Olivia Dana - Center for Justice Innovation

Olivia Dana is Chief of Staff at the Center for Justice Innovation, where she serves as a strategic advisor to the CEO and a member of the Executive Team. With more than a decade of experience in criminal legal system reform, Olivia plays a central role in advancing the Center’s mission and impact through cross-organizational collaboration, strategic planning, and executive leadership.

Prior to stepping into her current role, Olivia oversaw the Center’s Supervised Release program, a supportive pretrial services programs which serves over 8,000 participants annually across Brooklyn and Staten Island. Her work focused on building an innovative pretrial model grounded in supportive services and community engagement. She also served as Deputy Director of Research-Practice Strategies, where she performed original research and provided technical assistance to jurisdictions around the country seeking to build more effective and fair local criminal justice systems. As Project Director at the Staten Island Justice Center, she developed alternative-to-incarceration programs and spearheaded community-based initiatives.

Olivia began her career as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn’s Kings County District Attorney’s Office, where she managed all stages of criminal prosecution and advanced restorative and community-focused approaches to justice.

Her work has been recognized through numerous publications and speaking engagements on pretrial reform, restorative prosecution, and broader criminal justice reform efforts.

Olivia holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. in English from Fordham University. Olivia is a licensed attorney in New York State.

Olivia's Updates

Why Community Justice Is at the Heart of Our Mission

As our work has evolved, our mission has only become stronger and clearer. That’s why we’re updating our mission statement to reflect the approach at the heart of all of our work: Community Justice.

Snapshots from Summer: Community and Connection

Summer in New York brings people out into the neighborhood for fun, joy, and connection. As the season draws to a close, take a look at some summer events we hosted to share resources with the community and build relationships.

Why We Prioritize Economic Justice

Everyone deserves meaningful opportunities to make a stable living. For our teams across the city, that raises a critical question: What does it look like to build economic justice from the ground up?

Hope and Healing through Art and Design

Meaning, joy, and beauty are at the heart of safe communities. Take a look at some recent design projects we've supported to reinvent public spaces, build community, and encourage hope and healing through self-expression.