Staff Directory

Tammara McCoy is an Outreach Specialist with the Survivors Justice Project, where she advocates for incarcerated survivors of domestic violence and supports individuals returning home under the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA). After coming home in 2023, she has dedicated herself to building communities of care and uplifting the voices of justice-impacted women. At Columbia University’s Center for Justice, she contributes to the Beyond the Bars Conference and other initiatives that highlight care, community, and the leadership of people directly impacted by incarceration.

Natalie has worked in non-profit and higher education finance and operations for over 15 years. Before joining the Center for Justice, Natalie worked for several years at the office of Social Justice Initiatives at Columbia Law School. Before that, she managed operations at a small international legal aid organization, helping set up and support offices in Tunisia, Nepal, Palestine, and Afghanistan.  She is committed to helping the Center in its work to end the racist, capitalist punishment system. She holds a Bachelor of Arts - in Philosophy and French from University of New Hampshire.

Mujahideen Muhammad is a research assistant at the Center for Justice and the co-founder of The Pillars of Promise. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Science at Mercy University and a masters degree in professional studies at Union Theological Seminary. Over the last year and a half at the Center for Justice, Muhammad has been researching the possible passage of sentencing reforms in New York like the Second Look Act. On February 10, 2025, Muhammad was among a group of formerly and currently incarcerated individuals who were invited by Chief Judge Rowan Wilson to speak in support of the Second Look Act at the 2025 State of The Judiciary at the Court of Appeals in Albany. He also helped organize and took part in a symposium about the Second Look Act in a partnership between Columbia University Center for Justice, Union Theological Seminary, and The Center for Community Alternatives. His goal is to change the perception of incarcerated people while helping them make a successful transition back to society.

Melissa is a graduate of Columbia School of Social Work, with a concentration on policy. She is the Policy and Communications Manager for the Center for Justice at Columbia School of Social Work with over 10 years experience in her field. Her personal experience with parental incarceration inspired her to advocate for others impacted by incarceration, and she has dedicated her work to supporting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people and their families. She is a member and consultant for the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, an adviser for the New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, and a volunteer with the Parole Preparation Project. 

Ed.D, Co-Director and Co-Founder, Center for Justice; Director of the Criminal Justice Initiative; Adjunct Lecturer, School of Social Work – Columbia University

Dr. Boudin’s work focused on the causes and consequences of mass incarceration and the development of strategies to transform the current criminal justice system in the United States and to deal with the day-to-day damage that the system has caused. Dr. Boudin, working with other women with whom she was incarcerated during her 22 years in prison, focused on strengthening mother-child relationships across the separation of incarceration including building the Teen Time program; bringing back college to Bedford Hills after the ending of the Pell grants; and on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Since her release from prison in 2003, her projects included: founding the Coming Home Program at the Spencer Cox Center for Health, Mt. Sinai-St. Luke’s, NYC, that provides healthcare for people returning from incarceration; developing a restorative practice program inside prisons for long-termers many of whom were sentenced as juveniles and working on a policy initiative to release aging people from prison and to reform parole policies system. Her work was based on participation and leadership by those who are most deeply affected by the issues.

Her publications have appeared in such journals as The Harvard Education Review; Journal of Corrections Education; Women and Therapy; and Columbia Journal of Gender and Law; Liman Report of Yale Law School; and she is editor and co-author of the book, Breaking the Walls of Silence: AIDS and Women in a New York State Maximum Security Prison. Her research areas have included the impact of higher education on incarcerated women; the recidivism rates and life experience of people serving long sentences and parole policy; and the experience of adolescents with incarcerated mothers and the role of peer support.

She received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College, her master’s degree from Norwich University, and her doctoral degree from Columbia University Teachers College.

Jodi brings over a decade of higher education administration experience to her role as Program Manager at the Center for Justice. Before joining the Center in 2025, she spent six years at Columbia’s School of Social Work on the NIH-funded HEALing Communities Study (HCS), the largest addiction prevention and treatment implementation study ever conducted, where she provided essential fiscal and administrative management to advance the project’s impact. She now applies her expertise to further the Center’s mission of equity, healing, and justice.

Jay Holder is the director of the National Executive Council (NEC) at the Center for Justice, which supports communities simultaneously impacted by poverty and incarceration. The NEC uses an ecological approach to promote personal, community, and social change that supports life-long healthy, human development which is executed by bringing together neighborhood, business, and government leaders to co-design “community-centered” programming & policies around education, arts, economic mobility, and civic engagement.

