Dr. Tessa Hicks Peterson

Tessa Hicks Peterson is Assistant Vice President of Community Engagement and Professor of Urban Studies at Pitzer College. Her duties include teaching and directing two centers: Critical Action + Social Advocacy (CASA) and Justice Education Center (JEC, which houses the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, which she previously directed). Her duties include teaching and directing two centers: Critical Action + Social Advocacy (CASA) and Justice Education Center (JEC, which houses the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, which she directed from ). Before coming to Pitzer in 2006, Tessa worked for almost a decade in community-based organizations throughout Los Angeles on human relations and civil rights issues. She hasa MA and PhD in Cultural Studies from Claremont Graduate University and a BA in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz. Tessa has authored or co-authored seven books and over a dozen book chapters and articles. Her scholarship centers on transformative movement organizing and healing justice, community-based education and research, social change theories and movements, decolonization and indigenous knowledge, and prison education and abolition.

Kenneth Butler, BA

Kenny graduated from Pitzer College in June 2022 with a BA in Organizational Studies, a program shaped by Inside-Out pedagogy. He is part of the first cohort of the Pitzer College Pathway to BA Program. Kenny currently serves as a volunteer instructor and mentor for the Prison Education Project, works as the Program Assistant for the Justice Education Center at TheClaremont Colleges, and coaches for the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. His work is driven by a commitment to carrying forward the legacy and values of his mentors in the pursuit of social justice. Kenny is a 2022 Napier Fellow and a 2022–2023 Fulbright Fellow. He is also pursuing a Master of Public Administration at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he is expected to graduate in May 2026.

Suzan Greene brings a wealth of experience to Pitzer College, drawing from an impressive 48-year career in the business world. Her extensive background includes three decades as a Word Processing Manager in the Title Insurance industry, where she honed her skills in managing operations, streamlining processes, and leading teams. Following this, Suzan transitioned into entrepreneurship as the co-owner of a Medical Device Company, a role she held for 12 years. In this capacity, she was instrumental in overseeing the company’s operations, driving business growth, and ensuring compliance with industry standards.

Now at Pitzer College, Suzan applies her vast expertise to provide essential administrative support to the Justice Education Center team. Her role is crucial in maintaining the smooth operation of the Center, where her organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage complex tasks are invaluable. Suzan’s corporate management and business ownership background enables her to contribute a unique perspective to the Center, enhancing its ability to serve the academic community and the broader justice-focused initiatives it supports. Her dedication and experience make her a key team member, committed to advancing the mission of the Justice Education Center.

Veronica Morales graduated from California State University, San Bernardino, with a M.A. in English Literature with a concentration in Composition and Rhetoric. She serves as the Administrative Assistant for the Justice Education Center (JEC), where she supports initiatives aimed at fostering equity and education within justice-impacted communities. In this role, Veronica is instrumental in coordinating programs, managing outreach efforts, and facilitating meaningful connections between the university and broader community.

Veronica’s passion for Justice Education began as a volunteer for the Prison Education Project and the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, both of which she has actively participated in for several years throughout her undergraduate and graduate studies. These experiences have deepened her commitment to advocating for education as a transformative tool, particularly for incarcerated individuals.

Her academic interests include exploring intersections of Ethnic American literature, feminist theory, and rhetorical frameworks, reflecting her dedication to amplifying marginalized voices and analyzing the ways in which power dynamics are negotiated through language and storytelling. Outside of her professional and academic pursuits, Veronica enjoys reading literature that highlights the experiences of Ethnic Americans, studying rhetorical theories, and delving into pop culture phenomena. She also loves staying active, discovering new films, and engaging in creative pursuits. Veronica’s diverse interests, coupled with her unwavering commitment to education and advocacy, make her a dynamic and impactful member of her academic and local communities.

Derik Smith is chair of the Department of Literature at Claremont McKenna College and is an affiliate faculty member of the Intercollegiate Department of African Studies at Claremont College. His work focuses on American literary culture, with a particular interest in poetry. His current scholarship addresses African American poetry, intellectual history, and the connection between critical race studies and the Baha’i Faith. His work has appeared in many publications, and he is the author of Robert Hayden’s In Verse: New Histories of African American Poetry and the Black Arts Era, which was awarded the 2019 Book of the Year prize by the College Language Association.

Since 2012, Smith has taught courses in and about American prisons in New York and California. He is currently a faculty representative on the steering committee of the Justice Education Center at the Claremont Colleges. He is the acting director of the Wilmette Institute, a distance education provider focusing on the discourse of social transformation. He also serves on the executive boards of the Association for Baha’i Studies, North America, and Starting Over Inc., a non-profit organization focused on policy advocacy, re-entry services, and transitional housing in Southern California, where he lives with his wife and three children.

