Andrew Cleek, Psy.D
Chief Program Officer NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research Dr. Cleek serves as the Chief Program Officer at NYU’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. Dr. Cleek is Director of the current Community Technical Assistance Center (CTAC), directs the New York State Managed Care Technical Assistance Center (MCTAC), a training and technical assistance center focused on supporting providers on quality improvement strategies, including business, organizational and clinical practices to achieve the overall goal of preparing providers for the transition to Medicaid Managed Care, and the NYC Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC), a training and technical assistance for mental health professionals serving children 0-5 and their families in the New York City. As the founding director of the Urban Institute for Behavioral Health, Dr. Cleek has collaborated with consumers, senior provider leaders, academicians, and local and state regulatory agencies to identify, research, and disseminate state of the art program models, as well as to identify and develop strategies for the dissemination, implementation, and evaluation of best practices. Through his work at UIBH and McSilver, Dr. Cleek has 15 years of experience overseeing local and statewide technical assistance activities that have involved improving business, clinical, and administrative operations and working with hundreds of agencies to implement impactful and sustainable organizational change efforts. Dr. Cleek also holds an appointment as a Research Assistant Professor at the New York University School of Medicine.
Tara Ready
Program Coordinator NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research Tara Ready is engaged with a variety of the McSilver Institute’s training and technical assistance initiatives, including the Managed Care Technical Assistance Center (MCTAC) and the Community Technical Assistance Center’s (CTAC). As part of MCTAC, she develops content, supports communications, and coordinates trainings related to New York’s transition to Medicaid Managed Care. Tara is also involved with developing content for CTAC’s Provider Spotlight, an initiative that aims to highlight the amazing work of providers and clinicians who participate in our various offerings.
Before joining the McSilver Institute, Tara received both her BSW and MSW from NYU’s Silver School of Social Work. She is particularly committed to reducing stigma and removing systemic barriers that individuals who experience mental illness and/or the effects of poverty often face. Kellie Nadler
Deputy Director Corrections to College Kellie Nadler is the Deputy Director of Corrections to College, a statewide initiative aimed at increasing high-quality higher education opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. Kellie supports the project’s mission by implementing statewide programming, providing technical assistance, and developing open-sourced and replicable resources. They are a practitioner of human-centered design. Kellie also serves on the Board of Directors for Spark, a philanthropic network of young professionals dedicated to improving the lives of women around the globe. Previously, they were a lecturer in the English Department at Eastern Michigan University where they taught creative writing, composition and rhetoric, and college-level research. Kellie has experience teaching incarcerated women, adults struggling with literacy, marginalized youth, and college students. They have a Bachelor’s degree in English from Miami University and a Master’s degree in Creative Writing with a focus in community engagement from Eastern Michigan University.
Anna Carlson
Educational Advisor Cerro Coso Community College Anna Carlson is an educational advisor for Cerro Coso Community College. She has been working with Cerro Coso’s incarcerated students since she began working at the college in 2016. She has worked in both California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi and California City Correctional Facility, providing services such as educational planning, placement services, orientation, and general advising, as well as assisting with registration and graduation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from California State University, Bakersfield and is in the final semesters of her Master’s degree program in College Counseling and Student Services at Southern Arkansas University.
Levi Gill
Assistant Professor of Mathematics College of the Redwoods Levi Gill is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at College of the Redwoods. His collegial work in implementing innovation in math curriculum and classroom strategies has resulted in College of the Redwoods being a leading institution in the State, with their work being highlighted by the RP Group and the California Acceleration Program. These innovations have increased student access and success in transfer level mathematics at Pelican Bay.
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Tony Salerno, Ph.D.
