Sara Mogulescu
Director, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: smogulescu@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3157
Sara Mogulescu joined Vera in March 2002 as a senior program associate for the State Sentencing and Corrections and Youth Justice Programs. From September 2003 to May 2005, she served as the associate director of both programs. Before joining Vera, Sara was an associate at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason & Silberberg, P.C., a law firm in New York, where she represented clients primarily in federal criminal matters. Previously, she was a litigator in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis. Sara has a BA in economics and American government from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Joel Miller
Director of Research, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: jmiller@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3167
Prior to joining Vera in 2007, Joel Miller spent two years as a visiting professor of criminology at the University of Malaga, Spain, where he conducted research on racial profiling, crime prevention, and victimization, and taught criminology and social research methodology. From 2001 to 2005, he worked as a senior research associate at Vera, overseeing studies on juvenile delinquency recidivism, alternatives to placement, and police/community relations. Before joining Vera, Joel was the head researcher for police-community relations at the Home Office Research and Statistics Department in London. He holds a BA in human sciences from Oxford University, an M.Sc. in social research methods from Surrey University, and a PHD. in sociology from Surrey University.
Evan Elkin
Director, Adolescent Portable Therapy (APT)
e-mail: eelkin@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3036
Evan Elkin joined APT in February 2001 as Vera launched the project, and he became director of APT in July 2005. Previously, he worked as a psychologist at New York Presbyterian Hospital's HIV family mental health clinic, where he developed psychotherapeutic strategies for working with children and adolescents infected with or affected by HIV. He completed a pre-doctoral internship in adult and child clinical psychology and a fellowship in the outpatient alcoholism and addiction treatment program, both at St.Vincent's Hospital in New York. Evan has a BA in psychology from UC Berkeley, and an MA in clinical psychology from New York University.
Krista Larson
Clinical Director, Adolescent Portable Therapy (APT)
e-mail: klarson@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3110
Krista Larson joined APT as a therapist in June 2001. Previously, she worked at St. Joseph Services for Children and Families in Brooklyn, New York, where she supervised and provided direct case planning services for families in contact with the foster care system. Krista has also counseled adolescents and their families referred by juvenile court judges and probation staff. Krista has a BA in psychology from the University of Richmond and an MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Vidhya Ananthakrishnan
Senior Program Associate, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: vananthakrishnan@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3117
Vidhya Ananthakrishnan joined Vera in August 2008 as a senior program associate for the Center on Youth Justice. Before joining the center, she worked as a senior analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, DC, where she conducted evaluations of different federal workforce and transit programs. Previously she worked as a staff associate for the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, a small youth services advocacy organization in New York City, where she directed a grassroots campaign to secure funding for the summer youth jobs program and analyzed state and city policy proposals to understand their impact on community service providers. She has also conducted research at the Finance Project, a DC-based nonprofit consulting firm that helps youth and family service organizations establish sustainable funding. Vidhya has a bachelor's degree in economics and international studies from Northwestern University and a master's degree in public policy from George Washington University, where she focused on social policy and public finance.
Paragini Amin
Program Analyst, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: pamin@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3055
Paragini Amin joined Vera in March 2004. She earned her bachelor's degree in economics from Northeastern University. Prior to Vera, Paragini worked at a financial planning firm and interned at a number of social justice organizations, such as United for a Fair Economy and the Bank Information Center. She also organized with Desis Rising Up and Moving, a grassroots social justice organization led by low-income South Asian immigrants, on issues of racial justice and immigrant rights.
Gaspar Caro
Program Analyst, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: gcaro@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3179
Gaspar Caro joined Vera in August 2006 as a field interviewer and was promoted to program coordinator, then later program analyst, for the Center on Youth Justice. Previously he worked as a freelance film production assistant; as an academic tutor at El Puente Leadership Center, a social justice organization in North Brooklyn; and as a research assistant at Jigsaw Productions, a documentary production company. In May 2005 Gaspar earned his BA in liberal arts as an English major at Wesleyan University.
Kate de Zengotita
Senior Program Associate, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: kdezengotita@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3084
Kate de Zengotita joined Vera in November 2008 as a senior program associate in the Center on Youth Justice. Previously, Kate worked as a public defender, representing indigent criminal defendants at trial and on appeal at the Defender Association in Seattle, Washington, and, more recently, served as the law clerk to Justice Martha Walters on the Oregon Supreme Court. In 2005, Kate graduated from New York University School of Law, where she represented children and adults in the Juvenile/Criminal Defense Clinic and worked on behalf of clients facing the death penalty at the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center in New Orleans.
