Darren Spielman, Ph.D.
Executive Director
darren.spielman@rutgers.edu
Darren Spielman has twenty years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and education sectors, where he has worked to improve the lives and life chances of our region’s most vulnerable residents. He has served as president and CEO of the Philadelphia Education Fund, vice president of workforce development at Philadelphia Youth Network, executive director of Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia, and director of adolescent outreach and research at Congreso de Latinos Unidos. As a principal with Rodriguez-Lavergne Consulting, Darren has consulted for prominent research, advocacy, social service, and education organizations in the continental United States and Puerto Rico.
He sits on the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Regional Policy Committee and the Board of Directors of Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia and has served as vice president and secretary of the Board of Trustees of The Philadelphia School and as treasurer of the Board of Directors of Public Citizens for Children and Youth.
Darren holds a BA in psychology and sociology from Wesleyan University and a PhD in psychology (social and personality) from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Sarah Allred, Ph.D.
Faculty Director
srallred@camden.rutgers.edu
Dr. Sarah Allred is Associate Professor in Psychology at Rutgers University – Camden, and came to the University in 2009 after three years of postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Allred earned her Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from the University of Washington. She also holds a BS in Applied Physics with minors in mathematics and philosophy from Brigham Young University in Utah. For her primary research on the relationship between visual perception and memory, Dr. Allred received the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award. Dr. Allred teaches courses on research methods, experimental psychology, and perception and evolutionary psychology; she is a past recipient of both the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the Presidential Teaching Award.
As Faculty Director of the Walter Rand Institute, Dr. Allred marshals the academic and intellectual resources of the university to help fulfill Rutgers’ foundational obligation to civic and community engagement. To do this, she fosters partnerships between academic researchers, WRI staff, and community stakeholders. Dr. Allred enjoys delving into complex data sets and working with staff to extract from the data content that will be meaningful for South Jersey.
Tracy A. Swan, MPA, MCJ
Senior Project Administrator
tswan@camden.rutgers.edu
Ms. Swan has worked at the Walter Rand Institute since 2004. She manages a diverse portfolio of projects at WRI. Her program evaluations include a newly established peer recovery center, mental health services for a local school district, a county-wide at-risk youth case management effort, a local police department, and a statewide parole employment placement program. Her needs assessment involves determining legal needs for medical patients. Her conferences include a recently held forum on public health coalitions in South Jersey and two separate educational and employment opportunities forums for at-risk and court-involved youth.
Ms. Swan’s largest project is the NJ Attorney General’s funded juvenile delinquency prevention effort in Cumberland County, where she and her team provide assistance to over 100 county stakeholders in developing and implementing delinquency prevention and positive youth development strategies. Ms. Swan recently secured a similar contract for Burlington County, which will officially kickoff in January 2016.
Ms. Swan is the Chair of Board for the local United Way of Cumberland County; a Board member of United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Public Policy Committee; and member of UWGPSNJ’s Leadership Council. She received her BA in Psychology from Oberlin College, holds a master’s in Public Administration and a master’s in Criminal Justice from Rutgers–Camden. Ms. Swan also serves as an adjunct professor in the Criminal Justice Undergraduate Department of Rutgers University.
Ross Whiting, Ph.D.
Senior Project Administrator
ross.whiting@rutgers.edu
Ross Whiting has dedicated his career to promoting equity for marginalized groups in a variety of settings. Dr. Whiting began his career as a teacher at Edward W. Bok Technical High School where he worked to create high-quality, culturally-responsive educational opportunities for his students. He then spent six years at the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University where he managed projects that promoted access to college and improved quality of life for people with disabilities in a variety of setting.
Dr. Whiting is the principal investigator of the South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative Evaluation. He oversees program evaluations and also supports organizational development at WRI.
Ross earned a BM in Music Education from Mansfield University, a MM in Music Education from Mansfield University, and a PhD in Urban Education from Temple University. He is an adjunct professor in the College of Education at Temple where he teaches courses on critical education and organizational development. Throughout his career Dr. Whiting has built systems that create opportunities for traditionally marginalized groups through research and evaluation, and continues that work now at WRI.
Kristin Curtis, MA
Senior Project Coordinator
krcurtis@camden.rutgers.edu
Kristin Curtis obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Rutgers University- Camden Campus and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University-Camden.
In 2008, Ms. Curtis served as the Walter Rand Institute’s Graduate Assistant. She was then promoted to Research Project Assistant in 2009, where she led data analyst on the PRI-RESPECT, PRI-CORP, and Municipal Prevention Projects at the Walter Rand Institute. Ms. Curtis is the Project Manager of the South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative Evaluation and she is also working on the Food Bank of South Jersey’s Healthy Living Initiative Evaluation.
