The Justice Collaboratory Announces New Executive Director

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The Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School is excited to announce the hiring of Caroline Nobo Sarnoff as its new Executive Director. Sarnoff’s history as a criminologist and experience with innovative criminal justice research and data collection strategies made her the right fit to oversee the Justice Collaboratory’s current projects and future endeavors. In making their final decision to hire her, founding directors Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler pointed to Sarnoff’s rich background in criminal justice policy and nonprofit leadership, as well as her impressive exposure to varied criminal justice stakeholders.

Sarnoff was formerly the Director of Data Outreach for the non-profit Measures for Justice (MJF) – a groundbreaking research organization built to assess and compare the criminal justice process from arrest to post-conviction on a county-by-county basis. Sarnoff was an original member of the start-up and ultimately became a critical leader in charge of the design, scale, and implementation of MFJ's national data collection plan. At MFJ, Sarnoff developed a unique skill for connecting with local practitioners through storytelling. Her continuing goal is to increase criminal justice participation in the larger data transparency movement.

Prior to working at Measures for Justice, Sarnoff was a Senior Analyst at Abt Associates — a well-known research, evaluation and program firm in Cambridge, MA. While at Abt she specialized in drug control policy research, and was the National Site Liaison for the ADAM II program — where she lead data collection in ten major county jails, including Cook and Manhattan counties. She worked on several projects with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the White House.

In addition, Sarnoff has written on the policing of natural disasters, sits on the board for a Connecticut non-profit (CLICC: Connecting through Literacy: Incarcerated parents, their Children, and Caregivers), and is a frequent speaker at conferences – discussing strategies for data-informed criminal justice policy. She began her career as a Research Assistant at both the University of Pennsylvania’s (PENN) School of Social Policy and Practice and at Arizona State University’s (ASU) Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety.

Sarnoff holds a Master in Science in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Sociology from Mount Holyoke College.  She lives in New York with her husband.