Board, Staff, and Teachers
BOARD
Gary Idleburg
Gary is co-founder of University Beyond Bars and teaches African American History at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe, WA. Gary has served on the board of UBB since its inception.
Gary is the host of America’s Disappeared radio show on KSER 90.7fm. On the first Monday of each month, America’s Disappeared looks at the justice and criminal punishment system in America and its effect on human lives. Featured guests and aired lectures have included academic-activist Angela Davis, anti-death penalty campaigner Sister Helen Prejean, prison reform activist Dorothy Gaines, Washington State Senator Adam Kline, education advocate Professor Khalil Osiris and many others engaged in law, policy, social justice, education and activism.
Gary has a B.S. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters in City Planning from Boston University. He currently works as an urban planner for a municipality in Washington State.
Vik Bahl
Vik Bahl received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a faculty member in the English department at Green River Community College in Auburn, WA. His teaching and research interests include ethnic and post-colonial literatures, culture studies, and social movements.
Kelly Canary
Kelly Canary graduated from the UW School of Law in 2007 and worked as both a state and federal public defender. She has worked as a staff attorney at the Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW) Clinic at the University of Washington School of Law.
Mike Katell
Mike works at Columbia Legal Services as the IT Manager. He has worked in legal services since 2002. Mike is the Chair of the UBB Board.
Tom Ewell
Tom is retired after twenty years as Executive Director of the Maine Council of Churches where he focused on criminal justice reform. He is presently promoting criminal justice reform at state and county levels in Washington through his leadership in the Friends Committee on Washington Public Policy and his position on the Law and Justice Commission in Island County.
Darel Grothaus
Former head of the Washington Association of Churches, Darel teaches the History of Genesis for UBB and also sponsors the Concerned Lifers Organization here at WSR.
Kenneth Himma
Ken is a well known scholar in philosophy, having published nearly 100 articles in books and peer-review journals on a number of topics. He formerly taught in the philosophy department at Seattle Pacific University and in the philosophy department, information school and law school at the University of Washington. His research specialties are philosophy of law, information and computer ethics, and philosophy of religion. He teaches philosophy and logic for UBB.
Simba Rusike
Simba Rusike is the Finance Director at Consejo Counseling and Referral Service a non-profit mental health agency. Simba has a BA in Accounting and Finance and a minor in Economics from Seattle University. He has over six years of experience working in public accounting and in private industry. Simba is a Certified Public Accountant registered in the State of Washington.
STAFF
Carol Estes – Executive Director
Carol is the co-founder of University Beyond Bars.
An award-winning writer and editor, Carol has taught writing and literature courses at the University of Kansas and Viterbo College in Wisconsin. For the last nine years, she has taught college classes at Washington State Reformatory. Carol has published numerous articles in a variety of magazines and served as managing editor of YES! magazine.
Between January to April, when the state legislature is in session, Carol also works as the policy advocate and legislative analyst for the Friends Committee on Washington Public Policy, a statewide Quaker organization that advocates for criminal justice reform.
In 2010, Carol Estes and UBB were awarded the Ecumenical and Interfaith Leadership Award by the Washington Association of Churches.
For the past six years, Carol Estes and Gary Idleburg have presided over the growth of UBB from a single business class with four students to a nationally recognized program that enrolls close to 200 inmates in two prisons. Through Ohio University, UBB has awarded more than 2,000 hours of college credit to prisoners — at no cost to taxpayers or to prisoners themselves.
Sarah Frost – Operations Manager
A social worker by training, Sarah holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington.
Stacey Reeh – Program Manager
Stacey received her J.D. in 2008 and her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology in 2005. She has experience helping men and women transition from prison into the community, and her research in law school focused on the correctional system, prisoner needs, and alternatives to incarceration.
Amy Robertson – Volunteer Accountant
Amy is a commercial credit underwriter for Liberty Bay Bank in Poulsbo, Washington. She has worked in banking for thirteen years in almost all areas of the bank. She has an MBA as well as a masters in French horn performance.
TEACHERS
Barbara Bennett
Barbara is a psychologist for Seattle schools and head of their program for children of incarcerated parents. She teaches parenting and psychology for UBB.
Joe Brotherton
Joe is an attorney, CPA, and Seattle businessman. He has sponsored the the Concerned Lifers Organization at WSR for 4 years. He has taught at the University of Washington for over 25 years as well as at Seattle Central and North Seattle Community Colleges, Cornish College of the Arts, and Seattle University. Joe regularly lectures nationally and is currently teaching at the UW School of Law.
Annie Dwyer
Annie is a graduate student in English at the University of Washington. She has worked as the English department liaison for the UW in the High Schools Program and has taught ABE, GED, and ESL classes in Seattle, as well. She currently teaches composition and literature classes at the University of Washington.
Ayana Carroll
Ayana assists in study hall for UBB.
Jake Cooper
Jake previously worked at NASA Ames and for the SETI Institute (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in biology at the University of Washington. He teaches Astronomy for UBB.
Larry Daloz
Larry is a former Professor in Adult Development in masculine formation. He will be leading a 6-part series on Men’s Development.
Adel Gawdat
Adel is a computer programmer. He is a graduate of Duke University and has experience as a TA in computer science, math, physics, and economics. He teaches College Prep Math for UBB.
Darel Grothaus
Darel teaches ‘A History of Genesis’ for UBB and also sponsors the Concerned Lifers Organization at WSR.
Gillian Harkins
Gillian is associate professor and director of Undergraduate Programs in English at the University of Washington and teaches composition and literature for UBB. She is also the chair of the Education Advisory Committee for UBB.
Lorelle Jabs
Lorelle’s teacher interests include Conflict Management,Organizational Communication, and Cultural Communication. Her research has primarily focused on intractable and/or interpesonal conflict in Karmoja, Uganda and the United States. She has traveled widely and has spent several summer in East Africa among the pastoralist people of Uganda and Kenya.
Dickey Nesenger
Dickey worked in the film industry for 17 years as a script supervisor before turning her attention to playwriting and teaching. Dickey teaches creative writing, film history, and dramatic literature at Antioch University, Richard Hugo House, Freehold Theatre, and Northwest Film Forum.
Roger Sale
Roger is professor emeritus of English literature at the University of Washington. He teaches Shakespeare and advanced literature and research for UBB.
Gilda Sheppard
Gilda is a filmmaker as well as a professor of sociology at Evergreen College. She teaches introduction to sociology and the sociology of deviance for UBB.
Ed Tellman
Ed is a software engineer with an MS in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He enjoys playing cello in his spare time, and occasionally brings his instrument into the prison to subject to subject the prisoners to a little classical music. He teaches math and science for UBB.
Joe Walch
Joe is a 2005 graduate from the University of Texas in Austin with a B.A. in Sociology. Joe is in the graduate program for Sociology at the University of Washington. Prior to graduate school, he taught high school algebra, geometry, pre-calculus, and physical science. He teaches College Prep Math and Statistics for UBB.