, Harlem Community Justice Center
Debbie Boar oversees the Harlem Community Justice Center's reentry initiatives, including the Harlem Parole Reentry Court and the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force. As deputy director, Ms. Boar designs and implements population specific, evidence-based offender reentry strategies, strengthens partnership among stakeholders, and provides expert assistance to jurisdictions seeking to develop reentry programs. Prior to this position, Ms. Boar served as a criminal defense attorney at the Legal Aid Society of New York City. She received her B.A. from Haverford College and her J.D. from Rutgers-Newark School of Law.
Matthew Bond
Program Associate, Greenpoint Youth Court
Matt Bond started as an AmeriCorps member at the Midtown Community Court and then transitioned into his current role with the Greenpoint Youth Court. He previously worked in publishing and volunteered with nonprofit organizations such as A Better Chance and City Year. He currently serves on the City Year New York Alumni Board. Mr. Bond holds a B.A. in English from the University of Connecticut.
David Bookhart
Outreach Worker, Crown Heights Mediation Center
Dida Brassey
Project Coordinator, Midtown Community Court
Dida Brassey has worked with the Midtown Community Court since 1998 and is currently the project coordinator for the Alternative Sanctions Department. She received her BS in Human Services and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Hunter College. Ms. Brassey is a certified crisis counselor, a SAVI volunteer, and a bible study teacher.
Beth Broderick
Youth Coordinator, Greenpoint Youth Court
Beth Broderick is the program coordinator of the Greenpoint Youth Court, a project of the Center for Court Innovation. Previously, she served as an ACS-certified family team conferencing facilitator and a conflict resolution specialist with a non-profit organization in Jamaica, Queens. In addition, Ms. Broderick worked as an assistant instructor with the Brooklyn Law School Mediation Clinic for several years, focusing on disputes in small claims and civil court. Ms. Broderick maintains certification as a mediator with Safe Horizon, soon to be the New York Peace Institute. Finally, she holds a BA from Columbia University and a JD from Brooklyn Law School.
James Brodick
Project Director, Brownsville Community Justice Center and NYC Community Cleanup
James Brodick is project director of both the Brownsville Community Justice Center and NYC Community Cleanup. Currently in the planning stage, the Brownsville Community Justice Center is the Center for Court Innovation's newest project. Mr. Brodick is working with the New York State Office for Court Administration, elected officials, the Kings County District Attorney's Office, the New York Police Department, community organizations and residents to build support and raise money for the project. Brownsville will be modeled after the Red Hook Community Justice Center, which Mr. Brodick directed for seven years, and the Midtown Community Court. As director of NYC Community Cleanup, Mr. Brodick oversees the day-to-day operations of teams in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Mr. Brodick joined the Center for Court Innovation in 1998. Before becoming project director of the Red Hook Justice Center, he served as the Justice Center's deputy director and director of community programs. Mr. Brodick graduated from Saint John's University and is a New York State certified mediator.
Damon Brown-Dobbs
Youth Program Associate, Harlem Community Justice Center
Damon Brown-Dobbs is the youth development coordinator at the Harlem Community Justice Center, and is responsible for the Harlem Hard H.A.T.S. (Helping Adolescents Think Strategically), a community service and youth leadership program. The Harlem Hard H.A.T.S. is unique civic leadership program that accepts both mandated youth and young people who volunteer to serve their community, the Hard H.A.T.S. project brings together teens to plan and implement community service-learning projects. Hard H.A.T.S provides opportunities and supports for youth to engage in meaningful community service, explore their interests, gain valuable leadership skills, and enhance their knowledge of important issues in their community. Mr. Brown-Dobbs, a former AmeriCorps member and graduate of the College of New Rochelle, who spent his service year working at the Justice Center, is responsible for implementing the service-learning program, providing training to youth on core skills, recruiting community stakeholders, and tracking and reporting on project outcomes.
Justin Brrigs
Youth Engagement/Community Service Specialist, Bronx Community Solutions
Justin Briggs is a former AmeriCorps member who is currently a full time staff member at Bronx Community Solutions. Justin wears many hats at Bronx Community Solutions, including intake specialist and community service crew supervisor, as well as the facilitator of the Youth Life Skills class. Justin is also responsible for scheduling clients charged with a DWI offense to be screened and assessed with partnered substance abuse clinics.
Courtney Bryan
Project Director, Midtown Community Court
Courtney Bryan is the Project Director of the Midtown Community Court. Prior to this she assisted jurisdictions throughout New York State in the planning and implementation of specialized Domestic Violence courts. Just before joining the Center’s DV team, she was a criminal defense attorney with The Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, NY. Previously, she was the Project Attorney at the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, an organization that provides technical assistance to criminal defense attorneys representing battered women defendants. Before receiving her law degree, she worked at the Center’s Crown Heights Community Mediation Center, as well as with the community court technical assistance team. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Temple University School of Law.
Jennifer Bryan
Principal Research Associate
Jennifer L. Bryan is a principal research associate, currently working on a national study of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and serving as Principal Investigator for an evaluation of the Bronx Family Treatment Court. Prior to joining the Center, Jennifer worked on issues of prisoner reentry and urban justice with the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), the Vera Institute of Justice, and the Center for Urban Research and Policy at Columbia University. Jennifer holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Yale University and a B.A. in Criminal Justice and Psychology from Rutgers University. Her work on the post-9/11 experiences of Arab Muslims in Jersey City was published by the Russell Sage Foundation (2005), and she has published several reports and articles on issues of criminal justice. In addition to her work at the Center, Jennifer teaches courses in criminal justice at New Jersey City University.
Sharon R. Bryant
Office Assistant
Ruby-Beth Buitekant
Case Manager, Crown Heights Mediation Center
Ruby-Beth Buitekant is the case manager and social media coordinator for Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets (YO S.O.S.) a program of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center. She works to provide resources and support for the Youth Organizers who are training to become anti-violence community organizers. In addition to one-on-one support, she facilitates workshops, writes curricula, and coordinates the social media efforts of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center by managing the online accounts and building the Mediation Center's online presence. She has led and founded groups focused on gender, sexual health, race, and law. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University with a B.A. in African American Studies and American Studies.
Corey Calabrese
Associate Program Manger, Drug Court Programs
Darcel Calixte
Resource Coordinator, Midtown Community Court
Darcel Calixte has worked at the Midtown Community Court since 2007, starting as an intern in 2005 and advancing to her current position as resource coordinator. She received her Bachelor’s degree from John Jay College in 2007. In the fall, she will begin her studies in law at Touro Law School.
Omar Camacho
Intake Specialist, Bronx Community Solutions
Sabrina Carter
Youth Court Coordinator, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Sabrina Carter is the coordinator of Youth and Community Programs at the Red Hook Community Justice Center, a demonstration project of the Center for Court Innovation and the nation's first multi-jurisdictional community court. Ms. Carter first joined the Center for Court Innovation/Red Hook Community Justice Center 10 years ago as a Red Hook Youth Court member and since then has participated in numerous youth programs at the Red Hook Community Justice Center. She later joined the Americorps program and, following her two years of service as an Americorps member, she then worked as a program associate developing the Staten Island Youth Court in 2008. In 2010 she rejoined the Red Hook Community Justice Center as the coordinator of the Red Hook Youth Court where she now oversees and coordinates all the youth programming at the Red Hook Community Justice Center. Sabrina obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College for Criminal Justice with a minor in Sociology in May 2009.
Lenore Cerniglia
Senior Research Associate
Lenore Cerniglia is a senior research associate at the Center for Court Innovation. Ms. Cerniglia is currently in charge of all research pertaining to the Midtown Community Court, is part of a multi-site evaluation of the predictors of success at multiple mental health courts, and is participating in a nationwide evaluation of Adult Reentry Courts. Prior to working at the Center, Ms. Cerniglia held the position of crime analyst supervisor in the Phoenix Police Department’s Crime Analysis and Research Unit where she was responsible for analyzing crime trends and completing administrative and strategic research projects and reports. She has also worked closely with analysts on homicide and property crimes research and GIS mapping projects. Ms. Cerniglia holds a B.S. and a Master’s in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University.
Ife Charles
Deputy Project Coordinator, Crown Heights Mediation Center
Amanda Cissner
Principal Research Associate
Amanda B. Cissner is a senior research associate at the Center for Court Innovation. She was the principal investigator on a process evaluation of the Brooklyn Youthful Offender Domestic Violence Court for adolescent perpetrators of relationship violence, and is currently working on an impact evaluation of that program. In addition, she is currently the principal investigator of a research intervention testing the effects of a dating violence prevention curriculum administered to college students at Syracuse University; the project director of a randomized trial testing the impact of intensive judicial monitoring on domestic violence offenders in Rochester, New York; and the lead analyst on a five-site Integrated Domestic Violence Court evaluation. She previously completed a study examining the impact of two different batterer program models on offender outcomes in Brooklyn and co-authored the Center’s statewide evaluation of adult drug courts.
