Community Editorial Board: Previous Cohorts

Tyrone Bynum

Tyrone Bynum Jr. was born in New Haven, Connecticut in May 1988. The following year, Tyrone and his family would spend the next 11 years of his life living in Oakland, California. In the year of 1999, Tyrone and his family relocated back to Connecticut, this time moving to Hartford, where Tyrone attended and completed elementary through high school. Tyrone’s dedication has been to youth engagement with boys and men of color. Community engagement, and violence prevention. Tyrone found his passion working with youth during his teenage years as a camp counselor. Later he became a group leader for countless before and after school programs in the greater Hartford area. Tyrone has also facilitated youth groups for countless organizations, such as Blue Hills Civic Association.

Tyrone currently works at Hartford Communities That Care in Hartford’s Northeast neighborhood as a Crisis Intervention Specialist. The organization’s mission statement is to provide a violent-drug free environment, while providing quality services needed for families in the community.

Richard Frieder

Richard Frieder works in community engagement with Community Capacity Builders. He helped found and continues to be very active with several community engagement initiatives in Hartford including Hartford Decide$ (participatory budgeting), the Hartford Votes~Hartford Vota Coalition, Know Thy Neighbor (community dialogues with neighborhood residents, the faith community, and police), and the Collaborative on Poverty, Criminal Justice & Race. He is a Network Consultant with Everyday Democracy and was Community Engagement Director at Hartford Public Library from 2001-2016.

Richard is a member of the Connecticut Center for Nonviolence Board of Directors. In 2018 he served as a Fellow at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute in the Humility and Conviction in Public Life project.

Marisol Garcia

Marisol Garcia is pursuing her J.D. law degree at Vermont Law School with a concentration in Restorative Justice and is a College to Career fellow at the Yale Prison Education Initiative, conducting research on mass incarceration, policy, and the law. 

She graduated from Trinity College with a BA in Public Policy and Law in 2022 and with a Masters in Public Policy in May 2023.  Ms. Garcia participated in the Center for Prison Education program at Wesleyan University during her incarceration and upon her release in 2019, graduating from the program in 2020 with a dual associate degree in political science.  She was a Yale Law School Access fellow from 2021 to 2023. 

Marisol hopes to make a long-term impact on the healthcare outcomes of people who are currently incarcerated, re-entry services for people returning home, and sentencing for those still in pre-trial status.

sourav guha

sourav guha has been a resident of Connecticut for 15 years and has lived in New Haven for the past six. He has two decades of experience across a broad variety of roles in the public, nonprofit, and postsecondary sectors, including many years working on issues pertaining to representation, access, and inclusion in higher education.

Presently, he is executive director of the Consortium on High Achievement and Success, hosted at Trinity College, and an adjunct instructor of government and international relations at Connecticut College. He previously held administrative positions at Vassar and Yale, as well as administrative and instructional roles at Wesleyan University, his undergraduate alma mater. He also briefly served as the higher education budget analyst at the State of Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management.

Beyond his professional work, some of sourav’s interests and commitments concern issues related to environmental and energy policies, housing availability and affordability, and the unending expansion of our military- and security-industrial complexes. He believes more humane, generous, just, and ecologically-sensitive ways of living are possible, in Connecticut and in our country more broadly.

Jennifer Heikkila Díaz

Jennifer (JHD/Jenny) Heikkila Díaz (they/she) was born and raised in Los Ángeles. Witnessing the LA Uprising of 1992 and their family’s immigration experiences seeded JHD’s desire to coalition build across communities of color and within their own Korean American and Asian American communities.

For almost 25 years, JHD has worked as a K-12 public school teacher, school administrator, and educator coach, co-creating culturally sustaining and anti-biased, anti-racist classrooms and school communities with thousands of students, families, and educators in Baltimore, South (Central) LA, Long Beach (CA), Echo Park, Queens, and across Connecticut. They are the CT Council for the Social Studies Professional Learning Coordinator, and facilitate statewide teacher communities of practice as an Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning Collective Steering Committee Member and a UConn AAASI Activist in Residence.

They are a New Havener and co-founder of aapiNHV. Their lifelong commitment is to backing youth, who envision an even more joyful and just world than they do.