Jason Bostic is a community advocate, Outreach Coordinator and lead facilitator for the Justice Ambassadors Youth Council. He is also freshman in the School of General Studies at Columbia University. Jason is an aspiring Social Enterprise and Non-Profit Executive, whose focus is fostering healing services and economic and workforce development opportunities for low-income communities and focusing on mentorship with a variety of professions to inspire and inform the youth about professions that are possibly tailored to their skill set besides streets. Jason also serves as a credible messenger, working with gang-involved youth at ManUp Inc., a gun violence prevention organization in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

Jarrell E. Daniels is a distinguished Community Organizer, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and the visionary Founder of the Justice Ambassadors Youth Council (JAYC) at Columbia University’s Center for Justice. Through JAYC, Jarrell leads a transformative 12-week seminar that empowers 18-25 year-olds from New York City’s most underserved neighborhoods, many of whom are impacted by the legal system or involved in gangs. By connecting these young people with government officials, JAYC fosters a unique "policy-by-proximity" approach, amplifying the voices and lived experiences of marginalized communities to drive systemic reform and promote community empowerment.

Jarrell’s inspiring journey from incarceration to academia is underscored by his TED Talk and through his commitment to societal change. His transformative path began when he enrolled in his first college course, Inside Criminal Justice, while incarcerated, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and African American Studies from Columbia’s School of General Studies. His work as a gang interventionist and research scholar at Columbia further reflects his dedication to transforming the lives of vulnerable youth. In addition to his leadership with JAYC, Jarrell co-developed the 12-month Project Restore gun-gang violence intervention program, a comprehensive policy proposal conceptualized within the Justice Ambassadors framework. The program aims to address gun and gang violence in marginalized communities through a combination of community-based interventions, policy reform, and local partnerships. It exemplifies Jarrell’s commitment to creating sustainable, community-driven solutions to youth violence.

Currently a Doctoral student in Psychology and Social Intervention at New York University, Jarrell’s research interests center on social change processes—specifically, how change occurs across systems and institutions, as well as how individuals develop and change over time through interpersonal and setting-level interventions. His work explores the impact of resource scarcity and adversity on adolescent development, with particular focus on the dynamics of adolescent contact with the criminal legal system. He is committed to advancing evidence-based interventions that address youth violence and promote collaboration between communities and government to foster systemic transformation.

Director, Center for Justice; Robert Johnston Niven Professor of Humane Letters in Psychology – Columbia University.

Dr. Downey has worked on and taught about issues related to incarceration since the 1970s. This work included a study of the first cohort of youth placed on probation in Ireland, co-directing a Mother-Child Visitation at Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Michigan, and teaching in several prison college programs, including Sing Sing, Bedford Hills and Taconic Correctional Facilities in NYS.

Professor Downey has been chair of the Columbia Psychology Department, Vice-Provost for Diversity Initiatives, Vice-Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Dean of Social Sciences. She is a member of the Faculty Working Group of the Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity, the Faculty Steering Committee of the Holder Initiative for Civil and Political Rights, and the University Task Force on Just Societies. She is a recipient of the American Psychological Association Mentor Award.

Her work on the causes and consequences of social exclusion and rejection is internationally recognized and she has received funding from NIMH, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the W.T. Grant Foundation. She is currently studying how identities of hope (e.g., the student identity) can transform the narrative about people deemed rejectable (e.g., people with a criminal conviction). For Geraldine’s talk on education in prison see:

Geraldine Downey’s Talk for Why Education Matters: Talks@Columbia.

Gabriel Feldman comes to The Center For Justice with a diverse background. He studied architecture in Boston at Wentworth University and worked as an architect in Manhattan for nearly a decade managing the design and construction of thousands of square feet of interiors. In 2019, he transitioned to humanitarian aid in Lesvos, Greece, focusing on assisting refugee and asylum-seeking minors. From 2019 to 2022, he managed various programs with organizations such as Boat Refugee Foundation, Still I Rise NGO, and Better Days NGO.

With Better Days, he worked as a Program Coordinator, supporting activity implementation as well as crisis response. As a Team Lead at the Boat Refugee Foundation, he supervised the operations of a healthcare clinic and managed volunteer teams supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Moria Camp, the most infamous refugee camp in Europe. With Still I Rise NGO, he moved to Samos, another Greek island, and served as Programme Manager of a school/youth center for refugee and asylum-seeking children. He managed all facets of the initiative; Education, mental health & psychosocial support activities, and overseeing logistics as well as general team coordination.

In his recent role at Project Restore: Bedstuy and The Center for Justice at Columbia University, Gabriel worked as Project Manager, supporting the overall operations and programming of the project. He also led monitoring and evaluation efforts, coordinating data collection, analysis, and reporting, and is now working with Dr. Downey to develop a comprehensive evaluation of the 12-month initiative. These positions allow him to apply his experience from humanitarian aid to social justice, demonstrating his commitment to fostering change within communities. Gabriel is currently the Assistant Program Manager of Justice Ambassadors Youth Council.

