We are a lean staff of public health and public safety experts, working alongside a diverse network of advocates and organizations. To learn more about our partners, see here.
If you would like to work at P2PH, please contact us here.
Jeff has served as the founding Director of From Punishment to Public Health since 2013, steadily expanding the scale and scope of P2PH during this tenure. He regularly facilities the NYC Health & Justice Working Group along with the Cross-Sector Advocacy Group, and organizes several webinars and conference events each year to gather key stakeholders for critical conversations at the intersections of public health and public safety. Jeff proudly champions several local and state priorities, including pre-arrest and pre-arraignment diversion programs for clients with behavioral health challenges, overcoming the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy (MIEP) to allow for pre-release in-reach services that facilitate health reentry from jails and prisons, and the recently launched Situation Tables within the Brownsville Safety Alliance designed to accelerate connections to care for individuals and families in crisis.
Jeff also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Criminal Justice MA program, teaching courses including Drugs, Crime and Criminal Justice System and Criminal Policy Analysis. He earned his juris doctorate from Northeastern University School of Law and Masters in Public Health from Tufts University School of Medicine in 2013, and his Bachelor of Arts in International Government Relations from Dartmouth College in 2004. Jeff also served as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow in 2012, delivering dialogue-based “Healthy Reentry” workshops to increase primary care utilization, prevent new infections and mitigate the effects of chronic disease.
Dana Rachlin
Dana Rachlin has a long career as a public safety expert and community justice leader. She co-founded the innovative, community-led movement We Build The Block with the late actor and Brooklyn native Michael K. Williams and Hot 97’s Shani Kulture. The organization supports communities facing over-policing, mass incarceration, and gun violence by creating and implementing new programs and protocols to replace traditional policing. Over the last two years, Rachlin and partners co-led the creation and implementation of the Brownsville Safety Alliance, launched a gun violence intervention program focused on healing and economic empowerment, and hosted a Mayoral Candidate Forum on a block impacted by gun violence.
Rachlin has also helped pioneer numerous other innovative public safety, community and civic programs over the years, including NYC Together, Project LEAD, and WBTB’s get-out-the-youth organizing arm, Crew Count. In 2022, she was named a John Jay Public Safety Initiatives Fellow in their Punishment to Public Health Department and in 2023 became the Associate Director of Precinct & Community Based Initiatives. In all of her roles, Dana is committed to practicing radical love and inclusion to create safe and healthy communities and centering the voices and experiences of the community in all her efforts.
Samantha works as a Policy Coordinator for P2PH. She is responsible for integrating and amplifying the policy priorities of P2PH and our partners, providing public testimony at city and state-level hearings, and organizing networking events for young professionals. She also supports various evaluation and technical assistance efforts in collaboration with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, and assists in the organization of community events like the Brownsville Safety Alliance (BSA) and P2PH’s regular panel and conference events.
Samantha holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and trying new restaurants.
Tiffany Sloan
Richard Sheola is the Health Policy Fellow at P2PH, and the Co-Founder and Principal of Health and Justice Strategies, a Boston-based consulting resource for public, proprietary, and nonprofit health, human services, and public safety. H&JS is responsible for developing, executing, and evaluating the national and regional vision, strategy, and leadership required to build behavioral health and integrated cross-systems service programs. H&JS ensures the capacity to influence public policies that address emerging challenges and opportunities.
Prior to the launch of Health and Justice Strategies, Mr. Sheola was at ValueOptions, serving as the Senior Vice President for National Strategy and Development at Value Options. Previously, he was the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership.
Prior to his arrival in Massachusetts, Mr. Sheola served the City of New York as the Vice President for Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Services and the Senior Vice President for Managed Care, Marketing, and Primary Care at the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. He also served as the City’s First Deputy Commissioner for Family and Children’s Services at the Human Resources Administration.
Mr. Sheola received a Master of Arts in Administration from the Rider Graduate School of Administration, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wake Forest University.
Raffaella Elmi
Research Assistant
Raffaella Elmi is a Research Assistant for P2PH. Raffaella received her Bachelor’s degree in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Forensic Mental Health Counseling and Advanced Certificate in Victimology Studies at John Jay. Throughout her academic career, Raffaella took on several research positions, including working as a Clinical Research Assistant for the Global Psychiatric Epidemiology Group (GPEG) at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in Washington Heights, New York. Her work also extends to other areas of the public sector, including interning at Womankind and several other non-profit organizations. Her professional and academic experiences showcase dedication to exploring research as an avenue for promoting social change and representation for underserved communities in and around New York City.
Chi-An Lu
Chi-An Lu is a Research Assistant for P2PH. Chi-An received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Oregon where she investigated the correlations between Dark Triad traits, pro-environmentalism intentions, and emotions as part of her work at the CAIDe decision-making lab. Chi-An is currently completing her Master’s in Forensic Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice where she will defend her thesis focusing on emotion regulation and successful psychopathy. Aside from psychopathy, Chi-An is passionate about juvenile justice and seeks ways to make a rehabilitative system possible. In the future, she hopes to attain a PhD in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Forensics.
