Charles M. Payne directs the Cornwall Center and is the Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of Africana Studies. His interests include urban education and school reform, social inequality, social change and modern African American history. His books include So Much Reform, So Little Change, (Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2008) which examines the persistence of failure in...
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Charity Anderson is a Senior Research Associate at the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies and Academic Director of the Clemente Veterans’ Initiative Newark, a humanities course focused on themes of war and reconciliation for veterans and military-connected civilians. Charity is a former New York City Teaching Fellow and high school teacher; she taught...
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Marcus hails from Columbus, Ohio. He received a BA in Political Science from Miami University, earned a MA in Educational Leadership, Management, and Policy from Seton Hall University, and a PhD in the Urban Systems program at Rutgers-Newark. Marcus has worked in the Newark Public Schools (NPS) and served variously as a teacher, as subject...
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Meril Antony is a post-doctoral scholar with the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark. Her interests lie at the intersection of urban education policy, public management, social equity, and citizen-state interactions. Her research agenda investigates how different stakeholders interact to produce common outcomes. Her dissertation ‘Essays on Co-production, Social Equity, and Administration of...
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Nakeefa Bernard Garay has over eight years of experience in New Jersey’s nonprofit community development industry. Prior to working at Rutgers Newark, she served as a Program Officer at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) where she provided hands on technical assistance and support to government, nonprofits and resident leaders working to improve the quality of...
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Vandeen Campbell is an Assistant Research Professor and Senior Quantitative Director at the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies and the Department of Urban Education at Rutgers University – Newark. With a focus on equitable educational outcomes for youth, Campbell’s research interests include school improvement, STEM pathways, career and technical education (CTE), dual enrollment,...
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Claudia M. Castillo-Lavergne is a Ph.D. Candidate studying Human Development and Social Policy with the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. Her research examines the developmental and educational pathways of historically minoritized young people with a focus on how young people make meaning of their intersecting identities both in the moment and...
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Shanequa Evans serves as the Program Coordinator of the Promise Youth University Afterschool program. Prior to joining the Cornwall Center, she served as Assistant Director of the Complete for – Nita M. Lowey 21st CCLC, and Director of the Great Falls Teen Center for the New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC). Joining the NJCDC team...
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Marquise Guzman serves as the Associate Director of Neighborhood Partnerships for the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies. Prior to joining the Cornwall Center, Marquise served several different capacities with the Paterson Community Schools Corps (PCSC), AmeriCorps program. As an AmeriCorps Member with the PCSC, Marquise provided school day enrichment supports and developed youth...
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Alyssa B. King has worked on the Rutgers University-Newark since November 2015. She began as a Clerical Assistant and was promoted to her current position as Business Assistant of the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies. In the past, Alyssa has served on council boards servicing academia and its surrounding communities. In her undergraduate career, she served as...
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Josh’s research interests center on questions of modernity and postmodernity, namely the changing human social experiences of these epochs. His work is theoretically focused and borrows on the modern theories of Marx and Durkheim, as well as the postmodern theories of Haraway and Baudrillard, amongst many others. Josh’s research draws from epistemological questions from his...
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Mrs. Ndimbira-Rosner is a Ph.D. candidate from Windhoek, Namibia. Prior to her doctoral studies she co-founded the Physically Active Youth Programme (PAY), a holistic after-school program in Windhoek. She led PAY for over 13 years, building a youth development model that effectively closes the gaps facing young people in low-income urban communities. Through her doctoral...
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Kimaada Sills is an Associate Director at the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies. Ms. Sills has been with the Center since 2012 and has years of experience working in social services, resource development, and youth development programs. She oversees the operations of the Cornwall Center’s growing staff and budget. In her eight years...
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Ahmad received his BA in Information Systems from Rutgers University and is currently pursuing an MBA in Analytics and Information Technology at Rutgers University. Ahmad has worked in Newark Public Schools (NPS) as both a Family Advocate and Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator. During his tenure at NPS, he was instrumental in supporting families by...
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Irene Welch is the Administrative Assistant for the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark. As the administrative assistant, she is a major part of the Cornwall Center’s day-to-day operations. Ms. Welch is responsible for the general administrative support of the Center, including coordinating logistics for meetings, special events, and travel. Prior to...
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