Cynthia Cohen
Technology Lead
Cynthia Cohen is part of the team that develops and maintains the Center's web applications, including the Justice Center Application, the Juvenile Intervention Network, and the Harlem Youth Network. Her involvement in the development process is end-to-end, covering the spectrum from database queries to Java programming to front-end code. Ms. Cohen graduated from Binghamton University with a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Studio Art.
Leah Cohen
Clinical Case Manager, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Jessica Colon
Deputy Project Director, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Jessica Colon is the deputy project director of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, a project of the Center for Court Innovation, and oversees community programs and outreach, court operations, and strategic planning. She also manages the Center's AmeriCorps program, the New York Juvenile Justice Corps. Previously, she served as deputy policy director for Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion before his appointment as director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs for President Obama. Ms. Colon previously worked for the New York City Mayor's Office Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt, and assisted in developing innovative criminal justice initiatives and capital planning projects. She also worked at the Vera Institute of Justice, and coordinated technical assistance to counties around the country to justly and effectively address issues like domestic violence and reentry. She received her Master's in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and her B.S. in International Relations from Seton Hall University. Jessica was born and raised in South Brooklyn, New York and still calls her favorite borough of Brooklyn home.
Janelle Cotto
Program Associate, Drug Court Programs
Katie Crank
Coordinator, Domestic Violence Programs
Katie Crank is the coordinator of domestic violence programs at the Center for Court Innovation. She provides technical assistance and strategic planning advice to courts wishing to improve their response to domestic violence cases. Ms. Crank is interested in the response to domestic violence both nationally and internationally, having spent a year developing a crisis hotline with a domestic violence agency in Ghana, as well as having assisted two Missouri jurisdictions with the planning and implementation of specialized domestic violence courts during her law school tenure. She also provides trauma-informed therapy to children who have witnessed or been the victims of violence through the Center for Court Innovation’s Child and Adolescent Witness Support Program, located in the Bronx. She earned her B.A. from Indiana University-Bloomington, and received both a J.D. and a Master's in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis.
Grant Cruz
Mental Health Case Manager, Bronx Community Solutions
Grant Cruz is the mental health case manager at Bronx Community Solutions. Prior to joining the clinical team at Bronx Community Solutions, Grant worked with the mentally ill population in a variety of Bronx-based settings, including as an intensive case manager with Bronx Lebanon Hospital and as a clinical supervisor at Susan’s Place, a 200-bed facility serving homeless women. He is currently responsible for assessing and analyzing cases, as well as determining treatment, counseling, and interventions in order to make recommendations in and out of court. He holds a B.A. from the City College of New York and a Master’s in mental health counseling from Columbia University.
Elizabeth Delmonte-Hatton
Office Manager, Midtown Community Court
Elizabeth Delmonte-Hatton, has been with the Center for Court Innovation since 2007. She started as an AmeriCorps member with the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center where she worked as the Office Manager and resource coordinator. Currently she works as an Office Manager at the Midtown Community Court. Elizabeth has a B.S. in Community Health and Human Services and is currently in the process of pursuing a Master’s Degree in Social Work.
Anthony DeMieri
Program Coordinator, Midtown Community Court
Anthony DeMieri is the program coordinator for Midtown Community Court’s fatherhood initiative, Dads United for Parenting. The two primary goals of the fatherhood program are to help non-custodial dads strengthen the emotional and financial support of their children. Prior to coordinating the court’s fatherhood program, Anthony served as a clinical social worker at the Midtown Community Court. Anthony received his MSW degree from Hunter College School of Social Work.
Steve Dennis
Fiscal Manager
Lizzie DeWan
Office Manager, Crown Heights Community Mediation Center
Aissatou Diop
Intake Counselor, Midtown Community Court
Aissatou Diop joined the Midtown Community Court in 2007 as an Americorps member. Currently she holds a position as intake counselor and foreign group facilitator. Aissatou is certified in French Wolof and is fluent in Fulani, German, and English. In her spare time, Aissatou works as an independent translator.
Alison Dockery-Ervin
Case Manager, Harlem Community Justice Center
Alison Dockery Ervin is a reentry case manager with the Harlem Parole Reentry Court. Ms. Dockery-Ervin graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from John Jay College of the City University of New York, where she also earned her Master’s of Arts in Forensic Psychology. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
Elvita Dominique
Program Coordinator, Technical Assistance
Elvita Dominique is the Program Coordinator of Technical Assistance for the Center for Court Innovation. Prior to joining the staff at the Center, Ms. Dominique was an associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker LLP. Ms. Dominique received her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Before and during law school she interned with various public service-oriented organizations including the Midtown Community Court, the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic, the Harvard Tenant Advocacy Project, Jamaicans for Justice and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Ms. Dominique also holds an M.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and received her B.A. from Barnard College.
Amy Ellenbogen
Project Director, Crown Heights Mediation Center
As director of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center, Amy Ellenbogen oversees the day to day operations of the neighborhood problem solving center. She is currently focused on providing conflict resolution and youth court programming to schools and youth organizations in Brooklyn. She has worked in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles as an educator, social worker, community activist and program founder. She founded ROOTED (Respecting Ourselves and Others Through Education), a Columbia University program designed to facilitate student dialogue around issues of identity as they relate to power and privilege. Ms. Ellenbogen has a BA degree in Ethnic studies and a Master's degree in Social Work from Columbia University.
Erin Farley
Senior Research Associate
Erin J. Farley is a senior research associate at the Center for Court Innovation and is currently a working on the New York Medical Liability and Patient Safety Demonstration Project, a randomized trial of an evidence-based assessment protocol in New York City drug courts; and a cost-benefit analysis of Rockefeller Drug Law reform. Prior to joining the Center, she was a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Erin’s additional research areas include juror decision making, lay comprehension of scientific evidence and substance use and misuse among youth and young adults. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Virginia Tech and her Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Delaware. She has co-authored articles examining college student misuse of illicit prescription drugs, adolescent misuse of over-the-counter drugs and juror comprehension of scientific evidence.
Norma S. Feldman
Office Administrator, Syracuse Office
Norma S. Feldman has been a member of the Syracuse office since it opened in 2004. Currently she is responsible for providing logistical support associated with all projects in the Syracuse office and the Tribal Justice Exchange. In addition to managing the Syracuse office, she is responsible for coordinating activities with the Manhattan office and other Center projects. A native of New York City, Ms. Feldman has resided in Central New York for most of her adult life. Prior to joining the Center for Court Innovation, she served as the director of development for Syracuse University College of Law. She also was the director of the New York State External Diploma Program, a pilot program in competency-based credentialing for adults. Ms. Feldman is a graduate of the State University of New York-Cortland, completed her coursework towards an M.A. in Early British Literature at Indiana University, and coursework at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Public Policy. Ms. Feldman serves on a number of non-for-profit boards.
Rachel Finkelstein
Planner, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Rachel Finkelstein is the Planner at the Red Hook Community Justice Center. Previously, Rachel served as the Program Associate for the Center's Technical Assistance department. Prior to joining the staff at the Center, she worked as a research assistant to a group of professors and nonprofit leaders working on a task force through Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office to reform the "Blue Book," the set of standards by which overcrowding is calculated in New York City public schools. She has also taught English in Spain through a fellowship with the Spanish Ministry of Education. She graduated with honors from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish Literature.
Nancy Fishman
Project Director, Youth Justice Programs
Nancy Fishman is the project director for Youth Justice Programs, overseeing the coordination and development of the Center's early intervention, prevention and diversion programs for young people. Her work also includes direct supervision of some of the Center's youth court, truancy, and youth development programs, as well as technical assistance on youth court development and other youth justice issues. Prior to joining the Center, she served as project director for the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project at the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a national initiative focused on improving how the criminal justice system responds to people with mental illness. Ms. Fishman previously worked as the senior law and policy analyst and director of the Equal Justice Initiative for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, where her work focused on community and economic development and criminal justice policy reform. She has taught at New York University School of Law, and was a Skadden Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of New York. Ms. Fishman received her J.D. and B.A. from Yale University and also received an M.A. in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University.