Ms. Curtis has presented findings on residence restrictions for sexual offenders with Drs. Michelle Meloy and Susan Miller at the American Society of Criminology and published an article in the American Journal of Criminal Justice. Her research interests include offender re-entry, juvenile delinquency, sexual offenders, sex crimes, and victim’s issues.
Paul Smith, MPA
Research Project Coordinator
pdots@camden.rutgers.edu
Paul Smith received his BA in Political Science and Master’s in Public Administration from Rutgers University-Camden. He is a Research Project Coordinator and has worked on a wide array of projects since 2007, including the City of Camden Capacity Building Project and the Evaluation of the State of New Jersey’s Workforce Development Services.
Currently, he is a researcher on the evaluation of the South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative, and facilitates the Live Healthy Bridgeton Coalition, and the Cumberland County Positive Youth Development Coalition’s Vineland Working Group. Also, Mr. Smith is coordinating the development and updating of WRI’s South Jersey Data Profiles. Mr. Smith’s other areas of interest include economic and urban development, housing policy and government reform as it relates to service delivery..
Dennis Pelaez-Robles
Research Project Assistant
dennis.pelaez@camden.rutgers.edu
Dennis Pelaez-Robles graduated from Rowan University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Currently, he is leading the research and evaluation of the Cumberland County Collaboratives as part of the South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative funded by the Pascale Sykes Foundation. Mr. Pelaez-Robles plans to pursue a Master’s of Business Administration.
Douglas Zacher
Data Analyst
Douglas serves as a data analyst at the Walter Rand Institute.
Douglas serves as a data analyst at the Walter Rand Institute. He conducts statistical analysis on critical projects for the Institute, including the Pascale Sykes Foundation’s Strengthening Families Initiative.
Douglas received his B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from Rutgers University. As a student his research focused on executive functioning, learning, memory, and genetics in humans. He is currently a Part-Time Lecturer of Psychology for Rutgers University. Douglas plans to pursue a PhD in Psychology.
Karen Cruz-Rosado
Project Coordinator
crkaren@camden.rutgers.edu
Karen Rosado obtained her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University–Camden in 2007. Mrs. Rosado has worked on various projects and initiatives since October 2011. She was the lead coordinator on the North Camden Civic Engagement Project in which she engaged community stakeholders on projects such as community greening. She was the lead researcher for Cumberland County as part of the Pascale Sykes’s South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative, a project which examines the impact of social service organization collaboration on child well-being, financial stability of families, and relationships between children and their caregivers.
She is currently a lead on the Cumberland County Positive Youth Development Coalition. The Coalition is a cross sectorial approach to developing strategies for decreasing juvenile delinquency and is part of the Municipal Prevention Planning Initiative that is funded by New Jersey’s State Attorney’s Office. Mrs. Rosado’s policy interests include social service delivery, juvenile delinquency, community development and engagement, and secondary education achievement.
Jessica Nolan
Research Project Assistant
jrm323@camden.rutgers.edu
Jessica Nolan graduated with a BA in Criminal Justice from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in 2013 and an MA in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University–Camden in 2016. As a Student Project Assistant at WRI, she worked with the United Way of Salem County and the Pascale Sykes South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative. Currently, Jessica works on the Cumberland County Municipal Prevention project (CCPYDC), working to increase juvenile delinquency prevention and promote positive youth development, and on CC-THRIVE, a federally funded effort to address youth gang and gun violence in Cumberland.
Madeliene Alger
Research Project Assistant
mra109@camden.rutgers.edu
Madeliene Alger serves as a Research Project Assistant for the Pascale Sykes Foundation’s Strengthening Families Initiative in South Jersey. Madeliene assists in the evaluation of interagency collaboration initiatives on supporting family strengthening efforts in southern New Jersey counties.
Madeliene received her B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from Rutgers University – Camden in 2016 and 2017, respectively. She has presented research at several professional conferences, including the Association for Psychological Science and Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and recently co-authored an article in a special issue of Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology. Her research interests in social psychology include implicit biases, prejudice, and stereotypes.
Monica Rears
Administrative Coordinator
msk62@camden.rutgers.edu
Monica Rears received her bachelor’s degree in Economics with a concentration in Accounting from Rutgers University–New Brunswick. She handles grant budgets and reconciliations as well as the Walter Rand Institute’s events and website. She comes from a diverse accounting background where she handled Payroll, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and General Ledger operations.
Arleen Buchanan
Administrative Assistant
ab1806@camden.rutgers.edu
Arleen recently relocated to South Jersey after spending most of her life in the northern part of the state. A Douglass graduate she is happy to continue her work in the nonprofit world here in Camden serving as administrative assistant at WRI.