Amy L. Solomon is a senior leader and policy entrepreneur with deep experience in government, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sectors. Most recently, Solomon served as Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) at the U.S. Department of Justice. Nominated by President Biden and confirmed by a bipartisan vote of the US Senate, Solomon headed DOJ’s largest grantmaking entity, leading an 800-person workforce and overseeing about $5 billion annually in grants to support state and local criminal justice efforts and to generate research and statistics to inform national policy and practice. During her three-plus year tenure leading OJP, Solomon spearheaded a broad range of strategies and investments to build knowledge, advance community safety, and serve victims. She also led an unprecedented effort to reimagine OJP’s mission and investment strategy to center the role of communities as co-producers of safety and justice.
Previously, Solomon was Vice President of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures, where she launched and led a corrections reform portfolio, which aimed to transform the culture of prisons; spark a fundamental shift in the focus of community supervision from catching failure to promoting success; and address economic mobility for people with criminal records.
From 2010 to 2017, Solomon served as director of policy for OJP and as senior advisor to OJP’s Assistant Attorney General. She concurrently served as executive director of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a cabinet-level body established by President Obama comprising more than 20 federal agencies. The Council spearheaded successful policy reforms including the federal Ban the Box rule, fair housing guidance, the Second Chance Pell initiative and Medicaid guidance for the justice-involved population.
Solomon previously spent 10 years at the Urban Institute, directing projects relating to prisoner reentry and public safety. She also worked at the National Institute of Justice, managed a community service program for justice-involved individuals; developed reentry strategies for a state department of correction; and worked with juveniles in probation, halfway house, and school settings.
Solomon has served on numerous boards and advisory councils, helping shape innovative approaches to social justice challenges in collaboration with policymakers and practitioners, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, researchers and the advocacy community. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan.
