Our Team
TEJI is primarily driven by Co-Directors Lee Perlman and Carole Cafferty, a small core supporting team, and TEJI’s Computer Education Committee. Our amazing network of instructors, teaching assistants, and students makes TEJI possible. Tap on each icon to learn more about these wonderful team members below!
Co-Directors
TEJI grew out of Dr. Lee Perlman’s dedication and passion to provide incarcerated men and women with the opportunity to obtain college degrees.
Lee earned his BA from St. John’s College (Annapolis), and his MA in political philosophy at Georgetown University, before completing his doctorate at MIT in political philosophy. In 1984 Lee joined the teaching staff of the Experimental Study Group (ESG), MIT’s first freshman learning community, where he has taught for most of the last 33 years.
Lee began teaching in prisons in 2012, through Boston University’s Prison Education Program. He founded the MIT Prison Initiative in 2016 with the support of ESG. Through the initiative, Lee teaches classes to both MIT and incarcerated students at medium- to maximum-security Massachusetts Correctional Institutions.
Lee has been awarded the Irwin Sizer Award for Most Significant Improvement to MIT Education three times (1997, 2015, and 2019). He was also awarded MIT’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award in 2018.
Lee Perlman, PhD
Co-Director
Carole Cafferty is a leader in the corrections field who has worked to equip people involved in the criminal legal system with the tools necessary to redefine their identity and reach their potential. Dedicated to promoting progressive and sustainable change, she has developed integrative programs to empower incarcerated people through therapeutic and educational opportunities, many of which have been replicated both within the United States and internationally. With over 30 years of experience working inside correctional facilities, most recently serving as Superintendent of the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction in Massachusetts, Carole has earned respect from both her colleagues and the incarcerated people she served.
Upon retirement from her career in corrections, Carole joined The Educational Justice Institute (TEJI) at MIT as Co-Director. In 2019, Carole was awarded the Irwin Sizer Award for the Most Significant Improvement to MIT Education at MIT. She is a graduate of St. Anselm College and holds a master’s degree in Correctional Administration from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she teaches in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies, which presented her the school’s Adjunct Faculty of the Year Award in 2018. Carole also teaches at Suffolk University in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Carole believes as Bryan Stevenson says, “each person is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done” and that to create systemic change, the corrections field must align itself with the ideals of redemption and restoration.
Carole Cafferty
Co-Director
Core Supporting Team
Anjali is an undergraduate business and economics student at Northeastern University and joined TEJI in 2024. She was worked with MIT’s Prison Education Initiative on building support for formerly incarcerated jobseekers, most notably through MIT Sloan’s Second Chance Hiring Summit. She periodically leads resume workshops for inmates at the Suffolk County House of Corrections at South Bay and conducts economic research related to the incarcerated workforce.
Anjali Aggarwal
Media Strategist
Blake is currently pursuing his MBA from MIT Sloan with a focus in Entrepreneurship and Data Analytics. Before coming to MIT, he worked as a high school math teacher, Cyber Intelligence Officer in the US Navy, and most recently as a founding member of DataClassroom, a data science education company. Blake is from Barnstable, MA and outside of work enjoys playing basketball and being more dedicated to the Boston Celtics than he cares to admit.
Blake Blaze
Business Program Coordinator
Marisa is a mathematics graduate student at MIT, where she also completed her undergraduate studies in mathematics and philosophy. She has been working with TEJI since its inception in 2017. Her involvement in TEJI has included assisting in teaching Lee’s philosophical life skills courses and organizing TEJI’s portion of the Summer of HOPE program. She currently leads TEJI’s Computer Education Committee and co-leads the Brave Behind Bars web design program for incarcerated women.
Marisa Gaetz
Computer Science Coordinator
Helen holds a J.D. from Northeastern University, where she focused on criminal legal system reform, cradle-to-prison pipeline dismantlement, and restorative justice. Before joining TEJI, she served as the Director of Service Impact at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, driving innovative initiatives that advanced reform efforts “behind the wall” and providing a continuum of care in reentry. Prior to becoming an attorney, Helen co-founded two nonprofits dedicated to educational justice and workforce development. She also holds a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Emerson College.
Helen Hamady
Senior Program Associate
Brian is the CEO of Edovo, an organization designed to improve outcomes for those who are incarcerated by enabling free daily access to tech-enabled education and rehabilitation. It was in his first year of a JD/MBA at Northwestern University when he began work on a Social Impact Bond initiative for the largest single-site jail in Chicago. This exposure rekindled the spark of prison education started by his father who taught college in Folsom Prison during Brian’s youth, and prompted him to create the Edovo platform. Ten years later, Edovo has scaled nationally and reaches over 500K incarcerated students.
