Christine Cole is an independent expert in community safety, police reform, and adult justice reform. Previously, Cole was the executive director and vice president of the Crime and Justice Institute at CRJ, where she oversaw multiple project teams, a total of 47 staff, including the internal Standards and Quality Assurance Unit, and managed $7.8M in research and technical assistance projects across all facets of the justice and safety sector. Cole previously ran the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at Harvard Kennedy School and served as chief of staff for the Secretary of the MA Executive Office of Public Safety where she led and monitored policy and operational reform efforts throughout 14 state agencies and 22 commissions. In her capacity as chief of staff, she served as the liaison to the Secretary of Public Safety and Governor’s Chief of Staff on the administrative investigation of a high-profile in-prison homicide.
During her more than 30 years in the sector, she has worked in local, regional and state levels of government in policing, institutional and community-based corrections, victim advocacy, community organizing, and emergency response planning as well as working as part of a prosecution team. She has extensive experience as a collaborator and facilitator with practitioners, community members, and academics. She has previously worked on safety and justice reform in Africa, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific dedicated toward measurement of system improvement and reform.
