Our Staff.

Every member of the JIE Initiative contributes to our mission.  We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion across all of our work.

Our People at the SOF/Heyman

Eileen Gillooly

Executive Director, Society of Fellows and the Heyman Center for the Humanities

Eileen Gillooly is the Executive Director of the Heyman Center for the Humanities and Society of Fellows and Adjunct Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

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Neni Panourgiá

Academic Advisor
JIE Initiative

Neni Panourgiá is an anthropologist, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Prison Education Program, and Academic Adviser for the Justice-in-Education Initiative at Columbia University

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Mia Ruyter

Education and Outreach Manager
SOF/Heyman

Mia Ruyter is the Education and Outreach Manager for the SOF/Heyman Center. She coordinates the educational programming offered by JIE in New York City jails.

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Lindsey Schram

Associate Director
SOF/Heyman

Lindsey Schram is the Associate Director of the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities.

Our People at the Center for Justice

Cheryl Wilkins

Senior Director of Education and Programs
Center for Justice

Cheryl Wilkins 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.

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Geraldine Downey

JIE Co-Principal Investigator

Geraldine Downey is the Director at the Center for Justice and the Robert Johnston Niven Professor of Humane Letters in Psychology at Columbia University.

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Cameron Rasmussen

Program Director
Center for Justice

Cameron Rasmussen, LMSW, has worked in program development, program management, and direct service with individuals, families, and communities impacted by incarceration for 5+ years.

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Claudia P. Rincón

Associate Director of Operations and Evaluation
Center for Justice

Claudia is responsible for developing a framework for evaluation for the Center for Justice’s programs and initiatives and formulating, developing, and implementing strategies to ensure the sustainability of high-quality programs. She also manages the Prison Education Program.

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Isaac Scott

Arts & Communications Specialist, JIE

Pastor Isaac Scott is a formerly incarcerated artist and activist. As the Program Director for The Confined Arts, he is a leader in promoting justice reform and prison abolition through the transformative power of the arts.

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Our People at the Initiative for a Just Society

Bernard Harcourt

Professor of Law and Political Science

Columbia Law Professor Bernard E. Harcourt is the founding director of the Initiative for a Just Society at the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought, which brings contemporary critical theory and practice to bear on current social problems. ​He and his colleagues at the Initiative provide legal consultations when necessary.

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Fonda Shen

Executive Coordinator at Center for Justice

Fonda Shen is the Executive Coordinator at the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought and the Program Coordinator at the Initiative for a Just Society.

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William Oh

Public Interest/Public Service Fellow

William Oh is passionate about immigration justice, public defense, and economic justice, and is deeply committed to working towards a larger vision of abolition and full citizenship for all.

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Our Tech Team

Petros Gourgouris

CC ’17
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Ayşe Erduran

CC ’17
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