Carol Fisler
Director, Mental Health Court Programs
Carol Fisler is the director of Mental Health Court Programs at the Center for Court Innovation, overseeing initiatives that address mental illness and the courts. She coordinated the planning and implementation of the Brooklyn Mental Health Court, the first specialized court for offenders with mental illness in New York, and a juvenile justice/mental health initiative for young people with mental health disorders charged with delinquency. She has provided extensive training and technical assistance to more than 50 mental health court planning teams in New York State and around the country and speaks frequently at national and regional conferences. Ms. Fisler has extensive public and private sector legal and managerial experience, serving as the president of a start-up welfare-to-work staffing company, deputy general counsel of the New York City Housing Authority, assistant commissioner for legal affairs of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and an associate at a major New York City law firm. Ms. Fisler graduated from Harvard University and Stanford Law School.
Kathryn Ford
Senior Associate, Tribal Justice Exchange and Domestic Violence Programs
As a senior associate at the Center for Court Innovation, Kathryn Ford addresses the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse through needs assessment research, dissemination of best practices, and the provision of training and technical assistance, including through the Center’s Tribal Justice Exchange. She has published articles in Sexual Assault Report, Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, and NCADV’s The Voice, and has conducted training workshops for over 3,000 participants from multiple disciplines. Ms. Ford also conducts trauma-focused individual and group therapy and provides court support services through the Child and Adolescent Witness Support Program at the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Ford was a social worker in Safe Horizon's Supervised Visitation Program at Bronx Family Court and an intern in the Kings County District Attorney's Office’s Counseling Services Unit. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology from Tufts University and a Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, and is certified in Rape Crisis Counseling.
Aubrey Fox
Director of Strategic Planning
Aubrey Fox is the director of Strategic Planning at the Center for Court Innovation. In November 2011, he launched the Centre for Justice Innovation, an institution that seeks to promote thoughtful criminal justice reform in the United Kingdom by focusing on the use of demonstration projects. Prior to that, Aubrey was the project director of Bronx Community Solutions, a one-of-its-kind initiative launched in January 2005 that seeks to meet the ambitious goal of changing a large and tradition-bound public agency's approach to low-level crime. Aubrey graduated with a Master's degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley, served as a VISTA Volunteer in San Antonio, Texas, and was a Warren Weaver Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation and a member of Coro's Leadership New York program. His work has appeared in Newsday, the Gotham Gazette, Judicature, the Justice System Journal and Court Review, among other publications. Finally, he is the co-author of Trial & Error in Criminal Justice Reform: Learning from Failure (Urban Institute Press, 2010).
Nancy Frost
Social Worker
Monica Garcia
Case Manager, Bronx Community Solutions
Melissa Gelber
Project Director, Project READY Staten Island
Melissa Gelber is the project director of the Staten Island Youth Justice Center. Ms. Gelber oversees the Staten Island Youth Court, Project READY, an alternative-to-detention program, and Project READY Respite, a therapeutic short-term program for young people whose parents or guardians are unable or unwilling to take them home at a court appearance. In this capacity she is responsible for maintaining all aspects of Justice Center operations, including issues of facilities, programming, operations, development, and services. In addition, she assists in researching, planning and implementing new Justice Center projects. Prior to this position, Melissa was the director of community programs at the Red Hook Community Justice Center. While at the Justice Center Ms. Gelber coordinated the Red Hook Public Safety Corps, an AmeriCorps national service program, and the Red Hook Youth Court. Ms. Gelber has also served as a mentor in the Red Hook Mentoring Program. Melissa received her B.A. in Government and Women’s Studies from Franklin and Marshall College and received her M.A. in Social Work and Public Policy from New York University.
Emily Gold
Senior Planner
As a senior planner at the Center, Emily works on a variety of special initiatives. She is currently the project manager for the Improving Courtroom Communications project, an effort to enhance perceptions of fairness by improving communication strategies used by criminal courtroom staff. She also writes and conducts research for the Trial and Error Initiative, a multi-year inquiry into the role that failure and the trial and error process play in criminal justice reform. Emily is also on the planning team for the Brownsville Community Justice Center, a new community court to be opened in Central Brooklyn. She is a graduate of Pomona College and the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Miriam Goodman
Clinical Coordinator, Midtown Community Court
Miriam Goodman is the women’s specialist at Midtown Community Court (MCC). Miriam oversees and facilitates the Women’s Independence Safety and Empowerment (WISE) program, a comprehensive psycho-educational and therapeutic program for women arrested for prostitution. Miriam’s focus is in trauma work and she has trained extensively in evidence-based practices for working with trauma survivors. Miriam is also a therapist at the Safe Horizon’s Counseling Center, where she provides trauma-focused therapy for crime victims. She received her BA in Sociology from Dickinson College and her MSW from the Silver School of Social Work at New York University.
Viviana Gordon
New York Juvenile Justice Corps Program Coordinator, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Viviana Gordon is the coordinator of the New York JuvenileJustice Corps, an AmeriCorps national service program, which places fifty-eightCorps members throughout Center for Court Innovation projects, with the Officeof Children and Family Services (OCFS) and at John Jay College of CriminalJustice. Previously, Viviana worked as a bilingual Case Manager with criminalcourt defendants, and as the Interim Family Court/Juvenile OffenderIntervention Network (JOIN) Coordinator at the Red Hook Community JusticeCenter. Prior to joining the Center, Viviana worked at the Juvenile RightsProject in Portland, Oregon as a Detention Alternatives Advocate and interned inAdult Social Services at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Viviana received her B.A. from Whitman College in Washington State in 2008.
Ranice Gordon
Case Developer, Newark Community Court
Jonelli Gordon
Fiscal Associate
Jaclyn Green-Stock
Planner, Midtown Community Court
Dory Hack
Deputy Director, Youth Justice Programs
Dory Hack is deputy director of Youth Justice Programs at the Center for Court Innovation. In this capacity she develops and supports a range of youth engagement initiatives, including youth courts and staff training. Previously, Dory Hack was deputy director of the Center's Courts and the Community project, in which she focused on creating and promoting resources for civic education in New York state. Ms. Hack began her work in youth programming as project coordinator of the Youth Justice Board. Prior to this, Ms. Hack developed case management systems for problem-solving courts. Ms. Hack received her BA from Wesleyan University.
Lama Hassoun
Research Associate
Lama Hassoun is a research associate at the Center for Court Innovation. She is currently involved in on-site research at the Harlem Community Justice Center and a randomized study of the Harlem Parole Reentry Court. Lama is also actively involved in other research projects, including a randomized control trial testing the effects of a teen dating violence prevention program in schools in the Bronx, New York. Her background is in public health, domestic violence, global mental health, and refugee health. She received her Master's of Science from the Harvard University School of Public Health and her B.S. from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Kelli Henry
Senior Research Associate
Kelli Henry is a Senior Research Associate currently conducting research on the Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation project and the Queens Juvenile Mental Health Project, where she is Principal Investigator. Prior to joining the center, she was Europe Editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. She has published numerous articles on European politics and economics. Previously she conducted research evaluating special education programs for the New York City Board of Education, taught as an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at New York University, Queens College and the University of Arts and Science in Bucharest, Romania and worked for non-profit organizations as well as the United Nations. She served as an international election observer at Romania’s presidential and legislative elections in 1992. Dr. Henry received her Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University.
Raul Hernandez
Alternative Sanctions Specialist, Newark Community Court
Bryn Ann Herrschaft
Senior Research Associate
Bryn Herrschaft is a senior research associate with the Center for Court Innovation. She is currently conducting research on-site at the Harlem Community Justice Center including a randomized study of the Harlem Parole Reentry Court. Ms. Herrschaft also works with the Center’s Tribal Justice Exchange on a variety of research projects, providing research technical assistance in the development of research tools including surveys, focus group protocols, and needs assessments to be used in tribal justice research. Prior to joining CCI, she was the project coordinator for a study involving jail-based reentry strategies in New Jersey county jails and a research associate on several evaluations of parole-based reentry programs with research centers located at Rutgers University. Ms. Herrschaft received her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from New York University and a Master’s of Criminal Justice from Rutgers University in 2009. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice at Rutgers University.
Jeffrey Hobbs
Deputy Projector Director, Midtown Community Court
Jeff Hobbs is the deputy director at the Midtown Community Court, and has been with the Court since its “experimental phase” in August of 1993. Starting out as the community service coordinator, he assisted in pioneering the first community service sites. In his current role, Mr. Hobbs oversees the Dads United Parenting program, Alternative Sanctions Department, as well as Facilities Management. Before coming to Midtown, Mr. Hobbs was director of central operations for the Vera Institute of Justice’s Neighborhood Work Project. Mr. Hobbs is the recipient of the prestigious Samuel and May Rudin Community Service Award for his efforts and commitment to the Midtown community.