Practice and Policy Scholar NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research Dr. Tony Salerno is a licensed psychologist with over 30 years of public mental health experience in inpatient and outpatient settings. Dr. Salerno has extensive experience as a clinician, supervisor and administrator of mental health rehabilitation programs. Most recently, Dr. Salerno has been working on a number of national improvement projects related to trauma-informed care and the integration of behavioral and physical health services. Dr. Salerno’s teaching interest has focused on assisting students and practitioners to develop the core competencies characteristic of effective helpers working with individuals across a wide spectrum of clinical conditions, program settings, and cultural backgrounds.
Meg Baier, LMSW
Assistant Director of Strategic Operations NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research As the Assistant Director of Strategic Operations at McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, Meg is an integral part of the team that manages the ongoing work of the Managed Care Technical Assistant Center (MCTAC) as well as a variety of other projects. As part of the team, Meg helps to oversee the daily operations of MCTAC as well as numerous on-going partnerships and the development of trainings, tools, and resources to support ongoing healthcare transformation work.
Ms. Baier was formerly the Project Manager in the Department of Innovations at Institute for Community Living (ICL), one of MCTAC’s provider partners. In this role, Meg was responsible for the coordination and management of MCTAC and CTAC deliverables, including the management of various CTAC Business offerings. Meg is a graduate of Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work’s Community Organizing, Planning and Development and has been invited to be a guest speaker at various Hunter, NYU, and Columbia’s master social work classes. Meg is interested in supporting individuals and communities in implementing sustainable and effective interventions and programs related to large systems transformations. Prior to her graduate studies, Meg lived in Alaska working as an advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence and as a program coordinator for children who had experienced abuse and neglect. Ms. Baier is passionate about social justice and trauma informed practices and has a background in the development and implementation of community violence presentation plans and working within child welfare reform. Rebecca Silbert
Director Corrections to College Rebecca Silbert is Director of Corrections to College, an independent statewide initiative to increase high-quality higher education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Californians. The initiative is a joint project with the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. Previously, Rebecca was the Executive Director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at UC Berkeley School of Law. Prior to her five years at the Warren Institute, Rebecca tried cases for nine years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Northern District of California. She earlier worked as an associate at the law firm of Keker, VanNest & Peters LLP in San Francisco as well as with the Harvard Project on Schooling and Children. Rebecca has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from UC Berkeley.
Karee Hamilton
Counselor and Professor Cerro Coso Community College Karee is a counselor and professor at Cerro Coso Community College and has been a part of the college’s incarcerated student education program for three years. She not only teaches at the prison, but also provides student services (orientation, education planning, EOPS, and DSPS, to name a few) to the incarcerated students of Cerro Coso. She has been a member of the college’s Incarcerated Student Education Program (ISEP) committee since 2018. Karee holds a Masters in Education Counseling from California State University, Bakersfield.
Will Meriwether
Professor of History & Political Science College of the Redwoods Will Meriwether is a tenured professor of History and Political Science at College of the Redwoods at the Del Norte campus and Pelican Bay Scholars Program in Crescent City, California. This is Meriwether’s third year as an instructor of United States History and Government courses for the Pelican Bay Scholars Program. He is the originator and organizer of the Pelican Bay Working Group which meets monthly to facilitate creative solutions and instructional support for faculty and staff. He assists with faculty onboarding on the Del Norte and Pelican Bay campuses. Meriwether also serves on College of the Redwoods Academic Senate.
Erica Silver
Associate Faculty Counselor & Instructor College of the Redwoods Erica Silver is an Associate Faculty Counselor and Instructor for the Pelican Bay Scholars Program at College of the Redwoods. After working with adults in a rural community for over a decade at the community college level, she returned to graduate school and received her Masters of Arts in Education focusing on rural adults and motivation for participation in Higher Education.
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Kirk “Jae” James, AA, BA, MSW, DSW
Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work NYU McSilver School of Social Work Kirk "Jae" James is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the NYU Silver School of Social Work. He completed his doctorate from the School of Social Policy and Practice at The University of Pennsylvania in May 2013. His dissertation, “The Invisible Epidemic in Social Work Academia,” examined the complex phenomena of mass incarceration through a historical and contemporary lens. He concluded by developing curricula for Master level students to increase awareness, activism and holistic practice in the milieu. Courses developed from his dissertation have been implemented at Columbia University, Temple University, City College, and the University of Pennsylvania amongst others.
