In recognition of NYC's Mediation Settlement Day and ACR's Conflict Resolution Day, ACR GNY is presenting our first evening program of the year which focuses on issues of Youth and Criminal Justice.
The theme for our programs this year is "Mainstreaming Creative Conflict Resolution," and we will be hosting a panel of leaders of organizations working with youth and interfacing with the Criminal Justice system.
The program is open to all and light refreshments will be served. We welcome you to join us and to invite others who might be interested.
Please register so we have an idea of how many will be attending. We look forward to seeing you there.
Panelists for the event will talk about their initiatives, including how they got things started, lessons learned, ways for others to get involved or to bring the ideas back to their own communities and organizations. Panelists include:
- Tai Merey Alex, Project Manager, Harlem Justice Corps.
Taí Merey Alex is the project manager for the Harlem Justice Corps at the Harlem Community Justice Center. Taí oversees program planning, coordination, and operations for the Harlem Justice Corps, a NYC Justice Corps program, which provides education, community benefits, and employment services to justice-involved young adults.
Prior to this position, she was the Help Center Coordinator at the Harlem Community Justice Center, where she managed the provision of legal and financial assistance, case management, mediation, and specialized referrals.
Taí is a New York Peace Institute certified mediator and coordinates the Harlem Community Justice Center 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.
- Rachel Finkelstein, Planner, Red Hook Community Justice Center, Center for Court Innovation.
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.
- Rochelle Arms, Restorative Justice Coordinator, New York Peace Institute.
Rochelle Arms is the Restorative Justice Coordinator of the New York Peace Institute (formerly the Safe Horizon Mediation Program). She is responsible for mediation and restorative justice initiatives with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, juvenile justice courts, schools, and community agencies in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
In the last 15 years, she has worked both in the U.S. and abroad in collaborative processes and restorative justice projects with a variety of groups, including civil-society organizations in India, indigenous peoples in Argentina, immigrants and refugees, and homicide offenders and victim survivors in Kentucky.
Rochelle is originally from Panama, and was a Rotary Peace Fellow in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 2003 to 2005. She currently serves as the Chair of the International Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution.
- Allen James, Program Manager, Save Our Streets Crown Heights, Crown Heights Community Mediation Center
Allen has twenty years of experience as a nonprofit manager and project director, specializing in design and implementation of prevention, personal development and behavior change programs for youth and adults.
Before joining The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center and S.O.S., Allen was Executive Director of Safe Streets Strong Communities in New Orleans and a restorative justice practitioner with the Center for Restorative Approaches in New Orleans.
Allen was a Project Director with the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in Newark NJ from 2005-2010 and, before that, Executive Director YouthBASE, Inc. in Brooklyn. He has also served as Executive Director of Playing 2 Win, Inc. in NYC and as Deputy Executive Director of The Fortune Society.
As a private consultant, Allen has developed projects for Common Ground Community, Non-traditional Employment for Women, the Single Parent Resource Center, all in NYC. Allen was a Charles H. Revson fellow at Columbia University in 2003-2004.
- Jenay Nurse, Attorney, The Bronx Defenders.
Jenay came to The Bronx Defenders after working as an Associate at Debevoise and Plimpton LLP.
She received her J.D. from Northwestern University School of law where she graduated cum laude and was an Associate Editor of the Journal of International Human Rights and the Secretary for the Black Law Students Association. At Northwestern, Jenay was in the Bluhm Legal Clinic and she externed for the Honorable Matthew F. Kennelly from the United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois.
Jenay worked as a Criminal Defense Intern for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem following her first year of law school. She also holds a B.B.A. in International Business and Consulting from Emory University.
