Professor Marie Claire Van Hout

Vice President Research, Innovation and Impact, South East Technological University, Ireland

Marie Claire Van Hout is Professor of International Health Policy and Practice, and Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact at the South East Technological University in Ireland. She has been research active for over 20 years in the field of law, health inequalities and human rights of marginalised populations (people in prison, people who use drugs, women affected by gender based violence, migrants and refugees). She consults regularly as independent evaluation consultant or substantive expert for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Council of Europe Pompidou Group, and World Health Organization in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

JJ Healy

Lecturer, Munster Technological University, Ireland

JJ Healy is a Lecturer in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality, at Munster Technological University, Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland. He received his BA in Culinary Arts from Cork Institute of Technology and his M.Sc. in Culinary Innovation and Product Development from Dublin Institute of Technology. 
JJ spent 25 years working as a chef in the hospitality industry and moved to teaching 12 years ago. His research interests include success factors in restaurants and hotels, the history of food and food culture, entrepreneurship and any chef-related issues in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Over the last 5 years, he has coordinated a collaboration project between MTU, Cork Prison, IASIAO, and ETB Prison Education Unit. A group of 6 prisoners are trained over eight weeks in culinary skills, which culminates in a 60-seater pop-up restaurant in the prison.
His work has been published in the Journal of Culinary Science and Technology and on the Arrow@DIT.ie  website.
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6284-8750

Christine Nolan

Mature Student officer, Munster Technological University, Ireland

Christine Nolan is the Mature Student Officer at Munster Technological University Cork Campus. Having worked as an Access practitioner for over 13 years, Christine is committed to creating pathways and widening participation for mature and non-traditional learners into higher education. Christine initiated the Prison lecture series. The Prison Lecture Series is an educational programme that is delivered annually and that offers participants in Cork Prison the opportunity to engage in a series of lectures by volunteers across both academic and professional services staff in MTU in Cork, supported by the teachers in the Prison Education Unit.  The lecture series creates an opportunity for participants to directly engage and interact with the university. It creates awareness around the opportunities that can come with engaging in higher education and identifies current feasible pathways for all learners, allowing for a meaningful learning impact for participants and their families.  

Smita Dnarmamer

Associate Director, The Aangan Trust, India

Dr. Smita Dharmamer is a passionate advocate for child rights and protection, with over 18 years of experience working with vulnerable children. As Associate Director at Aangan Trust (www.aanganindia.org), she leads transformative, child-focused initiatives across six prisons in India. Her work impacts over 1,000 incarcerated mothers, 50 of their children living in prison, and 75 children of prison staff residing on prison premises. Dr. Dharmamer’s efforts focus on fostering holistic development for children through trauma-informed care, structured curriculums, and collaborative frameworks involving government agencies, NGOs, and community stakeholders.
Recognized internationally for her contributions, Dr. Dharmamer received the 2024 Presidential Bronze Volunteer Service Award by AmeriCorps for exemplary service to children and families. She serves as a Board Member of the International Coalition for Children of Incarcerated Parents (INCCIP) and is an active member of the Global Prison Nursery Network, where she contributes to advancing global best practices in correctional systems.
Her personal journey as the child of an incarcerated father deeply inspires her work, fueling her commitment to advocate for the rights of children growing up in carceral environments. She combines lived experience with professional expertise to bridge gaps between child welfare and correctional systems, addressing resistance and building inclusive, stigma-free models of reform.
Dr. Dharmamer is dedicated to creating sustainable, scalable solutions that place children’s rights at the heart of offender management strategies. Her work aims to inspire global practitioners to adopt innovative, child-centric approaches to correctional reform.

Amelia Desmond

Research Assistant, Irish Prison Service Psychology Service, Ireland

Amelia Desmond is a Research Assistant employed in the Psychology Service of the Irish Prison Service (IPS). Her primary project explores monitoring and evaluating service delivery of the current emotional dysregulation intervention treatment pathways in the IPS Psychology Service. As Research Assistant, Amelia supports the initiation and ongoing development of data collection, specifically related to the effectiveness of the updated programme in terms of psychological change. She sits on the Emotion Regulation and the Autism IPS National Steering Groups. Amelia completed her MA in Applied Psychology (Mental Health) and her BA (Hons) in Applied Psychology, both at University College Cork.

Ruth Cleary

Acting Senior Clinical Psychologist, Irish Prison Service, Ireland

Dr Ruth Cleary is an Acting Senior Clinical Psychologist in the Irish Prison Service’s (IPS) Psychology Service. She completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Limerick. Prior to this, Ruth completed her MSc in Psychological Research at the University of Edinburgh and her BA in Psychology at University College Dublin.

YingYing Long

Senior Assistant Director, Corporate Communications and Relations, Singapore Prison Service, Singapore

With over 13 years of experience as a prison officer with the Singapore Prison Service (SPS), YingYing is deeply committed to improving public safety through effective offender management, rehabilitation, and reintegration. 
Throughout her career at SPS, she has worked directly with offenders, developed and implemented operational and rehabilitation policies, and collaborated with volunteers and community partners to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. In her current role in corporate communications, YingYing focuses on enhancing public trust and perception through strategic internal and external communication efforts. She has also led and mentored prison officers, providing leadership in the often high-stress prison environment.
Recognising the pressures faced by prison officers, YingYing is particularly passionate about improving officer wellbeing. Her work in organisational justice reflects her passion for fostering more supportive environments within the prison system to enhance the wellbeing of prison officers. 
YingYing holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Carrie Pettus

CEO, Wellbeing & Equity Innovations, United States

DR. CARRIE PETTUS is a visionary social work scholar and innovator dedicated to advancing social equity and justice within criminal justice systems. She is the Founder and CEO of Wellbeing & Equity Innovations, a national equity-centered applied research nonprofit that collaborates with justice and community partners to improve outcomes through research-practitioner partnerships. Her work focuses on areas such as diversion and deflection, community violence, social support, trauma, behavioral health, and practices that improve the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.
Dr. Pettus has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles, and her research has been featured in top-tier outlets such as USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Christian Science Monitor. She is a sought-after speaker, having presented at over 150 national and international events and conferences. Throughout her career, Dr. Pettus has led initiatives aimed at using science and data to promote wellbeing and social equity. Her dedication to data justice and addressing racial and other social inequities in research is evident in her leadership as the Chair of the Grand Challenges for Social Work.
Dr. Pettus holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work, an M.S.W. from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, and dual B.A. degrees in Social Welfare and Psychology from the University of Kansas. She has served as a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis and Florida State University, where she ran research labs and contributed to the advancement of social work education and research.

Dawn-Renee Smith

Deputy Director, Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, United States

Dawn-Renee Smith has served as a deputy director of Nebraska Department of Correctional Services since 2018. In this role, she provides oversight to the rehabilitative services division, which is focused on preparing individuals for release and includes the areas of classification and transportation, volunteers, non-clinical programming, education, vocational and life skills, reentry services, correctional industries and research. 
Under Smith’s leadership, the rehabilitative services division has implemented innovative ways to reach the population with programming, education and reentry services, including digital learning and interactive resources.  
Smith started her career with NDCS in 2005 as a caseworker at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution (TSCI). Since then, she has managed the agency’s legislative and communications divisions and served as the administrator for reentry services. Prior to being named deputy director, Smith served as chief of staff, providing oversight of research, communications, legislation and policy development and accreditation.
Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and has extensive experience in human services, with an emphasis in behavioral health, grant writing and fundraising.