Dr. James’s primary research and publications focus on deconstructing issues of mass incarceration –– specifically as it pertains to trauma, cognitive development, culpability, and the examination of systems that foster and perpetuate racial injustice. Dr. James co-created NYU Silver's Re-imagine Justice conference on mass incarceration, reentry and trauma and their intersections and implications for social work practice. He also launched the Silver School’s monthly Mass Incarceration Conversation Series (MICS), which brings people impacted by mass incarceration together with academics, activists, policy makers, and practitioners to create a more informed understanding and subsequent response to mass incarceration. In addition, he works collaboratively with the Center For Justice at Columbia University on its annual “Beyond The Bars” conference –– which brings impacted people together with academics, activists, policy makers, and practitioners from across the country to create a more informed understanding, and subsequent response to mass incarceration. Dr. James has over a decade of leadership experience in various social justice settings, and is a highly sought out speaker and human rights advocate. He has been a consultant on social justice projects from the Caribbean to Africa. At the University of Pennsylvania, he developed and directed the Goldring Reentry Initiative (GRI). The primary goals of the GRI are to identify best practices in reducing recidivism for individuals transitioning from Philadelphia jails, and to train clinical and macro level social work students to work with incarcerated individuals (pre and post release). Alec Griffin
Professor of Anthropology & Sociology Cerro Coso Community College Alec is a professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Cerro Coso Community College and has taught in the prison since 2017. He is currently the Prison Faculty Lead for Letters and Sciences and ISEP Committee Member. His specific area of focus is cultural identity, anthropology of education, and the anthropology of policy. He likes to spend his not teaching time running marathons, gardening, and studying for his PhD program.
Peter Fulks
Associate Professor & Department Chair for Public Services & Administration of Justice Cerro Coso Community College Peter is an Associate Professor and Department Chair for Public Services and Administration of Justice at Cerro Coso Community College. He is a faculty lead and co-chair for the Incarcerated Student Education Program and recently became the Director of the Cerro Coso Law Enforcement Program. Peter loves the outdoors and spending time with his family.
Julie Cornett
Librarian & LRC Department Chair Cerro Coso Community College Julie Cornett is a Librarian and the LRC Department Chair at Cerro Coso Community College. She holds a Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University and a Masters in Education from California State East Bay. Julie also co-chairs the college’s Student Success and Support Program Committee. She is interested in promoting Critical Information Literacy as a crucial learning outcome for college students and exploring ways the college can best achieve equity goals. She lives in Ridgecrest and enjoys mountain biking with her 7 year old son.
Tory Eagles, MSW
Pelican Bay Scholars Program Coordinator College of the Redwoods Tory Eagles is an advocate for increasing access to higher education, particularly in the case of underrepresented populations. Ms. Eagles is currently working with incarcerated students at Pelican Bay State Prison as the program Coordinator for an in-person college program offered by College of the Redwoods. Utilizing a community building framework to work within, she is inspired by the Scholars for their ability to utilize higher education as an opportunity to help prepare themselves to fulfill roles as leaders and contributors within their communities.
Her educational background is an Associate’s of Arts degree from College of the Redwoods, in addition to Bachelor’s and Master’s of Arts degrees in Social Work, with an emphasis in Rural and Indigenous Communities, from Humboldt State University. Prior to working with the Pelican Bay Scholars Program, her role at College of the Redwoods was as a financial aid administrator. Professionally, Ms. Eagles emphasizes the importance of ensuring learning environments that support all learners through cultivating creativity, promoting cultural diversity and exploring personal individuality using a strengths-based perspective. She believes that the educational experience has the potential to enhance the lives of all learners in ways that contributes to the overall psychological and social health of society. |