Current Fellows

  • Julie Cousler Emig

    Julie Cousler Emig

    Julie Cousler Emig is a Policy Fellow for the Stoneleigh Center working with the City of Philadelphia to develop a citywide truancy plan, to dramatically improve the city's graduation rate. She is working with the Mayor's Office of Education, the Philadelphia School District, Philadelphia's Department of Human Services, and Philadelphia Family Court to assess, enhance and coordinate existing prevention and intervention efforts related to truancy. The overall goal of the fellowship is to improve the educational outcomes of Philadelphia's public school students.


  • Wanja Ogongi

    Wanja Ogongi, Junior Fellow

    Wanja Ogongi has joined the Family Advocacy Unit of Community Legal Services, Inc. (CLS) as a Stoneleigh Junior Fellow. Wanja is working with CLS to examine the high rate of children returning to foster care within one year of being reunified with their families. 

  • ELC_Logo.gif

    Arley Styer

    Arley  joined the Education Law Center (ELC) as a Stoneleigh Center Junior Fellow beginning July 1, 2009. During her Fellowship, Arley will be working with the ELC to help examine the educational experiences of children taught in group homes, residential treatment facilities (RTF) and day mental health treatment programs. 

  • Danielle Sered

    Danielle Sered, MA, MFA

    Danielle Sered has spent her professional career working to improve life outcomes for young people involved in the criminal justice system.  In collaboration with the Vera Institute of Justice, Danielle is working in Brooklyn, New York, to implement and test a new alternative-to-incarceration model for young people convicted of felonies, which involves dialogue with, and restitution to, those harmed by violence.  She began her fellowship in January 2009.

  • Gregg Volz

    Gregory Volz, Esquire

    Gregg Volz is a public interest lawyer who has dedicated the last 11 years of his professional life to improving the lives of citizens in the City of Chester, Pennsylvania.  During his fellowship beginning in January 2009, he will be working in Chester to develop school- and community-based youth courts, which focus on restorative justice, education, and the development of life skills as an alternative to the traditional juvenile justice and school disciplinary systems. 

  • Christine Trinkl Dougherty

    Christine Trinkl Dougherty, Esquire

    Our first fellow appointed through the 2007 competitive application process is Christine Trinkl Dougherty, a public interest lawyer sponsored by the Support Center for Child Advocates. Ms. Dougherty is working to improve the well-being of abused and neglected children by ensuring that the legal community advocates for the physical and mental health needs of these vulnerable young people.

  • Candace Putter

    Candace Putter, MSS, LCSW

    Candace Putter has worked for many years to improve the education and training that delinquent youth receive in placement, and to strengthen the services provided to them by the probation, human services, behavioral health, and education systems. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers, Ms. Putter is starting the Pennsylvania Academic and Career/Technical Training (PACTT) Project in April 2008.

  • Leslie Acoca

    Leslie Acoca, MA, MFT

    Leslie Acoca is dedicated to identifying and meeting the needs of women and girls in the criminal (adult) and juvenile justice systems. Her fellowship addresses the physical and mental health needs of the fastest growing segment of the juvenile justice population: girls. In collaboration with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, Ms. Acoca initiated the National Girls Health Screen Project (NGHSP). In 2008 she became a Stoneleigh Center Fellow to continue her work.

  • David Rubin

    David Rubin, MD, MSCE

    Our first invited fellow, appointed July 2007, is Dr. David Rubin, a pediatrician, Co-Director of PolicyLab at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. CHOP is also serving as the sponsoring organization for the project.  Dr. Rubin seeks to improve the health and well-being of children involved with the child welfare system—those receiving in-home child welfare services, kinship care, or foster care.


  • Kelly Siegel

    Kelly Siegel, MSW, LCSW Former Junior Fellow

    Kelly Siegel was our second Junior Fellow and was sponsored by Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY). She is interested in improving the environment in Philadelphia's public schools so that students can achieve greater success in school. Toward this end, she joined PCCY and other advocates in 2008 to implement Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBS) in several Philadelphia schools.

12next ›last »