Eliana Horn
Special Projects Coordinator, Crown Heights Community Mediation Center
Sienna Hunter-Cuyjet
Social Worker, Newark Community Court
Suvi Hynynen
Research Associate
Suvi Hynynen is a research associate at the Center for Court Innovation. She is currently conducting research at the Red Hook Community Justice Center and at Bronx Community Solutions. Prior to joining the Center, she worked with various non-profit organizations on issues including domestic violence, transparency in foreign aid, and climate change. Ms. Hynynen received her B.A. from Brigham Young University and her Master’s of Public Administration from New York University in 2009.
Wendell Jack
Facilities Manager, Midtown Community Court
Ronell Jack
Community Service Supervisor, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Lucille Jackson
Project Director, Brooklyn Mental Health Court
Lucille Jackson, Project/Clinical Director for the Brooklyn Mental Health Court at the Center for Court Innovation, has a master’s degree in clinical social work from the Hunter College School of Social Work. Before joining CCI, she was the program director for New York City’s first Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team, providing on-going in vivo services to court-mandated adults with serious and persistent mental illness, and the program director for an outreach program for adults with serious mental illness living in homeless encampments in New York City. In addition, she has a part-time private practice in Manhattan.
Nigel Jackson
Reentry Court Coordinator, Harlem Community Justice Center
Nigel Jackson, is the reentry coordinator at the Harlem Community Justice Center. He oversees Harlem Parole Reentry, a collaborative effort aimed at helping recently released parolees in upper Manhattan receive reentry services and reduce recidivism. Prior to his work at the Center, Mr. Jackson was the Queens Borough Director at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES), where he oversaw the day-to day operations of the Community Service Sentencing Project(CSSP). Mr. Jackson has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston.
Allen James
Program Manager, Crown Heights Community Mediation Center
Jasmin Jenoure
Employment Specialist, Midtown Community Court
Jasmin Jenoure is the employment specialist for Times Square Ink Job Readiness Program. Ms. Jenoure facilitates job readiness workshops, resume clinics, and job boot camp sessions. Prior to joining Midtown Community Court, she was a career exploration coordinator for Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES). Jasmin is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Urban Studies from Long Island University.
Elise Jensen
Senior Research Associate
Steven Joyner
Crew Supervisor, Midtown Community Court
Roberto Julbe
Resource Center Coordinator, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Jessica Kay
Social worker, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Julia Kohn
Principal Research Associate
Julia Kohn is a principal research associate at the Center for Court Innovation. She is currently working on a national evaluation of a multi-site initiative to reduce children’s exposure to violence and a randomized control trial testing the effects of a teen dating violence prevention program in the Bronx. Prior to joining CCI, she conducted evaluations of teen pregnancy prevention programs at the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Julia received her B.A. and Master’s of Public Administration from New York University and is a Ph.D. candidate in Public & Urban Policy at The New School.
Dana Kralstein
Associate Research Director
Dana Kralstein is involved with research on adult, family and juvenile drug courts, as well as community courts in New York City and throughout the state; Ms. Kralstein is also involved in a National Adult Drug Court Evaluation. Ms. Kralstein received her B.A. from the University of Rochester and her Master's in Public Policy from the University of Michigan with a concentration in social policy.
Melissa Labriola
Associate Director of Research
Melissa Labriola is a principal research associate at the Center for Court Innovation. She is currently the principal investigator of a randomized trial testing the impact of intensive judicial monitoring on domestic violence offenders in Rochester, New York. She is also project director of a national study of specialized domestic violence courts; and is participating in an evaluation of a New York City-based initiative to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children. She previously served as lead analyst on the Center’s randomized trial testing the impact of batterer programs; served as project director of a national survey of court responses to offender noncompliance with batterer program mandates; and participated in the Center’s statewide evaluation of adult drug courts.
Julius Lang
Director, Technical Assistance
Julius Lang is Director of Technical Assistance at the Center for Court Innovation. Mr. Lang oversees the Center's consulting services - including workshops, site visits and in-person consulting - for jurisdictions around the nation and internationally. He currently spearheads national technical assistance efforts for the Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative, the newest effort of the Bureau of Justice Assistance at the U.S. Department of Justice to promote the wider use of problem-solving principles and practices. Previously, Mr. Lang served as the Coordinator of the Midtown Community Court – the Center’s first demonstration project – in Manhattan’s Times Square neighborhood. Prior to joining the Midtown Community Court, Mr. Lang was chief of staff to New York City’s Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Villanova University School of Law. He also spent several years as an associate at the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling, serving in their New York and London offices.
Manuel Larino
Queens Borough Manager, NYC Community Cleanup
Manuel Lariño has worked for the Center for Court Innovation since 2003, starting as a community service supervisor and working his way up to site supervisor and senior site supervisor for the Queens Community Cleanup. In 2008, he began working as the after-school coordinator for the Staten Island Youth Justice Center, an alternative-to-detention program. Mr. Lariño graduated from St. John's University with a bachelor of arts in environmental studies and a minor in secondary education.
Dwayne Lashley
Assistant Borough Manger, NYC Community Cleanup
Colin Lentz
Program Associate, Youth Justice Board
Stephanie Leverett
Group Work Specialist, Harlem Community Justice Center
Ms. Leverett joined the Center for Court Innovation in March 2010, as a group work specialist. She facilitates anger management groups for adolescents, as well as cognitive behavioral groups for formerly incarcerated persons returning to the community on parole. Ms. Leverett is a New York State Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) with over 10 years of experience working with high risk populations. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the College of New Rochelle. Ms. Leverett is currently pursuing a Master’s of Social Work degree from Lehman College.
Amy Levitt
Director, Finance & Administration
Amy Levitt directs the Center’s fiscal and administrative staff and works closely with the Center's Director. She is responsible for fiscal planning, management and oversight, contract compliance, risk management, human resources and employee relations. Her duties include the management of an operating budget in excess of $16 million annually. She developed and is responsible for overseeing Center fiscal and administrative policy and procedures. In addition, she manages the Center’s performance review program and promotes staff welfare and workplace satisfaction for over 170 employees. Amy is a 1986 graduate of the School of Business at the State University of New York at Albany. She is a Coro alumna of Leadership New York XV. She has served as the Administrator for the 9/11 Court Families Assistance Fund and the UCS Katrina Courts & Families Recovery Fund. Amy has held financial positions in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors in New York City.
David Long
Director, Queens Engagement Strategies for Teens
David Long is the Project Director of an Alternative to Detention program operated by the Center for juveniles arrested in Queens County, New York. He previously served as the Deputy Project Director of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, and has over 20 years experience in criminal justice, including service as an NYPD police officer, Associate Counsel with the New York City Probation Department, litigator prosecuting employee misconduct for the New York City Department of Education, and litigator for the Narcotics Eviction Unit of the New York City Housing and Preservation Department. He is also a certified mediator and a former arbitrator for Small Claims Court in New York City. Additionally, he has been an adjunct professor for the last 10 years, the first eight years at St. Francis College and the last two at Monroe College. He holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a J.D. degree from Fordham Law School.
Edith Lopez
Administrative Associate, Harlem Community Justice Center
Edith Lopez is the facilities and administrative associate at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Ms. Lopez handles all clerical and fiscal work, and provides intake support to the Help Center, helping clients access housing assistance and other social services. Ms. Lopez received her Associate’s Degree in Entrepreneurship in 2005, and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Communications in 2007, both from Johnson & Wales University.
Stephanie Lovett
Intake specialist, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Vanessa Lynch
Compliance Monitor, Queens Engagement Strategies for Teens
Michele Maestri
Office Manager
Michele Maestri is the Center Court Innovation's office manager. She comes to the Center with over 25 years of office management, facilities, and human resources experience in both large and small institutions. Additionally, Michele spent 13 years volunteering for Canstruction, a charity of the architectural and engineering industry, whose goal is to fight hunger. She is a graduate of Hunter College with a degree in Psychology and Education.
