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Rebekah Thomas, MA

Senior Research Associate
Via Evaluation, United States

Rebekah Thomas has a Master of Arts in History and is a Senior Research Associate at Via Evaluation. Rebekah has worked and volunteered for multiple community-based organizations focused on providing equitable access to education, reforming the criminal justice system, and supporting youth in foster care.

As a graduate student, Rebekah served as an AmeriCorps ABLE member at Upward Bound at D’Youville College, where she taught classes in college preparation and financial literacy and tutored students who were preparing for the U.S. History and Government and Global History Regents Examinations. During this time, she also worked as an academic tutor at an innovative college program designed specifically for English language learners.

After completing her master’s degree, Rebekah spent a year working for the New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, where she educated community members about the use of solitary confinement in New York State and advocated for the passage of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act. Her burgeoning interest in criminal justice reform led her to take a position first as the coordinator and later the director of an Associate of Arts degree program for justice-involved students. In addition to administering the program, she taught a variety of courses in history and political science there.

In 2020, Rebekah’s passion for equitable access to education and criminal justice reform led her to co-edit a volume of best practices for college-in-prison programs and for institutions of higher education seeking to serve returning citizens more effectively. She continues to provide advice and support to new and emerging college-in-prison programs.

In her spare time, Rebekah serves as a board member at Homespace, an organization that supports youth in foster care and their children by providing housing, programming focused on developing independent-living skills, and clinical services.

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