Community Safety Advocates Named to Yale Public Safety Advisory Board

Dr. Phillip Atiba Solomon (f.k.a. Goff) is the Carl I. Hovland Professor of Black Studies and Professor of Psychology at Yale University. He received his A.B. from Harvard and Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford. A national leader in the science of racial bias, he pioneered scientific experiments that exposed how our minds learn to associate Blackness and crime — often with deadly consequences. Dr. Solomon co-founded the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) in 2008 as a research and action center at UCLA. It has become the nation’s leading organization working to eliminate racism in public safety, through research, data-driven interventions, and community-centered redesigns of public safety systems. CPE also hosts the world’s largest collection of police behavioral data—the National Science Foundation-funded National Justice Database—which serves as a tool to reduce burdensome and inequitable policing. Dr. Solomon’s many awards include the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy. He regularly provides media commentary and was a panelist for President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing

Tom R. Tyler is the Macklin Fleming Emeritus Professor of Law at Yale Law School, as well as a founding director of The Justice Collaboratory. Tyler’s research explores the dynamics of authority in people’s relationships with groups, organizations, communities, and societies. In particular, he examines the role of judgments about the justice or injustice of group procedures in shaping legitimacy, compliance, cooperation, and engagement. He is the author of several books, including Why People Obey the Law (1990, 2006) and Legitimacy-based Policing and the Promotion of Community Vitality (2022). Tyler has received worldwide recognition, including being honored by the International Society for Justice Research with its Lifetime Achievement Award for innovative research on social justice. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Columbia and an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. After working for several decades with police departments throughout the United States, he is pleased to have the opportunity to work through the Public Safety Advisory Board to address ongoing issues of public safety in the Yale community.

Amy Myers is Project Manager at the EMSC Innovation & Improvement Center, a federal collaborative agreement through Yale’s School of Medicine. Since joining Yale in 2022, she has been a part of communications strategies for 57 state programs, developing tools and dashboards to enhance real-time engagement and alignment with national initiatives. Before Yale, Myers held leadership roles in communications, operations, and marketing across nonprofits and corporate sectors, including CT Folk, Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven, The Star Supply Company, and Conference Center Consulting Group. A graduate of Albertus Magnus College, Myers brings a strong background in social sciences combined with expertise in digital marketing, fundraising platforms, and stakeholder engagement. Myers is passionate about building systems that ensure safe, coordinated emergency response for all communities. She is looking forward to serving on the Public Safety Advisory Board to contribute her expertise in communication strategy, project management, and cross-sector collaboration to advance equitable and effective public safety initiatives.

Rev. Ian Oliver is Senior Associate Chaplain and Pastor at Yale. He has served at Yale for eighteen years as Pastor at Battell Chapel, as liaison to local churches and campus Christian groups, and as one of several chaplains to the general campus community. Oliver also teaches a course on inter-religious community building at Yale Divinity School. Before Yale, he was Chaplain at Bucknell University and at Kodaikanal International School in India. A native of El Paso, Texas, Oliver graduated from Amherst College and the University of Chicago Divinity School. He looks forward to serving on the PSAB to seek to be a bridge between the campus, the community, and our public safety offices.

Ahsan Ahmad is a Master of Public Health candidate at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) with dual concentrations in applied analytics and epidemiology, and health policy. He also serves as a Research Fellow at the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School and as a Cultivating Conversation Fellow in the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life. Last year, he served as a senator representing YSPH at the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS). In addition to his academic work, he is the Scientific Manager for Infection and Immunity at the Yale School of Medicine. He previously led the implementation of epidemiological studies in the Malaysian criminal justice system as a Research Associate, while serving as Programme Director for the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) for Prison Reform. Ahmad believes that trust, transparency, and evidence-based practice are essential to advancing community wellness. In this board role, he hopes to help strengthen Yale’s culture of safety, equity, and collaboration with the broader New Haven community.

Michelle Jimenez is a sophomore in Pauli Murray College. She is majoring in Economics and Global Affairs, and cares deeply about fostering a positive relationship between New Haven and Yale. Jimenez believes this begins with open conversations and collaboration, and she’s happy to serve on this board to help facilitate that. As someone deeply involved with her hometown community of El Paso, Texas, she recognizes the importance of the collaboration between the city and the university. She is very excited to work with everyone to help achieve that.

Matthew Wang is a graduate student in the department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University, conducting research at the intersection of RNA biology and lung cancer. Wang is also a two-term member of the Yale Graduate Student Assembly and is currently serving on the Assembly’s Transit and Security Committee. A frequent traveler in New Haven, Wang is looking forward to synthesizing the combined input of community members, from Yale faculty to staff to students to New Haven residents, to craft a strategy for safety and security at Yale that works for everyone, regardless of who they are or how they’ve experienced security measures around Yale in the past.

Evelise Ribeiro is a lifelong member of the New Haven community. She works at the Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of New Haven as the Director of Compliance and Moving to Work Initiatives. Currently, she is Chairperson of the Board of Police Commissioners of the New Haven Police Department (NHPD) and the Traffic and Parking Board, respectively, where she leads the Commission and Traffic and Parking Board and works closely with the Chief and Assistant Chiefs in setting department policy and hiring for the NHPD to enhance the partnership with THE community. She is also the Vice Chair/Trustee of the Police and Fire Retirement Fund Board and previously served as a Mayoral Appointee to the Civilian Review Board. She graduated from Hopkins School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and African American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of New Haven.

John Barden was appointed the Vice President of Technology and Campus Services at Yale in October 2023 and leads operational units across security, hospitality, administrative services, operations portfolio management, and information technology. He also serves as the university’s Chief Information Officer. Prior to this appointment, Barden served as the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer for Yale, beginning in 2017. Over those six years, he significantly reshaped the information technology organization of Yale, creating a more integrated planning model across all technology units, strengthening standards and operational practices, building programs to support a more diverse and inclusive workforce, and improving the capability and consistency of delivery of enabling technologies necessary to support Yale’s broad aspirations. Barden began his career as a consultant with Arthur Andersen with an emphasis on information technology re-engineering and major technology-enabled process improvement projects. His consulting experience spanned a variety of industries, including higher education and healthcare. Following those roles, Barden worked as the Deputy Chief Information Officer at the University of Rochester.

Duane Lovello is the Head of Public Safety responsible for its four verticals: Police, Security, Emergency Management, and Systems. Lovello began his career at Yale in 2018 as the director of security operations and was subsequently named director of security. He previously served as chief of police in Darien. Lovello holds a B.S. degree from the University of New Haven and a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law. He is a graduate of the 215th Session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA. Lovello served as the chairman of the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POSTC), and president of the Fairfield County Chiefs of Police Association, the Darien Police Association, and the Fairfield County Detectives Conference. As chair of POSTC’s Use of Force sub-committee, he was tasked with developing a statewide standardized use of force policy and training curriculum. In 2021, Governor Ned Lamont appointed him to the Hate Crimes Advisory Council, where he presented a policy and reporting form that was unanimously approved by POSTC, positioning Connecticut as a leader in best practices.