Staff Bio/Contact

Tamika Edwards
Executive Director
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext 202
Ms. Edwards received her B.A. in Legal Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1996 and her J.D. from New England School of Law in 1999. She worked at Legal Outreach from 1999-2009 in several capacities, including Coordinator and Director of Legal Education, Saturday Writing Program instructor, and Queens Site Director. From 2009-2012 Ms. Edwards worked at Advocates for Children as an Education Specialist and Staff Attorney before rejoining Legal Outreach in 2012.

Bethsheba Cooper
EVP / Co-Director and Managing Director of College Access
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 203
Ms. Cooper has been with Legal Outreach for thirty-nine years and has served in numerous capacities in helping to build and establish the various components of the Law-Related Education and College Bound Programs. She is a recipient of the PASEsetter Award for excellence in After-School education. She is a 1981 graduate of Southern California College with a B.A. in English. Previous to her tenure with Legal Outreach, Ms. Cooper worked in ministry with Voice of Calvary, a community development organization in Jackson, Mississippi.

Massiel Ramos
AVP / Managing Director of Program Operations
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 201
Ms. Ramos received her B.A. from Emory University in 2011, and her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 2015. While in law school, Ms. Ramos was the recipient of the Edward V. Sparer Fellowship and the Equal Justice America Fellowship allowing her to work with underserved communities in New York City. As an alumna, of the Summer Law Institute and the College Bound program, she has remained connected to Legal Outreach through volunteer work as a college access intern while in college and as a debate coach during law school. Recognizing the immense value that Legal Outreach has added to her life, upon graduating from law school, she has returned to serve Legal Outreach students and alumni full-time.

James O’Neal
Co-Founder / Senior Specialist
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 215
In August 2023, he stepped down as the Executive Director having served Legal Outreach in that capacity for 40 years. In 1982, Mr. O’Neal received the Harvard Fellowship in Public Interest Law and co-founded Legal Outreach in 1983. He became a Columbia University Charles Revson Fellow in 1990. Mr. O’Neal attended Oxford College of Emory University, A.A., 1977; Emory College, Emory University, B.A.,1979, Political Science; and Harvard Law School, J.D.,1982.

Pebbles Angella Byndloss
AVP / Director of Finance and Operations
Email Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 214
Ms Byndloss joined the Legal Outreach Family in Spring 2012, with over sixteen years of banking and accounting experience. She has worked in both corporate for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Ms. Byndloss believes job performance reflects the person, and takes great pride in performing all tasks – menial to managerial – with diligence, pride, and efficiency. Ms. Byndloss is a graduate of CUNY York College.

Alfas Miah
AVP / Director of Information Technology
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 205
Mr. Miah began working with Legal Outreach in 2006 as an Assistant for the College Bound and Law-Related Education programs in Manhattan and Queens. In 2009 he officially became the Director of IT, managing the organization’s information technology infrastructure. He develops and maintains various applications and systems, providing technical and administrative support for programs. He graduated from John Jay College, summa cum laude, with a B.A. in Public Administration.

Rhiannon Connor
Executive Assistant
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 221
Ms. Connor graduated from Vassar College in May 2022, where she studied Africana Studies with a focus in Prison Studies. While at Vassar, Ms. Connor was a part of the Transitions Program for first-generation & low income college students, the Multiracial and Biracial Students’ Alliance, and also served as a trained facilitator for Intergroup Dialogue on Race and Migration. Ms. Connor joined Legal Outreach in 2023 as an Executive Assistant, and currently provides administrative and organizational support to the Executive Director. She is excited to be a part of the Legal Outreach team and larger community, and looks forward to continuing to build her tool set within community advocacy and social justice.

Craig Livermore
Grant Writer
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 212
Mr. Livermore received a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College, MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and JD from Columbia Law School. Mr. Livermore volunteered for Legal Outreach while in law school, and later worked as a Law-Related Education Coordinator. In 2006, with Legal Outreach’s help, he founded NJ LEEP [NJ Law and Education Empowerment Project] in Newark based upon the Legal Outreach College Bound Program model. He has returned home to help Legal Outreach expand its programs to transform the lives of more youth and families.

Claire Lindsay
Senior Communications and Development Coordinator
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 206
Ms. Lindsay received her BA in American Studies at Skidmore College in 2016. While attending Skidmore, she participated in the Kenneth Frierich Business Plan Competition where she presented a plan for a nonprofit agricultural community center based on the farms she had been working for throughout her undergraduate career. She was awarded a grant to establish the center. This experience inspired her to get a Masters degree in policy and nonprofit management. In May of 2019, she received her MS in Public Policy with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from Hunter College, graduating with honors. Her goal is to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector working for organizations that seek to empower communities.

