Shirley Sullivan

Originally from Connecticut, Shirley Sullivan is the Program Coordinator for Cheshire CI with the Wesleyan Center for Prison Education. She is a Wesleyan University alumna, having earned her BA in Dance and Psychology with a minor in Education Studies. She continues her practice as a dance artist outside of work, currently teaching as a Visiting Instructor of Dance with the Wesleyan Dance Department. Throughout her Wesleyan career and beyond, Shirley’s choreographic work has been politically and socially driven, with her senior capstone focusing on mass incarceration and injustices in the carceral system, leading to her becoming the Center for Prison Education Fellow at Wesleyan University in 2021. After two years as the Fellow, she moved into the CPE Program Coordinator position and now manages DOC communications, faculty/student support, and logistical operations in Cheshire Correctional Institute, as well as operates as primary Wesleyan on-campus undergraduate support for TAs in both facilities. Shirley comes from a justice-impacted family and values her work with the CPE because it allows for her to provide support directly to her own communities in a way that she believes can lead to lasting change.