Kat Morris

Katharine (Kat) Morris is a scholar-activist for intersectional environmental justice with her Master of Public Policy from the University of Connecticut. She founded UConn Collaborative Organizing (UCCO) to promote solidarity and intersectionality in social and environmental justice movements. Her TEDxUConn talk, How to Collaborate for Environmental Justice, is a call to action discussing environmental racism, health inequities, and how to organize your community using radical love and intersectionality. Kat plans to someday earn her PhD using cognitive science to strengthen collective efficacy and policy action at the intersections of environmental justice, health equity, and climate action. These days, she organizes grassroots and legislative action and speaks on various panels and podcasts, while serving on the board for CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs.

Following her most recent positions as the policy intern for CT’s Health Equity Solutions and Sustainability Fellow for the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, Kat served her Helen Gurley Brown Fellowship at CEEJH, the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health. She organized the 1st annual Seaside Sounds for Environmental Justice community empowerment festival at Seaside Park on July 15th. Kat was appointed to the Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council (CEEJAC) then served as a Governor’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Advisor stationed in the Office of the Commissioner at DEEP. Today she runs Seaside Sounds Club, consults locally and internationally, and organizes to Save Bassick High!

Most importantly, Kat is a tree-hugging hippie, queer pisces daughter of Jamaican immigrants whose love for nature is comparable only to her love for music, food, astrology, laughter, and learning about life through meaningful connections and long-winded conversations.

Zach Oberholtzer

Zach Oberholtzer currently works as a biochemist in pharmaceutical development. With a background in chemical engineering and statistics Zach is interested in pulling apart the mechanisms of how social, government, and economic systems interact. He is specifically interested in how housing and transportation policy effect economic opportunity and can be used to build inclusive communities. Zach is a member of People Friendly Stamford, a local advocacy group for safe walking and biking infrastructure and housing abundance.

When not working or studying, Zach dabbles in writing bad poetry, playing ultimate frisbee, and baking recipes he found on the internet.

Cindy Prizio

Cindy Prizio, is the cofounder of One Standard of Justice (OSJ); established in 2015. OSJ is a Connecticut civil rights advocacy group and affiliate of the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL). OSJ, NARSOL and other affiliates around the country work for evidence-based laws and public policies to create and sustain safer communities. OSJ has introduced its 2023 legislative campaign called Paid In Full to release men, women and children who were retroactively and unfairly put on the public registry at the time of its inception in 1998.

Cindy is an effective citizen lobbyist/educator who also advocates for trauma-informed restorative justice and is working to bring a pilot program to the state as an alternative to the criminal legal system. Recently Cindy created Friends of Restorative Justice of CT (FoRJ-CT) to support a healing justice and work with ForJ members toward offering victims of crime a choice. Her other advocacy efforts include aiding with litigation and providing educational webinars to shine a light on the facts about sexual harm. The latest in that series will be broadcast on January 17 and February 15, 2023 and is entitled respectively, “A Different Approach to Sex Crimes. the Case for Survivor-Centered Restorative Justice?” And “Men Who Watch Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM). What is the real risk?”

Cindy lives in Hartford County to be a stone’s throw from the Capitol. When she’s not working for social justice and criminal legal reforms, she’s content to be working in her pollinator’s garden.

Robert Boris

Robert Boris is a tech entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the field. He started his career in research and innovation and went on to establish Command Tech, as a technology company that specializes in cloud computing and cyber security. In alignment with the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991, Robert negotiated a joint venture with the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics in Moscow and led research and commercialization efforts to develop parallel algorithms for operations on 3D spatial data stored in a grid database. The resulting technology has been adopted by the United States Air Force, Pratt & Whitney, NATO allies and more.

As Chairman of the Groton Economic Development Commission, Chairman of the Mystic Chamber of Commerce foundation, and President of Command Technology in Groton, Boris plays an instrumental role in leading initiatives to develop and implement effective policies that benefit the community. In addition to his professional pursuits, Robert is also an active member of his community, a father, and a volunteer for local non-profit organizations that focus on service and education. He acts as a mentor for aspiring problem solvers and believes in the potential of technology to bring about positive change in the world.

He holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, as well as a bachelor’s in linguistics from Syracuse University.

Jordyn Wilson

Jordyn Wilson is a Youth Justice Campaign Associate with the Sentencing Project. She works to ensure the voices of individuals most impacted by the legal system are incorporated into all decisions regarding legal system policy, practice and reform. Jordyn seeks to build opportunity-rich communities, where all families and youth have the support they need to thrive, through equitable access to resources and services.