Danielle Malangone
Associate Director, Technical Assistance
Danielle Malangone is the associate director of technical assistance at the Center for Court Innovation. Prior to joining the technical assistance team, she served as the deputy project director of the Midtown Community Court, where she directed the court’s clinical and workforce development operations, as well as its research and planning projects. Mrs. Malangone also helped develop and implement new community court projects in the Bronx and Newark, and she currently co-chairs the Center’s evidence-based practices initiative. Before joining the Center in 2005, she worked as a clinical supervisor for the Brooklyn TASC program, where her work helped create alternatives to incarceration for offenders with co-occurring substance use and mental illness. Mrs. Malangone is an adjunct professor at the New School University and a graduate of Coro Leadership New York XVIII. She received her B.A. from Oswego State University and M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Carlos Maldonado
HTML, Graphic and Multimedia Specialist
Adam Mansky
Director, Operations
Adam Mansky became the Center for Court Innovation’s director of operations in February 2002. In that capacity, Mr. Mansky supervises the Center’s community courts and its technology and research departments. From 1997 until early 2002, Mr. Mansky was the Red Hook Community Justice Center’s project director, coordinating all aspects of its planning, development, implementation and operations. Prior to joining the Center for Court Innovation, Mr. Mansky practiced corporate law at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and securities litigation at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D., cum laude, from the New York University School of Law. He currently sits on the Family Court / Family Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Robyn Mazur
Deputy Director, Domestic Violence Programs
Robyn Mazur is currently the deputy director of Domestic Violence Programs at the Center for Court Innovation. In this capacity, Ms. Mazur provides technical assistance and strategic planning advice to courts and communities who are interested in changing their response to violence against women and children by supplying best practice information, written materials, needs assessments, trainings, and consultation. Ms. Mazur also coordinates and provides training to judges and community leaders across the U.S. and internationally on the issues of violence against women. Ms. Mazur is an attorney and has extensive experience in the field of violence against women. She was a staff attorney at the National Network to End Domestic Violence and was the staff director of the Mayor’s Commission on Violence Against Women both in Washington, D.C. She was an attorney at the House of Ruth Shelter, Domestic Violence Legal Clinic in Baltimore, Maryland where she represented battered women clients in civil cases. Ms. Mazur is a graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law and Tulane University.
John Megaw
Deputy Project Director, Harlem Community Justice Center
John Megaw, LCSW, MPA, is the deputy project director at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Mr. Megaw oversees the staff at the Justice Center including the clinical team which provides services to parolees, juveniles, families, and other Justice Center clients. Mr. Megaw was the first clinical director at the Midtown Community Court, the nation’s first community court, which opened in 1993. He was named the coordinator of the Parole Reentry Program in 2001 and became the Justice Center’s deputy project director in 2006. Mr. Megaw is responsible for overall project implementation including operation of one of the nation's first parole reentry court projects designed to help stabilize parolees in the initial phase of their community reintegration. Mr. Megaw has a master’s in Social Work from the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Work and a master’s in Public Administration from New York University's Wagner School of Public Service.
Evelyn Mejil
Director, Newark Youth Court
Yolaine Menyard
Social Worker, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Angela Merrill
Respite Social Worker, Staten Island Youth Justice Center
Angie Merrill, LMSW, is the Respite social worker at the Staten Island Youth Justice Center where she provides mental health assessment and case management for the court-involved young people served by the Youth Justice Center. Her primary duties are with the Respite program, which provides temporary therapeutic foster care as an alternative to group or residential treatment for adolescents with open delinquency cases. Ms. Merrill first joined the Center as an MSW intern in 2008 and was later hired as the social worker for the Center’s two alternative-to-detention (ATD) programs – QUEST in Queens and Project READY at the Staten Island Youth Justice Center. With the inception of the Respite program in June 2010 she moved full time to the Youth Justice Center under her current position. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Ms. Merrill earned her BSW from Seattle University in 2005 and her MSW from Columbia University in 2009. Previous work experience includes prison ministry at Monroe Correctional Facility in Washington state, case management with homeless women in Seattle, volunteer work with abandoned women and children in Kolkata, India, and community organizing in Newark, New Jersey.
Cramon Milline
Reentry Case Aid, Harlem Community Justice Center
Cramon Milline joined the Center’s staff in October of 2010 in his current role as a reentry case aide with the Harlem Parole Reentry Court. Prior to joining the staff, Mr. Milline served two years in the Center’s AmeriCorps program where he assisted men and women retuning from prison. In his current position, Mr. Milline works with the reentry team to help men and women in the first six months of their return from prison to the community by providing positive support and service referrals.
Darren Mills
Case Manager, Bronx Community Solutions
Jonathan Monsalve
Coordinator, Midtown Community Court
Jonathan Monsalve is the program coordinator for Times Square Ink. Prior to coordinating the Workforce Development Program, Jonathan served as the job developer for the Times Square Ink and Dad's United for Parenting programs. Jonathan continues to develop and maintain new sector based employment prospects for the Times Square Ink and Dad's United for Parenting programs. He holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice, and an M.S. in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University.
Kelly Mulligan-Brown
Resource Coordinator, Newark Community Court
Peter Napoli
Development Associate
Melissa Novock
Case Manager, Bronx Community Solutions
Melissa Novock currently works with women arrested for prostitution in the Bronx, as a member of the STARS (Services to Access Resources and Safety) team at Bronx Community Solutions. Ms. Novock has extensively worked with survivors of violence within the context of the court system and various not-for-profit organizations in the Detroit area. She is a graduate of Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, and the University of Detroit Law School.
Marlon Peterson
Program Coordinator, Crown Heights Community Mediation Center
Marlon Peterson is the program coordinator of Youth Organizing to Save Our Streets, the youth development anti-violence program of Save Our Streets at the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center. He is also the founder of a youth mentoring program based in a Brownsville middle school named How Our Lives Link Altogether (H.O.L.L.A.!). Mr. Peterson has an extensive history in youth development, prison re-entry, and program facilitation. He also served as the youth coordinator of Families for Freedom, an immigrant advocacy organization. Additionally, Mr. Peterson received his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Ashworth University and is currently completing his B.S. in Organizational Behavior & Communications from New York University.
Sarah Picard-Fritsche
Principal Research Associate
Sarah Picard-Fritsche currently serves as project director of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of evidence-based assessment protocol in three New York City drug courts. She also collaborates with the Center’s director of mental health court programs to shape a research agenda for that department and is the principal investigator on a BJA-funded evaluation of a violence prevention program utilizing the Chicago Ceasefire model in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Ms. Fritsche brings particular expertise in mixed-methods research design, data analysis, and project management. She also has particular knowledge regarding evidence-based risk and need assessment and experience with the implementation of applied research in court settings. Ms. Fritsche holds a Master’s degree in Applied Social Research from Hunter College in New York.
Roy Pierson
Devlopement Associate
Jermaine Pilgrim
Parent Advocate, Midtown Community Court
Jermaine Pilgrim is the parent advocate for Dads United for Parenting, a nurturing fatherhood initiative at the Midtown Community Court designed to increase fathers’ emotional engagement and financial support of their children. Jermaine holds a BA in Political Science/African American Studies from SUNY Cortland and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from CUNY John Jay.
Shernette Pink
Compliance Monitor, Queens Engagement Strategies for Teens
Genna Plumitallo
Employment Workshop Facilitator, Midtown Community Court
Genna Plumitallo is the employment workshop facilitator in the Times Square Ink Program at the Midtown Community Court. Prior to coming to Midtown as a student volunteer, Genna held a position as a community service representative for John Jay College of Criminal Justice through Americorps. After volunteering, Genna stayed as an intern and then acquired the Times Square Ink Americorps member position, which led to her current role as the employment workshop facilitator. Currently, her role as the employment workshop facilitator involves facilitating job readiness workshops and cognitive behavioral therapy. Genna is currently pursing a BA in International Criminal Justice at John Jay College.
Fernan Polanco
Times Square Express Supervisor, Midtown Community Court
Carrie Potts
Resource Coordinator, Bronx Community Solutions
Amy Pumo
Director, Child & Adolescent Witness Support Program
Amy is the program director for the Child and Adolescent Witness Support Program. Her role is to develop and sustain the program’s ability to address the mental health needs of young survivors of violent crime. She is a member of the Bronx Multidisciplinary Team on Child Physical and Sexual Abuse. Over the last fifteen years, Amy has worked with youth and families in foster care, psychiatric hospitals, and community-based programs. Amy has also worked as a diversity trainer for graduate students and as a consultant for a creative healing arts organization. She has volunteered as a birth assistant; a companion for dying patients; and as an art curator and events planner for a social justice community space. Amy received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Villanova University and her graduate degree in social work from Columbia University.
