Dee Mandiyan (they/them) has been the Senior Program Manager of the Youth Justice Board since 2018. They oversee curriculum development and implementation, partnership building, communications, and Board-led research. At the Center for Court Innovation, Dee is currently a chair of the LGBTQ Working Group, which seeks to improve the Center’s practices and relationships with LGBTQ-identifying clients and employees.
Dee earned their BA in Psychology and English from Amherst College in 2010 and their MA in Human Development and Social Intervention from New York University in 2016. Before joining the Center for Court Innovation, Dee researched the impacts of gender-specific interventions in the juvenile justice system. They also have experience running an LGBTQ student center within the CUNY system, teaching SAT/PSAT prep, and planning events for non-profits.
“I’m sort of like a drug court mechanic trying to upgrade the field’s standard practices to help reduce potential harms.” Before joining the Center for Court Innovation three years ago, Dave Lucas was an addiction therapist in Toronto, Canada for nearly a decade. Dave has brought his experience working with drug court clients to the Center’s Technical Assistance team where he serves as a clinical advisor for treatment courts, working with judges, attorneys, law enforcement, and clinicians across the country to share substance use treatment best practices and foster health equity.
“I feel called to advocate for the dignity and health of individuals, families, and communities.” Alejandra Garcia works to build strong communities, fulfilling a lifelong goal of transforming the criminal justice system. As a senior program manager with the Center for Court Innovation’s treatment courts team, Alejandra partners with local and national justice system practitioners to improve their drug treatment courts, develop statewide plans to address substance use, and implement opioid courts.
