Zelda is a Yale alumna (BA `08 PhD`16) who conceived of and created YPEI after working with students enrolled in Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education at Cheshire Correctional Institution.​ She coordinates YPEI's partnership with the Connecticut Department of Corrections and its facilities; relationships with other national and statewide prison education programs and criminal justice organizations; and a passionate and broad assembly of Yale faculty, administrators, staff, and students who believe that our program represents the best of Yale's values and visions for the future.

Tracy Westmoreland is the Site Director for YPEI’s Danbury campus and also serves as the Reentry/Transfer coordinator for returning students. Tracy completed his Master’s in political science at the University of Connecticut, and is currently pursuing his EdD in Social Justice in Higher Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. A long time resident of New Haven, Tracy saw first hand the effects of over policing in his community and is committed to providing a high quality, rigorous education to those who need it the most. Previously Tracy worked for the Missouri Department of Higher Education expanding prison education programming in the Midwest and was part of the Vera Correctional Education Leadership Academy’s 2022 Cohort.

Emme Magliato is the Program Assistant for the Yale Prison Education Initiative supported by a fellowship through Dwight Hall at Yale. They graduated from Yale in 2023 where she studied both the History of Science and Evolutionary Biology. Emme first started with YPEI as an Academic Strategies Mentor through the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. Emme has also worked in harm reduction and community organizing for people who use drugs and unhoused people in New Haven. She is overjoyed to be a part of the YPEI team and continue to support incarcerated students pursuing and building college in prison in Connecticut.

Vanessa Estimé has served as Assistant Director for the Yale Prison Education Initiative at Dwight Hall at Yale since 2021. Her undergraduate studies were completed at the University of New Haven, and graduate studies at Simmons College School of Social Work. Vanessa is also a social worker and childbirth educator/birth doula. She is delighted to be a part of the Yale Prison Education Initiative and support the movement of expanding access to education to all people.

James Jeter is a New Haven native and alum of the Wesleyan Center for Prison Education at Cheshire Correctional Institution, where he spent nearly 20 years incarcerated. With Wesleyan, he completed 20 credited college courses, and was a member of the Lifers Program, where he worked with at-risk youth, helped raise money for local food banks, and worked with the Hartford Police Chief to address gun violence in Hartford. Through this work, while still incarcerated, he fostered relationships with the Mayor of Hartford’s Chief of Staff, members of the Department of Justice’s Project Longevity Task Force, and the CEO of the Hartford Community Loan Fund, his employer post-release.



At the HCLF, James worked as a policy analyst, working on state and federal policy around banking and housing. In the time since his release, he has served on the board of Wesleyan’s Center for Prison Education, has been honored with the 100 Men of Color Distinction, led participatory budgeting with Hartford City Council, and has returned to Cheshire Correctional Institution to speak to residents of its TRUE Unit. James is dedicated to the cause of prison education and has sought opportunities to apply his own experience to benefit those still incarcerated or returning home.

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