Dana Rachlin
Juvenile Justice Program Associate, Staten Island Youth Justice Center
Valerie Raine
Director, Drug Court Programs
As the director of drug treatment court projects at the Center for Court Innovation, Valerie Raine assists New York’s Unified Court System in developing and training drug courts across New York State. She also oversees numerous national drug court technical assistance projects which are supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. From 1996 to 2000, she was project director of the Brooklyn Treatment Court, where she helped develop and manage New York City's first drug treatment court. She currently serves as President of the New York Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. Ms. Raine developed and taught a course on problem-solving justice at Fordham Law School, has served as faculty for the National Drug Court Institute and presented at numerous conferences over the past decade. Previously, she worked for 14 years at the Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division in Kings County, where she was appointed attorney-in-charge in 1994. Ms. Raine is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Yakaira Ramirez
Clinical Social Worker, Midtown Community Court
Chante Ramsey
Deputy Director of Finance & Administration
Naureen Rashid
Director of Court Operations, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Naureen Rashid is the director of court operations at the Red Hook Community Justice Center. In her current role, she oversees all aspects of development, implementation, and operations across the Justice Center’s family, housing, and criminal court jurisdictions. She also supervises the Alternative Sanctions Department, the Housing Resource Center, and the Clinic. Ms. Rashid also works closely with the community service team to spearhead initiatives and is integrally involved in the development of a community educational workshop series. She also serves as a member on the Domestic Violence working group. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Rashid practiced primarily as a litigation and housing attorney at various New York City law firms. Notably, Ms. Rashid was co-counsel in bringing forth a seminal case of first impression on behalf of NYC Yellow cab drivers and their union, the New York City Taxi Workers Alliance, challenging the constitutionality of the installation of GPS technology into NYC yellow cabs. Ms. Rashid received her B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from Hofstra University and received her J.D. from Saint John’s University, School of Law.
Sarah Reckess
Senior Associate, Syracuse Office and Tribal Courts Technical Assistance
Sarah Cumbie Reckess is a senior associate for the Syracuse office and Tribal Justice Exchange. Sarah provides planning and technical assistance to problem-solving courts and justice initiatives in Upstate New York, as well as planning and technical assistance to tribal communities around the U.S. Before joining the Center, Sarah provided legal assistance to Legal Services of Central New York, the Onondaga Nation, and the Syracuse Medical-Legal Partnership. She has also worked as the interim director of the Syracuse University Family Law and Social Policy Center. Currently she provides pro bono legal assistance to the 5th Judicial District Pro Bono-University Hospital Clinic and to the Center for New Americans Refugee Resettlement Program. Sarah holds a B.A. in American Studies from Mount Holyoke College, an M.A. in Literature and Environment from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a J.D. with a concentration in Family Law and Social Policy from Syracuse University College of Law.
Dennis Reilly
Deputy Project Director for Drug Court Programs
As the Deputy Director of Drug Court Programs, Dennis A. Reilly Esq. provides training, technical assistance, and development support for drug treatment courts. He has served as the Director of the Brooklyn Treatment Court and the Problem-Solving Courts Coordinator for the Kings Supreme Court. Previously, he worked for the Connecticut Judicial Branch as a Special Deputy Sheriff, Trial Court Clerk, Pretrial Services Officer, Supervision Officer, Court Planner, and as a founding team member of the first two drug courts in Connecticut. He also worked as a Deputy Director at the National Drug Court Institute, developing and initiating the Drug Court Planning Initiative, and is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, School of Administration and Management, the University of Denver, College of Law, and the University of Amsterdam School for Executive Development in International Relations.
Norman Reiss
Project Manger, Technology
Norman Reiss works with the Center for Court Innovation's programming staff to support and enhance the Justice Center Application (JCA) and maintains relationships with over 20 demonstration projects that use this software. For five alternative to detention providers, which also use JCA, Mr. Reiss monitors the annual workplan, trains staff, and leads group meetings. Currently, he is managing a database development project for the Harlem Parole Reentry Court. Since joining the nonprofit sector in 2000, he has worked for multiple organizations in project management and online technology/communication roles, most recently Jewish Funds for Justice and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. Mr. Reiss is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and is a CUNY alumnus, having received a MBA from Baruch College and a BS from Brooklyn College.
Michael Rempel
Research Director
Michael Rempel is research director at the Center for Court Innovation, ultimately overseeing all research conducted at the agency. He is currently directing a statewide evaluation of specialized drug courts in New York; a randomized trial of evidence-based assessment tools; a national study of the commercial sexual exploitation of children; and a multi-site formative study of initiatives to address children’s exposure to violence. He is also co-principal investigator on a multi-site evaluation of specialized reentry courts and a study of the Red Hook (Brooklyn) community court. In the past, he has published extensively on research related to drug courts (including NIJ’s Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation) and criminal justice interventions in cases of intimate partner violence. Recent publications also concern specialized domestic violence courts; the commercial sexual exploitation of children; research methodology; and the potential to apply problem-solving techniques more broadly in traditional court settings. His work has recently appeared in research journals such as the Journal of Experimental Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Criminology and Public Policy, and Violence Against Women; as well as practitioner-oriented journals such as the Justice System Journal, Judicature, Drug Court Review, and Criminal Justice Magazine. He is co-editor of Documenting Results: Research on Problem-Solving Justice (2007). Previously, he published articles on contemporary social theory and the political sociology of advanced industrial societies and co-edited Citizen Politics in Post-Industrial Societies (1997).
Mandolino Restivo
Deputy Project Director, Bronx Community Solutions
Mandolin Restivo is the deputy project director at Bronx Community Solutions where she is responsible for the day-to-day management of project operations, assisting with grant writing and reporting, and research projects. Mandolin co-chairs the Bronx Reentry Working group, a group of community partners, academics, and formerly incarcerated individuals who are working to address the health and social disparities of individuals formerly or currently involved in the criminal justice system. Before working for the Center for Count Innovation, Mandolin worked in higher education for ten years where she specialized in student/personnel management, diversity training, and developing policies for campus response to sexual assault and domestic violence, and leadership development.
Moises Reyes
Coordinator Community Service, Bronx Community Solutions
Luis Rivera
Assistant Borough Manager, NYC Community Cleanup
Nelson Rivera
Assistant Manager of Facilities, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Amanda Rivera
Case Manager, Midtown Community Court
Caren Rodriguez
Monitor Compliance, Bronx Community Solutions
Orleny Rojas
Resource Coordinator, Bronx Community Solutions
Orleny Rojas is a resource coordinator and in this capacity she serves as the primary liaison and representative between Bronx Community Solutions (BCS) and court room staff. As such, she must be prepared to provide information on programs and services, respond to questions or concerns by courtroom staff, visitors or the public. In addition, the resource coordinator assists judges in identifying appropriate community service/social service sanctions for defendants and provides detailed case information when individuals are returned to the courts on a warrant. Orleny has a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration, a Master’s in Social Work, and is currently working on her Juris Doctorate. Prior to working at Bronx Community solutions she worked at Inwood Community Services, Inc. and Fordham University.
Sandra Rollins
Compliance Counselor, Bronx Community Solutions
Jacklyn Romanoff
Coordinator, Staten Island Youth Court
Jacklyn Romanoff, is the youth court coordinator, of the Staten Island Youth Court, located within the Staten Island Youth Justice Center. Jacklyn has been with the Center for Court Innovation since 2001. Prior to this position, Jacklyn was the senior case manager at the Red Hook Community Justice Center’s clinic for seven years. In this capacity, she worked with adults struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues. Before coming to the Center, Jacklyn was a domestic violence coordinator for Safe Horizon, the city’s largest victim’s services organization. There she assisted thousands of families by providing assistance in receiving emergency shelter placement and benefits.
Omarax Rosa
Case Manager, Harlem Community Justice Center
Omarax Rosa joined the Center in 2002 as an intake specialist for the youth and mediation programs at the Harlem Community Justice Center. In her current role as the youth and family case manager, she provides assessment and treatment referrals for clients in the Justice Center’s Family Court, housing court, youth programs, and help center. She also graduated from Hunter College with a BA in Urban Studies in 2001.
Gregg Roth
Associate Director, Drug Court Programs
As the Associate Director of Drug Court Programs, Gregg Roth, Esq. provides training, technical assistance and development support to drug treatment courts. Gregg is formerly a Deputy County Attorney, Senior Trial Counsel, for the Nassau County Attorney’s Office where he prosecuted juvenile delinquents and helped create Nassau County, New York’s first juvenile drug treatment court. As part of the Nassau County Juvenile Treatment Court team, he also served as the Reclaiming Futures Juvenile Justice Fellow. Prior and subsequent to being a prosecutor, Gregg was a litigator with a focus on matrimonial and family law and served on a panel of Attorneys for Children where he represented children of all ages in juvenile delinquency, PINS, abuse and neglect, custody and visitation, family offense, guardianship and child support cases. Gregg has been invited to speak locally and nationally on topics including the prosecutor’s role in juvenile drug courts, evidence-based practices and Reclaiming Futures and is currently an adjunct college professor of criminal justice. Gregg graduated from the George Washington University in 1989 and the Hofstra University School of Law in 1993.