Brian Hill
Senior Fellow
Steven is a justice-impacted professional specializing in detail-oriented work. Starting his journey in education as a student, then TA, he's now a Product Manager. A graduate of Brave Behind Bars, he teaches coding to incarcerated students while working as the Technology and Social Justice Specialist at TEJI. With multiple tech and leadership certifications, Steven is committed to leveraging technology to tackle social issues.
Stephen Johnson
CS Employment Coordinator
Joshua received his PhD from the University of Cincinnati School of Criminal Justice in 2020. He has published research on juvenile drug court evaluations, risk assessment validation, prison classification, and matching treatment to the needs of justice involved clients. He is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell where he teaches classes on the corrections system, victimology, and research methods.
Joshua Long
Research Coordinator
MaryEllen earned her BA in Communications, a J.D., and is certified as a principal/assistant principal in Massachusetts. She has experience in large, urban high schools, recovery high schools, and corrections education. She has worked with students struggling with substance use and co-occurring disorders. Her work at TEJI focuses on assisting returning citizens with education, career opportunities, and building capacity through program development and management of the Massachusetts Prison Education Consortium (MPEC).
MaryEllen McGorry
Reentry Navigator
Martin is a PhD student in the HCI Engineering Group at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He completed a BEng in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, and a MSc in Robotics, Systems and Control at ETH Zurich, during which he spent a year as a visiting researcher at Harvard University. Before his PhD, he interned at Tesla and was a graduate trainee in the Advanced Concepts Team at the European Space Agency. At TEJI, Martin co-leads the Brave Behind Bars web design program.
Martin Nisser
CS Education Coordinator
James joined TEJI in a professional role in May 2021. He brings a new vision to TEJI through a different lens: James is formerly incarcerated. His focus at TEJI ranges from helping facilitate classes to promoting TEJI’s message to the general public. James is passionate about helping returning citizens re-enter the job market and giving them a second chance. He is a graduate of Lake Forest College.
James Polese
Program Associate
Raechel joined MIT as an Assistant Director for Research and Evaluation at the Teaching + Learning Laboratory in 2022. Leveraging her cognitive neuroscience and applied psychology background, Raechel examines teaching and learning practices grounded in cognitive and motivational theories. Raechel earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Oregon State University (2020).
Raechel Soicher
Research Coordinator
Erika earned her BA in Political Science and Film and Media Studies from Tufts University, where she tutored incarcerated students with the Petey Greene Program and advocated for incarcerated students with the Tufts University Prison Initiative. After graduation, she worked on a documentary focused on prison programming and served as the reentry services coordinator with Bay State Community Services at the Massachusetts Trial Courts’ Boston Community Justice Support Center. There, she assisted justice-involved individuals with navigating barriers, built relationships with community partners, and created a monthly reentry resource newsletter. She has continued her newsletter work with TEJI as of 2024.
Erika Chen
Newsletter Editor
Amanda joined TEJI in May 2022. Her focus at TEJI ranges from supporting digital marketing to public relations. Amanda currently serves as Digital Marketing Manger at MIT Solve, and volunteers her expertise with the TEJI team. Amanda is passionate about social impact and corporate responsibility.
Amanda Saeli
Program Associate
Andrew Fishberg is an Aeronautics and Astronautics PhD student at MIT researching multi-agent robotics. He has previously earned a Computer Science degree from Harvey Mudd College and worked as a software engineer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. When not tinkering with robots in the lab, Andrew loves to teach outreach courses. Within TEJI, Andrew leads a video game coding course designed to promote interest in and accessibility to programming skills.
Andrew Fishberg
CS & Research Coordinator
Education Committee
Abby received her MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in February of 2022 and her BS from MIT in June of 2019. She minored in Linguistics, and her Master’s thesis focused on how humans learn and process language. Between her degrees, she spent a year conducting research in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Last summer, she taught Computer Science to Palestinian and Israeli high school students in Jerusalem. She loves to see new places, eat yummy food, and play volleyball! During Spring 2022, she is the head instructor for TEJI’s collaboration with Code Your Dreams.
Abby Bertics
Computer Science Committee
Jessica is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science PhD student at MIT aiming to empower learners with technology to solve real world problems. Alongside the MIT App Inventor team, she has developed an interface to enable nearly anyone—including K-12 students—to develop conversational agents. Previously, she taught visual programming skills to middle school students, developed micro-drone workshops for undergraduates, tutored students in computer science, and researched and developed autonomous vehicle technology.
