Board Member

Wayne worked in finance for over 40 years while volunteering his time and energy to a wide variety of programs and projects.  He served as both chairman and member of the Mission and Outreach Committee at the Rye Presbyterian Church for over twenty years. He is also on two public service boards besides Rising Hope, Inc.  He is head of the Audit Committee for the board of Exodus Transitional Community, and he has been mentoring a returned citizen for over five years.  He also started a college scholarship program for socially and economically disadvantaged children.

Wayne organized and led two mission trips to underdeveloped countries. One mission built a school for grade school children in Nicaragua in a remote village. The second mission built a school for 3- to 5-year-old children of the untouchable caste in India. He also joined a mission to Haiti to rebuild a high school which was destroyed in a mudslide.

Wayne also started a Saturday morning program for homeless children that helped them with reading while offering art projects and museums and other cultural trips. He also started an after-school STEM program for sixth graders in Yonkers, New York, which helped them build their skills and learn to appreciate the potential of a STEM education. 

Vice President

Julian is currently a Case Manager Supervisor with the Center for Urban Community Services. He was incarcerated at the age 16 and paroled in 2024 after spending 31 years in prison. During those years, Julian became an advocate against gun violence and worked with at-risk youth from all walks of life.  He was a founder of the Voices From Within initiative which redefined what paying a debt to society means.  He also was a member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts and The Youth Assistance Project.  Julian's path was assisted by both the encouragement and efforts of other incarcerated individuals and his dedication to higher education.  Julian earned a Bachelor in Behavioral Science from Mercy University and a Master in Professional Studies from the former New York Theological Seminary. 

Board Member

Anthony is a dedicated attorney with seven years of experience in government, not for profit and other representation.  Currently, he works as a corporate attorney in New York City, where he continues to channel his skills and dedication towards creating meaningful change.  Anthony is motivated by a strong desire to have a positive influence on the lives of others, and his passion to reduce recidivism that leads to individual and community transformation is seen in his work with Rising Hope. Anthony holds BBA and J.D. degrees from Texas Southern University.

Academic Coordinator, Fishkill

Dr. Cheruvu is retired from IBM where he specialized in research and development. While employed at IBM, he helped juvenile offenders prepare for their GED at a local community transition center. He also volunteered at Dutchess County Jail and Green Haven Correctional Facility, where he initiated and facilitated “Self Awareness Integration” groups for over a decade. Later, he taught pre-college mathematics in Shawangunk Correctional Facility. In 2017, he conducted several workshops on Personal Finance and Decision Making for the Rising Hope Alumni at Woodbourne. He has been the site coordinator of Rising Hope’s program at Fishkill Correctional Facility since 2018, where he has also taught World Religions, Ethics, and Creative Problem Solving.

Development Chair

Peter is currently serving as Development Chair for Rising Hope.  He also serves as treasurer of St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, works with the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing, and advocates for new legislation with Release Aging People in Prison and other social justice groups.   Peter is a member of the leadership team for the Teshuvah Community Health program at Central Synagogue.  These roles build on his work as a peer leader for therapeutic communities, teacher of Rising Hope classes, and facilitator of reentry programs over 21 years in New York State prisons.  Peter has over 20 years of executive experience in engineering and finance, and is a graduate of the New York Theological Seminary, Harvard University, and Manhattan University.

Board Member

Art Jones is an award-winning New York writer, director, and producer whose career spans storytelling, business leadership, and social impact. As president of Great Jones Productions for more than 30 years, he has led creative work for Fortune 500 clients including Merck, IBM, BASF, and PepsiCo. His feature films and documentaries have premiered at the Tribeca, SXSW, and Berlin Film Festivals, and have been seen on HBO, PBS, and in community screenings nationwide.

Alongside his commercial and film work, Art has devoted himself to projects at the intersection of justice, human dignity, and second chances. For the past eight years, he has worked closely with incarcerated men committed to personal transformation and purposeful reentry, serving as facilitator of a therapeutic program inside Woodbourne Correctional Facility.

In 2019, at the invitation of participants, Art began documenting their efforts to build trust, accountability, and authentic community behind prison walls. That work became “See Me As I Am,” a feature documentary following five men over seven years—from incarceration through release and the difficult path of rebuilding their lives in New York City. The film is currently in production and slated for release in 2027.

Art also co-founded the recent “Free Anthony Sims” campaign, which helped raise national awareness around a man imprisoned for 25 years for a murder he did not commit. In March 2026, Sims’ wrongful conviction was overturned.

Previously, Art served on the board of Network Support Services, Inc., where he worked with fellow leaders to strengthen and revitalize the reentry organization during the challenges of the COVID era.

He is a graduate of Brown University and taught film studies in Hunter College’s evening program for 11 years.

Academic Coordinator

A bilingual educator with thirty years of experience, Lisa has taught in many different settings, including an independent preschool in Manhattan, a small village in Bolivia, a progressive school on New York’s Upper West Side and at all instructional levels. Most recently, she was the Dean of Literacy at Diversity by Design, a charter school in Queens, NY.

The red thread that ties her career together is the efficacy and power of literacy to unlock the potential of every learner, to amplify student voice and to build community.  For the last two decades, Lisa focused on literacy leadership and coaching educators in Title I urban schools where most students do not speak English as their primary language. 

Lisa completed her doctoral program at Northeastern University in May 2023.  Her dissertation investigated strategies that instructors can use to develop effective literacy instruction for learners with poverty-induced trauma.  She routinely incorporates the co-creation component of her action research in the courses she teaches to incarcerated students through Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison and Rising Hope, Inc. These courses include public speaking, poetry, and a two-semester introduction to English and rhetoric. 

