Staff

Mariam Botana de Armas is a program assistant at Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP). Concurrently, she is an undergraduate student at Cornell’s Charles H. Dyson School, pursuing a concentration in applied economics. Mariam is passionate about the utilization of business to create a better world. She provides administrative support to the CPEP office.

Maddie Reynolds is the Outreach and Information Services Librarian at Olin and Uris Libraries and serves the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP). She creates library services for incarcerated students through access and delivery and library instruction. Maddie also facilitates the CPEP creative writing workshop program, trains instructors to teach in the prison classroom, and directs…

Raul Armenta is a PhD student in Sociology at Cornell University, studying the intersections of education and the criminal legal system. Before Cornell, he worked as a research analyst, leading qualitative research and helping establish the Council for Lived Experience Advisory, which centers the voices of formerly incarcerated people in research decision-making. He is also…

Keisha Burrow is the Deputy Director of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP).  She holds a MA in International Affairs from American University and a BA in Criminal Justice from University of Massachusetts-Boston.  Keisha has been with the program since 2019, starting as a coordinator for the Elmia facility.  She leads program development and operations…

Tess Pendergrast is a sociologist of inequality who studies civil and human rights, politics of economic development, and social movements. She uses mixed methods in sociology and prioritizes community-based participatory research designs. She is currently conducting research on impacts of higher education in prison programs and on reentry outcomes. Tess is also a regular instructor…

Rob Scott is the Groos Family Director of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP) at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment, where he teaches Education courses for Cornell’s Minor in Crime, Prisons, Education, and Justice. Under his leadership, CPEP…

Jenna LaPietra is CPEP’s Director of Strategic Initiatives managing a broad range of projects and contributing to the overall sustainability of our program.  Jenna came to CPEP after retiring from Accenture, a global tech and management consulting firm where she had a long career in their public service and higher education practices before becoming the…