Transforming Corrections in Erie County, New York

ICPA2024 Presentation by Thomas Diina, Felicia Beard and Stefan LoBuglio (ICPA2024-PID090)

Authors

Thomas Diina

Chief, Division of Community Reintegration, Erie County Sheriff's Office

Thomas Diina serves as the Chief of Community Reintegration for the Erie County Sheriff’s
Office, a newly created position within the Office’s Jail Management Division. Tom began his career with
the Sheriff’s Office in 2001 beginning as a Deputy and rising to the Jail Management Division Superintendent from 2012 - 2021. He represents the agency at the Erie County Corrections Specialist Advisory Board and the Community Corrections Advisory Board. He is a 1997 graduate from University at Buffalo, holding a bachelor of arts degree in Social Sciences Interdisciplinary – Legal Studies. He is a member of the American Jail Association, American Correctional Association, and the Law Enforcement Foundation of WNY.

Tom's leadership role in the community include serving with Leadership Buffalo and as a board member for a non-profit housing organization, Homespace, LLC. As co-chair of the Erie County Re-Entry Coalition from 2016-present, he has played a key role to strengthen the rehabilitative mission of his agency and to improve correctional programs and practices.

Felicia Beard

Associate Vice President, Racial Equity Initiatives, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

Felicia Beard is the Associate Vice President, Racial Equity Initiatives at the Community Foundation. In this role, Felicia is responsible for developing, supporting and advancing the Community Foundation’s commitment to racial/ethnic equity. She also manages the work of the Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable, a group of more than 35 community leaders from public, private, nonprofit and faith organizations committed to tackling racial equity in Western New York by expanding opportunities for all.
Felicia received her B.A. in Legal Studies and M.S. in Applied Public Affairs from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. Felicia is also a member of Leadership Buffalo, the Erie County Chapter of Links, Inc., and the Junior League of Buffalo. In 2021, Felicia was appointed as a board member by the Erie County Legislature to the Erie County Corrections Specialist Advisory Board.

Stefan LoBuglio

Principal, Justice Innovations, LLC

Stefan LoBuglio has worked in corrections for over three decades as a practitioner, policy. advocate, researcher, and consultant. At the federal level in the US, he oversaw the National Reentry Resource Center which provides technical assistance to hundreds of public safety agencies and non-profit organizations implementing federally funded reentry programs. In the states of Maryland and Massachusetts, he has served on gubernatorial correctional reform committees. In Montgomery County (Greater DC area) and in Suffolk County (Boston, MA), he oversaw pre-release facilities and programs for local correctional agencies for over 20 years.

Currently, he consults and aids jurisdictions in the US and internationally to reduce incarceration through the implementation of evidence-based practices. He is an active researcher and has published and presented his studies. In 2007. Stefan received his doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He earned an MA in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University and a BS in mechanical engineering from Duke University.

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