Christina Ruffino
Project Manager, Drug Court Programs
Sally Sanchez
Associate Director of Court Operations, Harlem Community Justice Center
Sally Sanchez is the associate director of Court Operations at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Ms. Sanchez oversees and supervises the provision of services by case management staff who work with youth, adults, and families involved in the Justice Center’s programs and the Help Center whose services include legal and financial assistance, mediation, and specialized referrals. Ms. Sanchez joined the Center for Court Innovation team in 2005 and has held various positions since then, originally starting as a case manager for the Juvenile Intervention Court and later as parent coordinator for the new Custody and Visitation Court. Prior to coming to the Harlem Community Justice Center, Ms. Sanchez worked as a domestic violence advocate with Safe Horizons’ Domestic Violence Police Program. Ms. Sanchez received her Master’s of Science Degree in Nonprofit Management from Milano, The New School for Management and Urban Policy in 2011.
Erika Sasson
Senior Associate, Tribal Justice Exchange
Sarah Schweig
Communications Associate, Technical Assistance
Sarah Schweig is the communications associate at the Center for Court Innovation, where she writes and edits print and online publications, conducts research and interviews on topics of justice reform, and assists with the production of podcasts and videos. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Columbia University, where her MFA manuscript was the recipient of the David Craig Austin Memorial Award. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Bomb Magazine, Boston Review, Gulf Coast, Painted Bride Quarterly, Park Slope Reader, Western Humanities Review, and Verse Daily, among others, and her chapbook of poems, S, is forthcoming through Dancing Girl Press.
Derick Scott
Outreach Worker Supervisor, Crown Heights Mediation Center
Jean Semelfort
Case Manager, Harlem Community Justice Center
Jean Semelfort is one of the Reentry Case Managers here at the Harlem Community Justice Center. He assists clients with stabilization needs through advocacy, discovering and referring clients to various resources that will help them with an array of issues from obtaining housing to substance abuse treatment. He provides individual counseling to clients on an as needed basis to support them through their reintegration process within the community. Jean Semelfort has provided individual and group counseling to individuals during their time of incarceration for close to 3 years as well as created groups to address specific issues of the population. Jean Semelfort received his B.A. in psychology from the Ramapo College of New Jersey and is near his completion of a M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Forensic Mental Health Counseling from College of Saint Elizabeth.
Ramon Semorile
Community Service Supervisor, Bronx Community Solutions
Lee Serrano
Community Outreach Assistant, NYC Community Cleanup
Sarah Shaddy-Farnsworth
Social Worker, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Jillian Shagan
Director, Development
Jillian Shagan oversees the Center’s development department and is responsible for coordinating Center-wide fundraising efforts. Before leading the development team, she worked on planning and implementing new community justice projects, including the Juvenile Reentry Network and the Juvenile Accountability Court. Ms. Shagan also spent two years as the coordinator of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center, a Center project that works to provide community residents with the skills and tools to settle their own conflicts and solve their own problems. She is a certified mediator, has given multiple trainings in conflict management to youth and adults, and continues to coordinate conflict resolution projects for the Center. Before joining the Center, Ms. Shagan directed the legal division of Lutheran Family and Community Services, an immigration and refugee resettlement agency, where she managed three church-based community immigration clinics and oversaw almost five hundred cases. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her law degree from the New York University School of Law.
Elaine Shea
Planner, Queens Engagement Strategies for Teens
Anton Shelupanov
Senior Planner, Centre for Justice Innovation
Anton Shelupanov has worked with criminal justice systems around the world since 1999. Over the course of his career he has managed a number of high profile prison reform projects in Europe and Asia, assisted the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to establish global guidelines for better prison healthcare, and has worked with global funders including Soros and the Ford Foundation to improve the observance of human rights in a number of countries, including China and Russia. More recently he has worked at the Young Foundation in London to promote, support, and scale social innovation in the criminal justice setting. He has written widely on prison healthcare, de-penalisation, and social investment in criminal justice. He sees his work at the Centre for Justice Innovation as an opportunity to drive and support grass-roots, practitioner-led innovation in justice and related spheres. He holds a degree in History & Economics from Oxford University.
Alfred Siegel
Deputy Director
Alfred Siegel is the deputy director of the Center for Court Innovation. Mr. Siegel oversees the Center’s community-based and juvenile justice projects, as well as its planning and fund-raising activities. He has directed the design and implementation of many of the Center’s problem-solving court projects, including the Red Hook and Harlem Community Justice Centers, Bronx Community Solutions, the largest effort at “going to scale” with “problem-solving” by applying the approach to all misdemeanor cases in the Bronx Criminal Court Division, and alternatives to juvenile detention and placement in both Queens and Staten Island. Mr. Siegel directed the design and implementation of the Center’s reentry programming, including the Harlem Reentry Court, and the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force. He is currently directing the planning for the Center’s newest project, a community court to be located in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Mr. Siegel was a member of Governor David Paterson’s Task Force on Transforming New York State’s Juvenile Justice System, serving as the chair of the Task Force’s sub-committee on Reentry and Alternatives to Placement. Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Siegel was the deputy commissioner of New York City’s Probation Department. Mr. Siegel has also served as an Inspector General for the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County. He is a graduate of New York University where he also received a Master’s degree, and he received his law degree from Rutgers University.
TK Singleton
Community Initiatives Coordinator, Bronx Community Solutions
Christine Sisario
Director, Technology
Christine Sisario is responsible for overseeing the development and roll-out of all technology projects at the Center. Her duties include coordinating application compliance with court operations and technology standards, testing, user training and support, and managing the programming and analyst staff responsible for developing applications and the Center’s various public websites. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Sisario worked for the New York State Office of Court Administration on statewide network design and roll-out and, in the private sector, on worldwide technology project management assignments. Ms. Sisario received a B.A. from SUNY Geneseo, and a Master of Public Administration from Marist College. In addition she possesses a number of technical certifications and distinctions.
Benjamin Smith
Deputy Project Director, NYC Community Cleanup
Benjamin Smith is the Deputy Project Director of NYC Community Cleanup. He joined the Center in 2003 as a development associate. From 2005-2009, he worked at Bronx Community Solutions, a project of the Center for Court Innovation which seeks to take community court principles to scale in a traditional centralized court, as a coordinator of operations and planning. He received his B.A. in history from Haverford College in 2001 and his M.P.A. from Baruch College in 2010.
Gene Sorkin
Manager, System Administration and New Media
Gene Sorkin joined the Center in 1999 and is currently responsible for network administration and technology service management. He maintains the Center’s servers, workstations, audio visual equipment, phone/voicemail systems and Blackberrys. Working with Novell and Microsoft networks, he manages multiple site networking, terminal services, VPN, remote desktop and firewall products. Mr. Sorkin provides on-going research and support for cutting edge technology products and systems, and special projects such as a project-based Linux operating system. Mr. Sorkin also functions as the Center’s photographer for special events. His photos of the Mayor of New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg have appeared in the Benchmark Journal and some of his personal work has been published in the New York Times.
Jacqueline Soto
Coordinator, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Linda Steele-DeNardo
Case Manager, Harlem Community Justice Center
Linda Steele-DeNardo first came to the Midtown Community Court in 2006 when she was referred to their Times Square Ink Job Readiness Program. After graduating the program in June of 2006, Linda remained engaged with the Midtown Court as a volunteer. In 2008, Linda was hired as an executive assistant to the project director. In 2009, Linda joined the Workforce Development Department as the employment specialist, facilitating the Times Square Ink Job Readiness Program. Linda researched and wrote a curriculum which centered on life and job skills necessary for re-entering ex-offenders to the work force. She is presently enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College pursuing a degree in Human Services. Linda has received the prestigious Avon Award for Empowering Women and Changing Society and the Making a Difference Award issued by the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.
Ian Stickland
Program Associate, Technical Assistance
Adam Sugerman
Lead Information Architect
Adam Sugerman is the Lead Information Architect for the Technology team at the Center. He is involved in several projects, working as a software architect, programmer, Linux system administrator and database developer. He builds, maintains, configures and upgrades a series of Java/Oracle-based web applications, which includes the Justice Center Application, the Domestic Violence Application, and an internal contacts management system for tracking grants and technical assistance activities. Additionally, he develops for the Center's web site. Prior to joining the Center, he worked on various projects within both the public and private sectors including work at AT&T Bell Laboratories and the Parsons Institute of Information Mapping at the New School. He earned his B.A. in Computer Science from Rutgers College.
Elizabeth Swan
Coordinator of Court Operations, Bronx Community Solutions
Rachel Swaner
Principal Research Associate
Rachel Swaner is a principal research associate focusing on youth programming at the Red Hook Community Justice Center. She is also working on a national portrait of the commercial sexual exploitation of children, and the evaluation of Defending Childhood, the U.S. Attorney General's multi-site initiative to address children's exposure to violence. Prior to joining the Center, she was a research associate at the Harlem Children’s Zone, where she evaluated social, educational, and health programs for children and youth. Ms. Swaner received her B.S. and Master’s of Public Administration from New York University, and her Ph.D. in Sociology from the CUNY Graduate Center.
