About TUPIT – Our Team

Hilary Binda
Founder and Executive Director
 
Hilary Binda is the Founder and Executive Director of the Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT) and its MyTERN College and Reentry program at Tufts. With a PhD in English Literature and as a member of the Civic Studies Department at Tufts University, she teaches Literature and theory, Carceral Studies, and Gender Studies at Tufts and in the degree program inside. She is a co-producer of the MyTERN Conversations podcast and a founder and co-editor of the national journal ReSentencing that includes art and writing by people directly impacted by the legal system across the country. Her program directorships, teaching, as well as her current program-impact research, aims to support the development of educational access, racial and economic equity, decarceration, and decriminalization.

David Delvalle
Education and Reentry Director
 
David Delvalle is the Education and Reentry Director of the Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT) and its MyTERN College and Reentry program at Tufts. Originally from Lowell, MA, David is also a Tufts bachelor’s degree student who started the program while serving time. He is a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform and a skilled public speaker and state-wide and national organizer. David’s activities include community involvement in the growing reentry network in the Commonwealth, where he also aims to have an impact on youth development and food justice. He works in student outreach at his alma mater, Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School.

Melanie MacFarlane
Deputy Director

Melanie MacFarlane is the Deputy Director of the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College (TUPIT), where she leads strategic partnerships, program development, and operations to expand access to higher education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. With a background in education innovation and nonprofit leadership, Melanie works to strengthen pathways from prison classrooms to college campuses and meaningful careers. She collaborates closely with faculty, students, and community partners to advance TUPIT’s mission of creating transformative educational pathways for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.