Ruth Delaney Email & Phone Number

Brooklyn, New York, United States

Brooklyn, New York, United States

New York, New York

 Manage technical assistance to 130 college/prison partnerships selected to participate in the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative by the US Department of Education. Assistance includes implementation planning, providing substantive knowledge and expertise, building peer learning communities, conducting site visits, planning and delivering webinars, planning and executing national and state-level conferences, making conference presentations. This includes providing direct assistance to 17 college-corrections partnerships in seven states Oversee Vera’s state policy campaigns in OH, MI, NC, and TN, lead Vera’s policy campaign in NJ, and contribute to successful federal policy campaign to reinstate Pell grants for incarcerated people. These efforts are aimed at eliminating barriers to postsecondary education in prison, including both funding and program limitations. This includes working with strategic communications firm M+R and state-based lobbying firms to develop campaign strategies, messages, and goals; cultivating coalitions among state college and corrections partners; building support among state legislators and executive agencies; developing materials; and testifying at legislative hearings.  Provide technical assistance to over 40 colleges, corrections agencies, and nonprofit organizations in MA as they develop and implement a state consortium of colleges and corrections agencies seeking to offer postsecondary education in prison and provide education-focused reentry support. Supervise two staff who provide technical assistance to over 25 college in prison partnerships in 15 states, and state campaign projects in OH, MI, and NC.  Lead research, and draft reports published by Vera, including the recent Reimagining Prison report, the Pathways from Prison project, and a 50-state scan of financial aid policy.  Draft peer-reviewed article published by the American Institute of Research on the educational aspirations of people in prison.

Greater New York City Area

 Lead technical assistance to 16 college/prison partnerships in seven states selected to participate in the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative of the US Department of Education.  Lead technical assistance to New Jersey as it implements a post-secondary education continuum beginning in prison and continuing in the community, as part of the Unlocking Potential: Pathways from Prison to Post Secondary Education project.  Lead research, and draft reports published by Vera, includingBuilding Effective Partnerships for High Quality Postsecondary Education in Correctional Facilities, and Making the Grade: Developing Quality Postsecondary Education Programs in Prison. Co-found and lead the Gender & Justice Workgroup, including hosting a national Gender & Justice in the Age of Mass Incarceration Summit at the Vera Institute in June of 2015.

New York, Ny

 Assist in the development of the Pathways from Prison to Post Secondary Education project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Sunshine Lady Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This includes assisting in drafting the RFP and selecting states and evaluators, designing financial and narrative reporting documents, and overseeing contracting and financial administration for sites.  Lead technical assistance to Arkansas, South Carolina, and Delaware through the U.S. Department of Justice's Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). This includes, drafting research memos and presentations to stakeholders on key justice policies, testifying to legislative committees, providing implementation assistance, developing performance measures, identifying priorities for seed funding, overseeing contracting and financial administration of funds. Research and draft reports published by Vera, including Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America, The Price of Jails: Measuring the Taxpayer Cost of Local Incarceration and Playbook for Change? States Reconsider Mandatory Sentences; draft blog posts and web content.

Greater New York City Area

 Provide technical assistance and support to site leads in states receiving Vera’s assistance under Phase II of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.  Research, draft, and edit Vera’s Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers, including designing the survey; distributing to states; collecting, reviewing, and certifying 40 responses with DOC officials; and preparing fact sheets on each state.

Greater New York City Area

 Draft communications materials and web content, grant proposals and reports, and PowerPoint presentations for a $3M organization with 17 offices and 200 staff in Afghanistan, Nepal, and the West Bank.

 Write and edit proposals, reports, letters of inquiry, budgets, and acknowledgements for foundations, corporations, and government grants for a $16M national policy and direct service anti-poverty organization with sites in CA, NJ, NM, and NY; assist in securing the organization’s first federal grant for $500k.

Working directly with the Senior Director of Institutional Giving, Senior Development Officer: • Wrote and edited proposals, reports, LOI’s, budgets, and acknowledgments for foundations, corporations, and government grants, both for restricted and unrestricted gifts.

Assists Program Manager in developing and overseeing a $15 million portfolio of 34 active grants:• Designing and executing grant-making strategies and reviewing grant applications within the context of the Foundation’s mission, program guidelines, and goals;• Monitoring the work of grantee organizations including: reviewing and analyzing reports, conducting site visits, evaluating financial statements, assessing grant impact, and writing and editing grant recommendations and evaluations for presentation to the Board; • Supporting potential grantees in developing proposals, budget negotiations, and assessing outcomes;• Advising and assisting grantees in identifying alternative and/or additional funding sources; and• Conducting due diligence related to organizational finances and capacity.

• Created and managed systems to track incoming grant requests, docket formation, and grant assessments for a $45 million grant program with 129 active grants;• Reviewed letters of inquiry and recommended Foundation action, drafted staff meeting notes, and wrote distributed a weekly administrative email, and provided administrative support to eight program officers;• Updated the Foundation’s web site, completed final proofreading of all Board materials assembled bi-annually, and provided office-wide editorial and technical support; and• Selected and interviewed candidates for hire with the Administrative Director and Director of Criminal Justice Programs.

Ph.D., Sociology, Candidate

M.A. Liberal Studies, Women'S Studies, Criminal Justice

B.A., English

Activities and Societies: Sr. Margaret Williams Prize for Literary Criticism, English Honors, Castle Scholars Honors, Portfolio Honors

Education record

Activities and Societies: Phi Theta Kappa