Maggie Elliott
Research Analyst, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: melliott@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3149
Maggie Elliott joined Vera in June 2008 to conduct research on a variety of juvenile justice initiatives. Prior to coming to Vera, she worked at a children’s mental health agency in Cleveland, Ohio, and helped to develop a youth development program for children of people receiving substance abuse treatment in Brooklyn. Her main research interests involve the development of juvenile delinquency into adult antisocial personality disorder and uncovering effective ways of preventing this development. Maggie attended Wesleyan University, where she majored in psychology and sociology, and earned an MA in psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Ben Estep
Information Management Associate, Information Management
e-mail: bestep@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3080
Ben Estep joined Vera in January 2007 as an information management associate. Previously Ben worked on policy and sociological research at the Center for Economic Progress and at the Sloan Center on Parents, Children & Work, both in Chicago. He earned his BA in sociology at the University of Chicago and his M.Sc. in philosophy and public policy from the London School of Economics.
Jennifer Fratello
Research Associate, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: jfratello@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3116
Jennifer joined Vera in May 2006. She received her BA in psychology from The College of New Jersey and her MA in criminal justice from Temple University, where she is currently a doctoral student in criminal justice. At Temple, she worked as a research assistant on an outcome evaluation of Philadelphia’s juvenile justice programs. Her work has focused on gender issues in juvenile treatment, systematic trends, and quasi-experimental designs in program evaluation. Her dissertation will be a multilevel study of juvenile recidivism designed to assess both programmatic treatment effects and neighborhood effects on delinquency.
Tarika Daftary Kapur
Research Associate
e-mail: tkapur@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-4061
Tarika joined Vera in October 2008. She received her MA in psychology from The University of Dayton, and is currently completing her doctorate in Experimental Forensic Psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. At John Jay she worked on a range of projects, including studies focused on expert witnesses, influence of victim impact statements, and sexual harassment. Tarika has also worked as a course instructor at John Jay, and has several years experience working as a consultant running and researching mock trials.
Yumari Martínez
Senior Program Associate, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: ymartinez@Vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3138
Yumari L. Martínez joined Vera in May 2007 as a senior program associate for the Center on Youth Justice. He just completed a Clinical Teaching Fellowship at New York University (NYU) School of Law, co-teaching the Offender Reentry Clinic. He previously worked as a senior project director at the Center for Community Problem Solving at NYU. There, he directed ambitious projects related to reentry and economic development and spearheaded efforts to address the unmet needs of New York City's youth. In 2003, Yumari received an Equal Justice Works Fellowship to implement the center's innovative and demanding Consumer Survey of Problem-Solving Resources. Before joining the center, Yumari worked as law guardian at New York City's Legal Aid Society Juvenile Right’s Division representing juveniles in delinquency proceedings. He also represented death penalty clients in Alabama as a post-graduate fellow at the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama. He graduated from NYU Law School in 2001.
Alessandra Meyer
Program Analyst, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: ameyer@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3095
Alessandra Meyer joined Vera in April 2008. Prior to Vera, Alessandra was a producer at Charlotte Street Films. She was the associate producer and lead researcher on the award-winning documentary film Why We Fight. From 2005 to 2006, Alessandra also served as the director of the Eisenhower Project, an academic outreach initiative dedicated to the study of U.S. defense policy. Alessandra has volunteered extensively with youth and most recently tutored formerly incarcerated people through the College Initiative. Alessandra graduated from New York University with a BA in religious studies and politics.
Sean Reynolds
Program Coordinator, Adolescent Portable Therapy
e-mail: sreynolds@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-5203
Before coming to Vera, Sean worked at the Children's Aid Society as an operations assistant where he worked primarily with the WIA Teen Leadership program and the New York Times Summer Employment program. He graduated from Boston University with a bachelor's degree in economics.
Annie Salsich
Associate Director, Center on Youth Justice
e-mail: asalsich@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-3169
Annie Salsich joined Vera in February 2003 as a project analyst for Affirm, a school safety demonstration project. Currently associate director for Vera’s Center on Youth Justice, Annie works on national issues of school safety and juvenile justice. Before coming to Vera, she was a program director of the Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern Connecticut and, prior to that, a case manager for pregnant and parenting teens. Annie has also lived and taught in Oaxaca, Mexico. She received her BA at Vassar College.
Bianca Van Heydoorn
FAO Schwarz Youth Development Fellow, Adolescent Portable Therapy
e-mail: bvanheydoorn@vera.org
tel: (212) 376-8154
Bianca joined Vera in October 2007 as the FAO Schwarz Youth Development Fellow at Adolescent Portable Therapy (APT). Prior to joining Vera, she worked at the Center for Employment Opportunities assisting youth and adults reintegrate through transitional employment after periods of incarceration. She also worked with Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, a Harlem-based program that works with young women at risk for or involved in commercial sexual exploitation and violence. Bianca has a BA in correctional sociology from the City University of New York and is currently working toward her master’s degree in criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
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