Center for Justice Innovation CEO Courtney Bryan has dedicated her career to supporting practical, evidence-based solutions that make communities safe, reduce the harms of justice system involvement, and promote equity and racial justice. In New York and nationally, she has worked with communities, court systems, and the public and private sectors to develop ground-breaking alternatives to incarceration, elevate the voices of those impacted by the justice system, and transform systems to build safety, strengthen communities, and increase fairness, transparency, and accountability.
In her work to reduce the justice system’s overreliance on incarceration, Bryan has served as the primary coordinator for the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, which successfully argued for closing the jails on Rikers Island. As a current Commissioner on the new Independent Rikers Commission, she is working to ensure the city carries out its plan to close Rikers Island and move incarcerated New Yorkers to smaller, more humane, borough-based jails. She has also played a key role in changing the justice system’s responses to those charged with prostitution, advocating for and helping develop new programs that treat those arrested as survivors rather than criminals.
As leader of the Center for Justice Innovation since 2020, Bryan has built on the Center’s three-decade track record to create one of the nation’s largest and most successful criminal justice reform organizations. She led the Center’s pivot during the Covid-19 pandemic to support communities in need of food, medical services, and housing security while also working with courts to ensure clients had access to virtual hearings and case management. Under her leadership, the Center has overseen the expansion of new programming, such as Supervised Release, eviction-prevention initiatives, and community-led public safety initiatives, while creating new supports for staff to promote professional development, enhance well-being, and increase diversity.
During her tenure, the Center’s staff has expanded by more than 50 percent to about 900 employees who work with communities to identify local challenges; create and operate innovative programs to address those challenges; conduct and analyze field-leading research to understand issues, opportunities, and solutions; and share promising practices with justice systems, governments, and communities to seed justice across the country and beyond.
Bryan’s commitment to criminal justice reform and community change was forged shortly after college when she worked at the Center (then called the Center for Court Innovation) as a Program Associate, where she learned firsthand about the importance of engaging communities in implementing lasting reforms. After graduating from Temple University School of Law, Bryan worked as a Public Defender for the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn and as a Staff Attorney at the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women in Philadelphia. She returned to the Center in 2008 to serve as Director of the Midtown Community Court. Prior to returning to run the Center in 2020, Bryan served as an executive at the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Foundation, which sought inclusive economic growth in communities worldwide by strengthening workforce systems, revitalizing neighborhoods, growing small businesses, and improving the financial health of individuals. At the foundation, she helped launch the Second Chance Opportunities initiative to support greater economic prospects for people with criminal convictions. Bryan is a member of the Council on Criminal Justice and a Commissioner on the Independent Rikers Commission.
Bryan lives in the New York City area with her husband, two children, and their dog named Georgia.