Academic Records Coordinator

Mark is the Policy and Strategic Director at Verified Voting, a national non-profit organization that advocates for trustworthy election technology and practices. Mark has a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University and he has frequently taught undergraduate and graduate courses in American politics and other areas. He has served on the Rising Hope board since 2014. 

President

Kimberly began teaching Rising Hope students in 2018. During the 2020 pandemic she joined the board and became the academic coordinator at Sing Sing, where she helped the program pivot to correspondence learning during the shutdown. Prior to joining Rising Hope, she has worked in the fields of community development, addiction, homelessness, education, volunteer support, and incarceration. She is a certified Spiritual Director, and has a MA in Theology and a MA in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Seminary.

Kimberly loves cooking, swimming, flying trapeze, and has a goal to be one of the best versions of herself at 80 years old. She lives in Mahwah, NJ with her husband and two stepsons.

Board Member

Dario is an alumnus of the Rising Hope Certificate of Ministry and Human Services Program, Class of 2006. We went on to be awarded a Bachelor in Behavioral Science from Mercy University and a Master in Professional Studies from the New York Theological Seminary while still incarcerated. During those years, Dario was a member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), The Youth Assistance Program, Voices From Within, and countless other transformative programs.

In 2025 Dario was a member of an ensemble cast of former RTA performers in the award-winning Sing Sing film. Most recently he co-led the Justice Through Code program at the Center For Justice at Columbia University. He is currently an entrepreneur and advocate for social justice and carceral reform.

Secretary and Curriculum Coordinator

Olivia brings to our board over a decade of experience in public and private education from elementary through high school.  She earned a BA from Houghton University and MA degrees from Johns Hopkins School of Education and Columbia University's Teachers College.

Treasurer

Primrose has over 30 years experience working in global finance.  She has also done extensive volunteer work including facilitation of financial literacy sessions, mentoring youths transitioning out of foster care, providing professional coaching in development and career empowerment, and life skills sessions for women, youths, and families. In all her life work he is motivated by love and transforming lives, and she has a mission to help individuals identify and fulfill their divine purpose in order that they may  leverage their knowledge and achieve their full potential. 

Primrose is a Doctor of Ministry, and she also was awarded degrees in Master of Divinity, Master of Business Administration, and Bachelor of Science in Psychology.  Her affiliations include several advisor boards and PTA Honorary Life Member. She lives in New York with her husband and has three adult sons.

Board Member

Melissa is a senior change management and strategic engagement leader with fifteen years of experience building teams and curating programming highlighting culture and community, organizational design, and overall engagement. As a leader at Twitter and as a nine-year member of Columbia University (previous Director), Melissa stewarded high performing groups dedicated to institutional vision and mission. Melissa considers herself an educator and social worker at heart. She completed her undergraduate work at Boston College and her graduate work in social policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Melissa has written policies and led program management for nonprofits, family funds, tech firms, and corporate businesses. She has also consulted with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School’s McNulty Leadership Program and as a media strategist. Melissa lives in Fairfield County of CT with her spouse Erik, son Erik, daughter Lenna, and three Chihuahuas.

Alumni Coordinator

Darryl is a veteran, a social worker, a restorative justice specialist, an international public speaker, and a returned citizen who was incarcerated for 25 years in New York State.   A native of Harlem, his humble beginnings exposed him to poverty, poor education, gangs, and a myriad of crime-generative conditions.  He is a man of faith with roots in both the Quakers tradition and Christian fellowship and services ministries, and he proudly asserts that Jesus saved his life. 

Darryl is a graduate of the original Certificate in Ministry and Human Services program, the program now offered by Rising Hope, Inc, and he has a Master’s in Professional Studies from New York Theological Seminary.  While incarcerated, he also facilitated programs for Non-Violent Communication, Conflict Resolution, and Crisis Intervention.  His work continued when he left prison and was awarded an MSW by Fordham University  (elected a Children’s First Scholar) and worked with their Beck Institute on Poverty and Religion.  He has worked for over 20 years in restorative justice including Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice Dialogue with incarcerated people. He trained with Dr. Tom Cavanagh of Colorado State University and Elizabeth Clements of Planning Change in New York City, and he is a Co-founder of Worth Justice Inc, dba as WORTHshop Inc.  He also worked as a Wellness Specialist on a New York ACT team and mentored youth and young adults on probation with FedCap. Darryl traveled to Haiti where he worked in orphanages and studied the resiliency of a culture devastated by natural disasters, global racism, and social mapping . He is a Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor Trainee (CASACT) and the recipient of a Restorative Justice Facilitation and Leadership Professional Certificate scholarship at the University of San Diego.

 Darryl believes that affirming worth is the catalyst for changing lives, that it is time to strip away the things that divide us.  We are all human beings, and when we connect at that place of humanity, we stop harm, we heal, and we make the world a better place. Humanity Now!

Academic Coordinator, Sing Sing

Bob is a retired United Methodist minister who served as pastor of churches in Texas, New York and Connecticut.  Before his retirement in 2021, he served as Assistant to the Bishop of the New York Conference of the United Methodist Church. He also served as an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Iona College, New Rochelle, NY from 2008-2018.  He has been teaching Rising Hope courses at Green Haven and Sing Sing since 2008. Bob has been married to Donna Henry for over 45 years, and they are avid hikers and enjoy traveling to new and wild places.