As Director of Civic and Community Engagement, Gabriela Gamiz leads initiatives that strengthen partnerships between Harvey Mudd College and surrounding communities. She fosters both new and existing relationships with community organizations, coordinates student engagement in service-based learning, and supports the development, implementation, and assessment of courses that integrate community-based experiences.

A proud graduate of Pomona College, Gabriela later earned her master’s degree in Education from Claremont Graduate University, deepening her commitment to civic learning and social responsibility in higher education.

In her leadership role, Gabriela oversees a wide range of civic and community engagement initiatives, including year-round programming such as Book Clubs and The Power of Your Voice. She serves as a liaison to community partners, advancing academic collaborations through service learning and professional development opportunities.

Her portfolio also includes managing assessment, data, and budgeting for community engagement efforts, as well as contributing to strategic planning and grant writing. Through her guidance, signature models like the Inside-Out Program and the Napier Initiative continue to inspire meaningful connections between students and their communities.

Danny Camarena is a Pitzer College alum and a member of the 2nd Inside-Out Cohort, recognized for his dedication to social justice through the Napier Fellowship. Since his release, Danny has achieved significant milestones, becoming a certified CalMHSA Peer Support Specialist, where he leverages his experience to assist individuals with mental health challenges. He also is a Non-Credit Instructor at Temple University, sharing his insights with students. He has gained valuable experience as an intern for California Lawyers for the Arts, exploring the intersection of arts and legal advocacy. Currently, Danny works as a Case Manager at InsideOUT Writers, where he provides intensive case management, facilitates creative writing circles, and develops partnerships to support formerly incarcerated individuals during their reentry process. His role is vital in helping these individuals navigate reintegration challenges, offering them the guidance and resources they need to rebuild their lives.

Danny’s commitment to furthering his impact is reflected in his recent admission to the University of Southern California (USC) Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, where he will begin his Master of Social Work (MSW) studies in the fall of 2024. His journey continues to be driven by a deep commitment to social justice and the empowerment of marginalized communities.

Kimberly Drake

Kimberly Drake teaches writing and literature at Scripps College, where she is a Professor of Writing, Chair of the Writing and Rhetoric Department, Director of the Writing Program, and Faculty Liaison of the Scripps College Academy. She has taught writing workshops and Inside-Out courses in Southern California prisons and at Crossroads Transitional Facility for Women since 2009. Her scholarship concerns rhetorics of protest and resistance concerning disability, incarceration, race, class, gender, and sexuality; she has also published articles on writing pedagogy and creative nonfiction. Her most recent article, coauthored with Damian Busby, member of the first Inside Out cohort of Pitzer BA students, is “The Tide that Takes You Out of Prison’: Linguistic Justice in a Prison Writing Center,” in The Peer Review 6.1 (Spring 2024).

Erin Runions

Erin Runions is a Professor at Pomona College. Her research focuses on the Hebrew Bible and its reception history, with special attention to the influence of the Bible on contemporary culture and politics. In her work, she demonstrates the cumulative effect of biblical reception on sexuality, biopolitics, racialization, governance, war, torture, and U.S. imperialism. Her publications include The Babylon Complex: Theopolitical Fantasies of War, Sex, and Sovereignty (2014); How Hysterical: Identification and Resistance in the Bible and Film (2003); Changing Subjects: Gender, Nation, Future in Micah (2001). Runions has also been an activist for many years, working on issues of police brutality and prison injustice, globalization, antiwar activism, feminist and queer organizing. She currently helps facilitate a writing workshop inside a women’s prison and works on environmental justice issues in the nearby city of Pomona.

The Claremont Colleges is a consortium of five undergraduate liberal arts colleges (Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona, and Scripps) and two graduate institutions (Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute) offering rigorous curricula, small classes, distinguished professors, and personalized instruction in a vibrant residential college community that provides intensive interaction between students and faculty.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies. To this end, the foundation supports exemplary higher education and culture institutions as they renew and provide access to an invaluable heritage of ambitious, path-breaking work. The Justice Education Initiative has also allocated funds specifically for producing and supporting justice-related artistic endeavors over the five-year course of the founding grant.

The Bernard & Audre Rapoport Foundation seeks innovative solutions to intractable and persistent problems and strives to cultivate emerging talents and promising models. Their mission is to meet basic human needs while building individual and social resiliency, and the foundation has dedicated more than $75 million in grants to improve the social fabric of life.