Alice Tapia
Coordinator, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Brett Taylor
Deputy Director, Technical Assistance
Brett Taylor is deputy director of National Technical Assistance. He has also been deputy director of the Center’s Tribal Justice Exchange program since its inception in 2008. Before joining the Center in 2007, Mr. Taylor served as the senior defense attorney for six years at the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to that, he was a trial attorney for the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn for over 10 years. Mr. Taylor has presented at numerous national conferences on community courts, tribal courts, community prosecution and other community justice topics. He was the attendance court hearing officer in P.S. 27, a Brooklyn elementary school from 2007-2010. He has also been a trainer for the Red Hook Youth Court since 1998 and has been organizing and coaching in the Red Hook Youth Baseball League since 2000. Mr. Taylor holds a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Andree Tenemas-Chavez
Resource Coordinator
Andree Tenemás-Chavez is the resource coordinator for Kings County Parent Support Program. This innovative program provides a new tool for courts to address issues of underemployment, education, and social issues that impact a non-custodial parent’s ability to pay child support. In this role, Ms. Tenemás-Chavez meets with non-custodial parents to conduct assessments, recommend service plans, and connect non-custodial parents to community based resources. She provides case supervision to facilitate child support compliance and provides the court with progress reports so that the court may take the appropriate action. Prior to joining the Center for Court Innovation Ms. Tenemás-Chavez worked as an educational specialist for The Children’s Aid Society/Brooklyn PINS Diversion Program where she conducted comprehensive psychosocial/educational assessments and adolescent counseling using principles of human development. She designed and facilitated bilingual educational workshops informing parents of promotion criteria, educational policies, regulations, and entitlements. Ms. Tenemás-Chavez received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
Rebecca Thomforde Hauser
Associate Director, Domestic Violence Programs
As the Associate Director of Domestic Violence Programs, Rebecca Thomforde Hauser assists jurisdictions nationally and in New York State to plan and implement Domestic Violence, Integrated Domestic Violence, Sex Offense and Youthful Offender Domestic Violence Courts. Before coming to the Center, she was a Victim Witness Advocate at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, providing crisis intervention, case management, and court advocacy to domestic violence victims as well as other victims of violent crimes. While in Boston, she also worked at Safe Havens: The Interfaith Partnership Against Domestic Violence, creating curricula and coordinating a year-long training domestic violence education program for clergy and laity from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim congregations throughout the greater Boston area. She graduated from Earlham College, where she received a Fulbright Scholarship, and Boston University School of Theology.
Catherine “Anisah” Thompson
Reentry Aide, Harlem Community Justice Center
Catherine “Anisah” Thompson is a reentry aide with the Harlem Community Justice Center. She provides assistance to formerly incarcerated persons and their families who are engaged in programming at the Justice Center. Prior to assuming her current role in 2011, Anisah was an AmeriCorps national service member assigned to the Justice Center. Anisah previously worked as a peer advocate with the Correctional Association of New York, Fortune Society, and Goodwill Industries’ Project Caring Communities. In 2007, Anisah received the Coalition for Women Prisoners Advocate for Justice Award. She attended LaGuardia Community College and has a certificate in Office Technology.
Melissa Torres
Office Manager, Red Hook Community Justice Center
Bo Twiggs
Clinical Social Worker, Midtown Community Court
Bo Twiggs is the clinical social worker for the Dads United for Parenting and Times Square Ink projects. He joined the Midtown Community Court staff in 2009 as the Job Developer and Retention Specialist for the organization's Workforce Development department after completing his Master's of Social Work degree at Fordham's Graduate School of Social Service. Bo is committed to helping individuals overcome the barriers preventing them from meaningfully engaging with their families, the world of work, and society.
Matthew Usher
Crew Supervisor, Bronx Community Solutions
Justine van Straaten
Director, Child Welfare Programs
Justine van Straaten is the Director of the Family Court Blueprint for Change initiative at the Center. The Blueprint for Change, in collaboration with the New York City Family Court, represents a coordinated vision for improving the processing of abuse and neglect matters in the Family Court by building upon reforms that are already underway. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. van Straaten was a policy analyst at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services in the Division of Child Protection. Ms. van Straaten received a Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University and received both a law degree and a Masters in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago, where she was a CIVITAS ChildLaw fellow.
Anthony Vargas
Manhattan Borough Manager, NYC Community Cleanup
Sean Vargas
Case Manager, Queens Engagement Strategies for Teens
Rachelle Veasley
Family Social Worker, Harlem Community Justice Center
Rachelle Veasley is the family social worker at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Ms. Veasley works as part of a clinical team to integrate the family members of parolees into the reentry process. Ms. Veasley has worked with the reentry population for over six years. Prior to joining the Center, she worked for the COMAlert program at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. Ms. Veasley received her B.A. in psychology and philosophy from Columbia University and her Masters of Social Work from Hunter College.
Luisana Victorica
Project Coordinator, Attendance Court
Alina Vogel
Senior Web Technology Associate
Alina Vogel is a senior web technology associate, she is in charge of the administration and development of the Center's websites; her responsibilities include project management, programming, design, and ongoing development. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Vogel worked for a number of not-for-profit organizations, including the Ms. Foundation and the White House Project. She has also worked for the Environmental Protection Agency. In her native Romania, Ms. Vogel worked for 4 years as a reporter for a major Romanian newspaper and various magazines. She received her Master's in Journalism from Bucharest University.
Lavon Walker
Outreach Worker, Crown Heights Mediation Center
Allyson Walker
Research Associate
Allyson is a program/research associate at the Center for Court Innovation. Prior to joining the Center for Court Innovation she worked on internal evaluation as a research associate at Inwood House and interned in the Prison Visiting Project at the Correctional Association of New York, looking at conditions and the treatment of inmates in New York State prisons. She holds an MSW from Columbia University, where she has been involved in research looking at arrest data in New York City as well as nationwide studies of the effects of paternal incarceration on parents’ housing stability. She also holds a BSW from Cedar Crest College.
Christopher Watler
Project Director, Harlem Community Justice Center
Christopher Watler is project director of the Harlem Community Justice Center, the community court in Harlem focusing on housing, youth crime, and offender reentry. As director, he oversees day-to-day operations and program development. Mr. Watler previously served as the Deputy Director of National Technical Assistance where he provided information & assistance on community justice initiatives to a broad audience, by leading site-visits to the Center’s demonstration projects, conducting training, providing hands-on assistance to jurisdictions developing community court and prosecution programs, assisting in the development of community justice curricula, and coordinating partnerships with model community justice programs. Mr. Walter has also served as part of the original planning teams for the Red Hook Community Justice Center and the Crown Height Community Mediation Center. Before coming to the Center, Mr. Walter worked as the Operations and Training Manager at the City Volunteer Corps and as a Community Center Director for the Union Settlement Association where he supervised programs involving youth and seniors. He holds a Masters of Public Administration from John Jay College of the City University of New York.
Elise White
Deputy Director, Midtown Community Court
Karimah Williams
Alternative Sanctions Specialist, Newark Community Court
Steven Wint
Case Manger, Queens Engagement Strategies for Teens
Robert V. Wolf
Director, Communications
As director of communications, Robert V. Wolf's responsibilities include writing and editing monographs, articles, grant proposals, web content, and speeches as well as directing and producing videos and podcasts. Rob's work has appeared in anthologies and numerous publications, including the New York Times, The Justice System Journal, National Black Law Journal, Crime & Justice International, Judicature, The Judges' Journal, International Review of Law Computers & Technology, New York State Bar Association Journal, and Texas Journal of Corrections. Before joining the Center in 1999, he worked as a reporter, columnist, and editor for the Staten Island Advance. His book "The Jury System" was honored by the New York Public Library as one of its recommended "Books for the Teen Age." Born and raised in Illinois, he is a graduate of Columbia University.
Achisimach Yisrael
Outreach Worker, Crown Heights Mediation Center
Turquoise Young
Program Coordinator
Phillip Zielinski
Associate Director of Development and Government Relations
As the associate director of the development department, Phil Zielinski spearheads initiatives to improve and expand the Centers fundraising efforts, and works with elected officials at the city, state, and federal levels to strengthen and support the Center for Court Innovation. Previously, Phil worked in the Center's drug court department where he coordinated the New York State Drug Treatment Court Training series and provided technical assistance to statewide drug court systems across the country. Prior to joining the Center, Phil spent seven years as a Wildland Firefighter, suppressing forest fires throughout the Western United States and Canada. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from Western Washington University and is a graduate of Coro Leadership New York XXII.