Josh Myers
Co-Director of Law-Related Education
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 208
Mr. Myers received his B.A. in English, with minors in Sociology and LGBTQ Studies, from Montclair State University in 2010. Prior to Legal Outreach, he worked as a non-profit Youth Program Director and as a high school English Teacher in Newark, New Jersey. During his teaching tenure, he completed Teach For America’s Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Fellowship and Leadership for Educational Equity’s Policy and Advocacy Summer Fellowship. Mr. Myers’ experiences made him realize how necessary it is for students and families from marginalized communities to understand the laws that enable our education system, and felt that Legal Outreach is uniquely suited to fulfilling that need.

Brandon Kronstat
Co-Director of Law-Related Education
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 210
Mr. Kronstat is a former appellate public defender. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Delaware in 2012, and his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2020, where he graduated magna cum laude. Prior to joining Legal Outreach, Mr. Kronstat has worked with the Innocence Project, Beldock Levine & Hoffman, the Legal Aid Society, and Appellate Advocates.

Aiasiah Corbett-Jeudy
Partnerships Coordinator
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 211
Ms. Corbett-Jeudy graduated from The State University of New York College at Oneonta in May of 2021. She received her B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology. During her studies, she also picked up a second major in Africana and Latinx Studies with a concentration in Social Justice. Throughout her undergraduate career, she was actively involved on campus holding many student leadership roles, participating in various student organizations, and becoming a sister of Omega Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Ms. Corbett-Jeudy joined the Legal Outreach Law-Related Education team in 2021 with hopes of providing more opportunities to the community.

Gabrielle Melms
Law-Related Education Program Assistant
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 213
Ms. Melms graduated summa cum laude from Drake University in May 2022. She received her B.A. in Law, Politics, & Society and Rhetoric, Media, & Social Change. At Drake, she worked at a law firm, for a community press, and in non-proliferation. Ms. Melms joined the Legal Outreach Law-Related Education team in 2022, ecstatic to apply her passions for law and social change to transform the lives of NYC students.

Dan Bautista
Senior Director of Writing and SAT
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 216
Dr. Bautista received a B.A. from Columbia University in 1991 and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Brown University in 2004, all in Comparative Literature. Prior to joining Legal Outreach in 2015, he taught as a Lecturer in the History and Literature program at Harvard University, as an Adjunct and Assistant Professor of English at Lehman College, CUNY, and as an Instructor for the Columbia University Summer High School Program.

Alexandra Irkaeva
Assistant Director of SWC and SAT
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 209
Ms. Irkaeva graduated from Hunter College in 2015 with a degree in history. From 2013 to 2017, she taught and tutored for The Princeton Review on a variety of subjects, including the SAT and ACT exams. She has also volunteered and acted as an Education Coordinator for Generation Citizen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing civics education to underserved high schools across the country. Her ultimate goal is to become a social studies and English teacher.

Cheyenne Palacio-McCarthy
Academic Support Coordinator
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 225
Ms. McCarthy received her B.A. in Applied Theater for Social and Political Re-Imaginings from Hampshire College in May of 2019. As an undergraduate, Ms.McCarthy worked as an on-campus peer mentor and workshop facilitator. She also served as part of the teaching team of a new course at Hampshire College called Praxis: Collaborative Learning for Social Change, which she helped develop and co-facilitate. Ms.McCarthy works with the Academic Support Team as an Academic Advisor. As a Legal Outreach alumna, Ms. McCarthy is delighted to be able to motivate students. She is confident that with the right encouragement, students will fully utilize the resources at Legal Outreach.

Karen Boateng
College Access Coordinator
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 217
Ms. Boateng received her B.A. from Tufts University in 2023, where she majored in Child Studies and Human Development. This interdisciplinary field focuses on making an impact in the lives of children, youth, and families. Ms.Boateng is passionate about education and seeks to make an impact in the lives of youth through the non-profit & educational sectors. As an alumnus of the Legal Outreach Program, Ms.Boateng has seen the value of the Legal Outreach program on youth like herself, especially in underserved communities. She currently works as a College Access Coordinator in the College Bound Program, assisting rising seniors in the college process.

Alaina McGowen
Director of Civic Engagement
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 227
Ms. McGowen received her A.B. from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 2021. Her degree focused on race, ethnicity, and discrimination, leading her to earn a separate certificate (minor) in African American Studies. While attending Princeton, Ms. McGowen worked as a research associate for the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab analyzing data justice and was active in student organizing. Ms. McGowen volunteered at Legal Outreach as a Summer SAT Instructor in 2019 and now serves as the Director of Civic Engagement and Social Justice. Her goal is to attend law school and pursue a career focused on civil rights.

Tahj Brown
PACT Leader
E-mail Me | 718-752-0222 Ext. 218
Mr. Brown is a Legal Outreach alum who graduated from the program in 2016. He then went on to receive his BA in Philosophy from Colby College in 2020. While attending Colby, he was a member of the Student of Black and Latinx Unity. He has tutored SWC Grammar at Legal Outreach the summer of 2016, and returned as a summer College Advisor at Legal Outreach the summer of 2018. Now, he is focused on giving back to the community which gave back to him and wishes to further his career in education.