Previously, she served as a Community Connections Associate and Justice Advisor with the Connecticut Justice Alliance where she led roundtable conversations, referred to as Vision Sessions, with directly impacted youth, families and communities to identify solutions to reform or replace systems that funnel youth into the justice system and build the leadership of directly impacted youth to turn their truth into power. Jordyn also served as an Emerging Leaders Committee Member with the Coalition for Juvenile Justice and a Youth First Youth Leaders Network Member with the Youth First Initiative.

Jordyn received her Bachelor’s Degree in Justice & Law Administration from Western Connecticut State University as a first generation college student.

Weruché George

Weruché George (Hamden), a Nigerian-born writer relocated to the United States in 2005 and has made Hamden, Conn. her home since then. She graduated cum laude from Quinnipiac University and has degrees in English, Communications, and Studies in the Law. Her master’s in journalism capstone project ‘Is This Home Now?’ is a 30-minute documentary film about refugee immigration and resettlement.

She graduated on May 20, 2020, from Columbia University with a master of arts degree in Human Rights Studies and will teach as well as carry out research on the rights of African WWII Veterans to be Seen, community development, gender, and sexual violence, women’s rights, and education.

She was a delegate to the 13th Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Warsaw, Poland with the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Quinnipiac University where she participated in workshops with Nobel Peace Laureates Muhammad Yunus, Mairead Maguire, and others. She is also a United Nations Association-USA representative to the United Nations 62nd Commission on the Status of Women. She is also a spokesperson for refugees in New Haven, Conn.

She currently serves as a Human Rights and Relations Commissioner in Hamden, and on the Board of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services – IRIS, in New Haven, Conn. Her writings have also been published in the Hartford Courant and the Edge Magazine.”

David Blitz

David Blitz is a faculty member at Central Connecticut State University since 1989, where he is professor of Philosophy and co-coordinator of the Peace Studies program. He is vice-chair of the statewide Faculty Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System and is President of the international Bertrand Russell Society.

He resides in Colebrook since 2010 and has been involved in past bookstore and news projects in the area. He currently works with university and college faculty and staff on COVID-19 policies.

Dice Oh

Dice Oh is a resident of Stamford with a strong interest in city planning, housing affordability, and sustainable transportation. 

Dice believes that many of society’s biggest problems are directly linked to our current land use and transportation paradigm: housing unaffordability, climate change, environmental destruction, air pollution, and racial/economic segregation. He is particularly passionate about the need to reorient our built environment around multi-family housing centered around walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods, in contrast to the car-dependent suburban sprawl that has predominated in the past several decades.

He is a member of People Friendly Stamford, a local community group devoted to making Stamford and Connecticut more walkable and bikeable, economically vibrant, affordable, and less reliant on cars.

Iliana Pujols

As the current Policy Director of the Connecticut Justice Alliance (Bridgeport), Iliana began her work with the Alliance in late 2017 as one of the founding members of the Justice Advisors. In July of 2018, Iliana joined the full-time staff of the Alliance and has since played a critical role in recruiting, training and supporting the Justice Advisors as well as determining the policies and practices of the organization’s work.

Iliana is a 2017-2019 Youth First Initiative’s Youth Leaders Network Alum, a 2019 CT Public Allies Alum, and a 2019-2021 Annie E Casey Foundation Youth Advisory Council Alum and currently serves as a member of the 2021 World Congress on Justice with Children Child and Youth Advisory Group.

She is a frequent panelist for national organizations, speaking to her expertise around youth and young adult partnership and advocacy based on her personal experiences and professional success.

Gus Marks-Hamilton

Gus is a lifelong resident of Connecticut who grew up in Mansfield and now calls Farmington home. His parents were both public school teachers in Windham, and his two sisters also work in public education. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and is a Licensed Master Social Worker and Recovery Support Specialist.

Gus currently works with the ACLU of Connecticut as the campaign manager for the Smart Justice campaign where he is passionate about promoting the civic and political engagement of people who have been directly impacted by Connecticut’s criminal legal system.

Away from work, Gus enjoys working out, being a compliant human companion to his dog, Dexter, and a doting uncle to his nieces and nephew.

