CI Staff
CI Founder, Benay Rubenstein, has been a leading prison educator for over 25 years, designing and directing college programs in New York State and federal prisons. In 1997 she produced the award-winning film, The Last Graduation, documenting the history of higher education in New York State prisons. From 1997-2000 she directed the college program at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, New York's only maximum-security prison for women. This college program, the first to return to a NYS prison after the loss of Pell and TAP, was supported entirely with private funding and a consortium of private colleges. In 2000, Benay co-founded the College and Community Fellowship, a reentry education program for women. In 2002, she founded, and until recently directed, CI. She is currently a Special Adviser and works with CI's graduate students.
CI Director, Michael Carey, has been working with the program since its founding. He facilitated the design of a pilot peer mentoring program for CI. He also helped to design and implement the college preparation program, including providing direct instruction in reading and establishing the volunteer tutor component. He is responsible for the development and management of all CI programs. He holds a BA with a dual major in Philosophy and Fine Arts from the University of Sydney (Australia) and a MA in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research. Prior to joining CI, Michael worked in publishing in Sydney, Australia and in New York City.
Cheryl Wilkins has been an Academic Counselor with CI since 2005. She has extensive experience as a facilitator and coordinator for self-help groups. She holds a BA from Marymount Manhattan College and a Master of Science degree in Social Work from Hunter College. Her duties include: conducting orientations; client intake and assessments; academic counseling; administrative support, mentoring and interventions for clients with special needs. Her outreach duties include: public speaking at city and state correctional facilities to recruit potential clients and at various reentry service providers.
John Molina joined CI as a full-time Academic Counselor in March 2009. He had been a part-time correspondence coordinator since October of 2008. He has a background as an Information and Referral Counselor for troubled youth and young adults at risk for substance abuse. This makes him uniquely suited to deal effectively with the youth referred to CI from ATI programs. Additionally, he has worked as a counselor in a shelter for the homeless. He is currently studying for a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Health Services Administration. His duties include: conducting orientations; client intake and assessments; academic counseling; administrative support, mentoring and interventions for clients with special needs. His outreach duties include: public speaking at ATI programs and city and state correctional facilities to recruit potential clients.
Charlene Griffin has worked with CI since 2002 in a variety of roles. She has experience as an Academic Counselor and a program manager and she has been CI's Data Manager since 2008. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her duties include: management and refinement of the CI database; producing reports for current contracts; administrative coordination.
