Roslyn Walker

Project: Designing a mentorship program to help moms in New York City who have kids participating in college while also incarcerated in New York State prisons.

Roslyn Walker is a longstanding member of the Manhattan community. After serving decades within the government, Ms. Walker retired and returned to her passion for engaging with both younger and senior members of the Harlem community in which she was raised. Ms. Walker is currently active in the community with St. Luke Baptist Church, neighboring Columbia University in Morningside Heights. She's a senior member of the Church's New Disciples Team. Ms. Roslyn engages people as they embark on their journey of growing in their faith. She tremendously enjoys being a peer navigator across age groups. Ms. Walker believes that both a religious and post-secondary educated society promotes healthy relationships and healthy neighborhoods. Ms. Roslyn was honored for her hard work at St. Luke Baptist Church and received a citation from the New York State Assembly signed by Representative Al Taylor. 

As a Bundles Scholar, she will develop a research project centered on helping mothers provide academic support to their incarcerated children who are pursuing college. It is about designing a mentorship program to help moms in New York City who have kids participating in college while also incarcerated in New York State prisons.

The inspiration comes from Roslyn Walker, the visionary and project manager, who was on her own journey of helping her son with his college studies while he was in prison. The foundational information and best practices that will develop from this project reflect the hard work that both the Project Manager and her son put in for him to succeed, which has led to three college degrees including a Master's at Columbia University. However, it is ultimately the engagement with the "community of mothers" that will determine the best practices for the program. There will be small group workshops and one-on-one mentoring sessions to give ongoing support and resources to the moms in the program. There is a plan to make a user-friendly resource guide for mothers as they navigate college in prison and educational reentry in partnership with their children.