Jessica Van Brummelen
Computer Science Committee
Caroline is currently pursuing a Masters of Engineering in Computer Science at MIT after completing her bachelors degree there in 2016. Previously, she worked on the Analytics team at the American Civil Liberties Union, and on the Siri team at Apple. At TEJI, Caroline researches the efficacy of prison education, with a specific focus on using empirical methods to understand factors that drive inequality. She is also interested in the implications of this research on effective public policy.
Caroline Chin
Computer Science Committee
Daniel is currently completing his Executive MBA at MIT Sloan, where he is the first formerly incarcerated student in the school's history and a recipient of the Dean's Fellowship, Sloan Leadership Fellowship, and Pechacek Fellowship awards and scholarships. He is the founder of Solo GP fund Rock Yard Ventures, as well as an active member of Milken Institute's Young Leaders Circle, an Advisory Board Member of Village Capital, and a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Forum.
Daniel Dart
Development Affiliate
Rebecca is currently a Data Research Trainee at The Economist. Previously, she was Research Fellow in economics at MIT. Before coming to MIT, Rebecca did criminal justice policy evaluation in Washington, D.C., worked for Prisoners Legal Services of Ithaca, and volunteered with the Cornell Prison Education Program. She has experience teaching incarcerated students, running support groups and reentry programming for formerly incarcerated individuals and evaluating criminal justice programs and policies to assess their efficacy.
Rebecca Jackson
Computer Science Committee
Riley Shu is an Integrated Design & Management graduate student at MIT. She is passionate about exploring ways to design complex systems to create more opportunities for the world. Previously, she graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Cognitive Science. Before joining MIT, she worked as a data engineer, blockchain developer, and blockchain product manager. In Spring 2022, Riley is helping teach TEJI’s introductory Python course.
Riley Shu
Computer Science Committee
Ben grew up in Minnesota but moved to Boston to attend college. He completed his BS in biomedical engineering at Boston University and is currently a PhD student at MIT studying computational neuroscience. He explores biological and artificial intelligence by studying how both the human brain and machines perform fundamental tasks, such as processing images and sounds. In Spring 2021, Ben piloted TEJI’s first ever computer education course: an introductory Python course based on MIT’s 6.0001 curriculum.
Benjamin Lahner
Computer Science Committee
Leandra Tejedor is currently a master candidate at MIT Integrated Design & Management. She was previously the co-founder of Vidcode, an award-winning creative coding platform and computer science curriculum for K-12. Leandra has organized workshops around tech and art around the world, has been highlighted in Forbes, Devex, TechCrunch, and EdSurge, and has been listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education. She joined TEJI in Spring 2022 to help teach TEJI’s introductory Python course.
Leandra Tejedor
Computer Science Committee
Scott grew up in Toronto, Canada and is currently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biology at MIT. He completed a B.Sc. in Biology at the University of Western Ontario, and then a M.Sc. and PhD in Biology with a focus on bioinformatics and computational modelling, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. Scott is tutoring the Introductory Python course offered through TEJI and always on the lookout for contributing in other ways!
Scott McCain
Computer Science Committee
Noor is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on using Machine Learning/AI to answer pressing health related issues. She completed her PhD in Computational Biology at Dalhousie University in the east coast of Canada. Her undergraduate was in Mathematics and Biology. In TEJI, Noor is currently helping out in tutoring for the Introductory Python course and is looking forward to starting new initiatives.
Noor Youssef
Computer Science Committee
Taylor grew up in California and Oregon, graduating from South Medford High School and earning degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Spanish from Chapman University. She has a Master's degree in Physics from Harvard University, where she is completing a PhD in theoretical physics. Her research interests include quantum computing and machine learning, as well as the control of quantum systems. At TEJI, she works directly with correctional facility partners on ensuring technological access to TEJI’s courses.
Taylor Patti
Computer Science Committee
Affiliated Instructors
Jane Abbott, MIT
Lecturer in Comparative Media Studies & Writing
Daniel Álvarez-Gavela, MIT
Simons Postdoctoral Associate in Mathematics
Sara Brown, MIT
Assistant Professor of Music & Theater Arts
Kristin Bumiller, Amherst College
Professor of Political Science
Diana Henderson, MIT
Arthur J. Conner (1888) Professor in Literature
Kyle Keane, MIT
Lecturer in Material Science and Engineering
Thea Keith-Lucas, MIT
Interim Chaplain to the Institute
Anna Musser, MIT
Technical Associate in Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Justin Steil, MIT
Associate Professor of Law and Urban Planning