Nanee Sajeev

Nanee Sajeev (Trumbull) is an Ezhava Malayalee-American writer, educator, and anti-violence worker living on Paugussett land. They care deeply about justice and healing and is often thinking about the ways that marginalized communities create safety for themselves. She received a BA in Economics from University of Connecticut in 2017 and a MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago in 2021. They find delight in good books, pastries, expensive coffee, and cheap wine.

Liam Brennan

Liam Brennan is the incoming Inspector General for the Civilian Police Review Board in Hartford. A former legal aid attorney. he has served as the Executive Director of the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center and as a staff attorney at New Haven Legal Assistance Association. He was a federal prosecutor from 2007-2018, serving first as a Trial Attorney in the Fraud Section in Washington, DC, and then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Unit in Connecticut and as Director of the Federal Public Corruption Task Force.

A former visiting lecturer at Yale Law School, he has also served on the boards of Junta for Progressive Action, Elm City Cycling, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, and the Community Placemaking Engagement Network.

In addition to the CT Mirror, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, Just Security, Newsweek, The New Haven Independent, and other publications. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut with his wife, Rebecca Borné, and their four children.

Maybeth Morales-Davis

A community activist and nonprofit leader with 15+ years of experience, Maybeth Morales-Davis (Waterbury) currently serves as the Deputy Director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury. With a strong passion for social justice, housing, community, and the arts; Maybeth is adamant about working with residents and local/state/national partners to transform her community into a more equitable place.

When she is not busy with work, you can find Maybeth de-schooling her 2 boys with her husband, hitting the trails with her dog, or spending time creating abstract pieces of art.

Mark Robinson

Throughout his career, Mark Robinson (Ridgefield) has been a passionate and effective change agent in both public and private sector settings. 

His first real opportunity to step up and make a difference came in 1980, at the beginning of his career. Fortunate to find his first studio apartment in a high-rise doorman building just three blocks from the office and one block from the United Nations, yet other tenants in the building were not so lucky. The other tenants were mostly U.N. workers from around the globe, including the entire Egyptian delegation to the U.N. Because they were foreign nationals and unfamiliar with New York rent regulations, the landlord was vastly overcharging on their rents. Mark organized a Tenants Association and led over 80 tenants on rent strike for 14 months. When the group finally got their day in court, they won and received dramatic rent rollbacks and retroactive rebates.

Over the years, Mark has been an active part of many organizations and initiatives, focusing his efforts and energy on his community (both Ridgefield and the State of Connecticut), his profession (advertising), and for communities of color.

Dr. Sana Shaikh

Sana Shaikh, Ph.D., (Avon) has had an extensive career in education, non-profit & for-profit spaces. Born in Pakistan and raised in California, Dr. Shaikh began her career teaching 11th-grade English in Baltimore. She has had the privilege of working with Teach for America, Achievement First, Voices for Children, the Aspen Institute, the Rappaport Institute at the Harvard Kennedy School and Springfield Public Schools. She is currently the DEI Program Manager at Curriculum Associates.

She holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of California, Berkeley in Political Science and Near Eastern studies with a minor in Global Poverty & Practice, two master’s degrees, one in Urban Studies from Johns Hopkins and one in Social Policy & Management from Brandeis University, and a Ph.D. from the Heller School of School Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

A 50Can National Voices Fellow and owner of her consulting company, TimeED, Dr. Shaikh’s most important job is being a mom of two and life partner of Dr. Rayhan Shaikh.

Timothy Moore

Timothy Moore (Hartford) is passionate about redeveloping neighborhoods and downtowns through innovative design that creates a sense of place and contributes to the development of thriving communities.

He is a 4x entrepreneur with a background in real estate and economic development He accumulated much of his experience from his position at FBE Limited. FBE Limited is a privately held real estate and capital management company consisting of over 25 million sq ft of industrial and office properties and over 4,000 residential units throughout the United States; where he focused on operations and development. His personal network of investment and real estate professionals swelled from this experience.

Most recently, he worked for Shelbourne Global as Director of New Markets & Development overseeing 1 million sq ft of office and retail space and is now Manager of ULI Boston/England where he oversees their Technical Assistance Panel, UrbanPlan, and Pathways to Inclusion programs.

In his spare time, Tim enjoys working on his jeep and off-grid cabin in the Catskills, spending time with his family.