Claudia is the Associate Director of Operations and Evaluation at the Center for Justice where she is responsible for developing a framework for evaluation for the Center’s programs and initiatives, and for formulating, developing, and implementing strategies to ensure the sustainability of high quality programs. She also manages the Prison Education Program, supports the Justice Ambassadors and Justice Through Code programs, and mentors undergraduate and graduate students. Before joining the Center, Claudia worked at the Girl Scout Research Institute, part of Girl Scouts of the USA, where she led a team that conducted the evaluations of grant-funded initiatives and sponsorships and provided evaluation support and resources to the national office and staff at its 112 national affiliates. This work built staff members’ capacity to appreciate the value of systematic data collection and program evaluation, design sound evaluation plans, collect and analyze information, and share findings in ways that inform program development and improvements and future strategy. Over the years, Claudia has also worked with a number of national and international organizations in the areas of needs assessment and program development and evaluation, as well as in academic research. Much of her work has focused on identifying and understanding factors that promote and interfere with individuals’ abilities to access and utilize internal and external resources in a manner that allows them to lead healthy and productive lives. In her work, she seeks to understand the implications of program evaluation data in the context of local communities, socio-economic realities, and public policies that may affect programs goals, content, implementation, and impact.

Cheryl Wilkins is the Co-Founder and Co-Director at Columbia University’s Center for Justice (CFJ) where her work is committed to ending the nation’s reliance on incarceration, developing new approaches to safety and justice, and participating in the national and global conversation around developing effective criminal justice policy. She is also an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University School of Social Work and director of Women Transcending. In the community, Cheryl is a board member with the Women’s Community Justice Association, a co-convener of the Justice 4 Women’s Task-Force, an advisor with the Survivors Justice Project and the formerly incarcerated Women’s International Commission, a senior advisor with the Women & Justice Project, and co-founder and executive team member with Women Building Up. She holds a graduate degree in Urban Affairs and is the recipient of the Brian Fischer Award, Davis Putter scholarship, the Sister Mary Nerney Visionary Award and the Citizens against Recidivism Award.

Dr. Charlene K. Sinclair is an organizer, coach, and writer whose work centers on the intersection of race, gender, economy, and democracy. A highly sought-after human-centered strategist, design thinker, and facilitator, is a consultant, trainer, and strategic advisor for leading social change organizations and leaders. Sinclair currently serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Justice at Columbia University School of Social Work and has served as Interim Publisher of Colorlines (colorlines.com), a leading source for accessible media on race, power, and democracy, and Strategist for BlackPAC and the Black Progressive Action Coalition (BPAC). In her role at BlackPAC/BPAC Sinclair designed processes to both educate members and volunteers in structural change work and expand their participation in electoral movements. Strongly influenced by the groundbreaking thought of the late Rev. Dr. James Cone, founder of Black Liberation Theology, Sinclair is committed to fashioning strategies that embrace a liberationist approach to faith and spirituality in the context of popular struggles for racial, economic, and gender justice.

Bianca Jones Marlin, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Freeman Hrabowski Scholar and Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Cell Research at Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute. Her research investigates how organisms unlock innate behaviors at appropriate times, and how learned information is passed to subsequent generations via intergenerational epigenetic inheritance. The Marlin Lab combines molecular genetics, neural imaging, and behavior to uncover the mechanisms by which learning and emotion are biologically transmitted from neurons of the parent to neurons of their offspring , providing insight into how learned behavior in the parent can become innate in the offspring. 

Ben is a postdoctoral research scientist at the Center for Justice. Broadly, Ben is interested in belief change: How do we form and update beliefs about other people, ourselves, and the world around us? He's also interested in understanding how these processes play out in online and digital spaces like social media. At the Center, he works on evaluations of Project Restore that move beyond crime statistics and focus on the psychological and social impacts of Project Restore on program participants and their communities. He is also interested in studying how to most effectively change people's beliefs about those who are justice-involved. Finally, he is an instructor of psychology and data science courses, both at Columbia and at Sing Sing.

Before coming to the Center, Ben received his bachelor's degree from Brown University, worked as a research assistant in a developmental neuroimaging lab at Weill Cornell Medicine, and received his PhD in Psychology from Columbia University. For his PhD, Ben worked with Kevin Ochsner in the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience lab. His research focused on how socio-affective motivations impact impression formation and updating. Some of his past projects include using social media data to understand how people updated their impressions of public figures accused of sexual assault, using a virtual escape room to understand how groups of friends change their beliefs about each other's ability to complete group problem-solving tasks, and using functional magnetic resonance imaging to understand how neural representations of potential romantic partners are updated in response to social feedback.

Aedan Macdonald, conceptualized, and developed Justice Through Code (JTC), a partnership program between the Center for Justice and the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School. JTC aims to end the cycle of poverty that contributes to incarceration by providing life-changing access to the education, opportunities, and networks necessary to enter into careers in the tech industry.

In his role as Executive Director of JTC, Aedan oversees the growth, development, and management of the program. He also serves as a professional skills instructor for the program, teaching workshops on networking, leadership, and career management.