Center for Justice Innovation adds three executive staff

March 13, 2023 Robert Abruzzese

The Center for Justice Innovation has added three executives, Theron Pride (pictured here), Dan Lavoie, and Sherene Crawford, to support its growth in providing community-led and innovative methods for improving equity, fairness, and safety in the justice system. The Center runs over 24 programs and assists practitioners across the US. Photos: Center for Justice Innovation.

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CITYWIDE — The Center for Justice Innovation announced on Tuesday that it has appointed three experienced professionals, Theron Pride, Dan Lavoie, and Sherene Crawford, to its executive team.

“The Center is at a pivotal time in our history, as we have grown exponentially, expanded our programming and research, and deepened our work in the communities we serve,” Executive Director Courtney Bryan said. “The additions of Theron, Dan, and Sherene will supercharge our organization and support the positive trajectory of continuing to be the go-to justice organization in New York and across the country.”

The Center runs more than 24 community and court based programs and has produced almost 80 original research publications in the past year while providing assistance to practitioners across nearly all 50 states. The Center works with justice system stakeholders to devise community-led and innovative methods that enhance equity, fairness and safety.

Theron Pride will join the Center as its inaugural Managing Director of National Initiatives and Research. In this role, he will guide Center staff members and the national technical assistance, policy, and research teams in extending and enhancing the Center’s national reach.

Pride previously served as the Deputy Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice, where he worked under Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, concentrating on community violence prevention and civil rights. He also held multiple positions at the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs during the Obama administration, including Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel.

Dan Lavoie will join the Center as its inaugural Chief External Affairs Officer. He will oversee the Center’s Development, Communications, and Government Partnership departments and ensure that these teams are in alignment.

Lavoie formerly served as Communications Director at City Harvest, managed advocacy communications at EarthJustice, worked as Chief Speechwriter and Senior Advisor for the NYS Attorney General’s office, and served as a political reporter in Washington, D.C., Oakland, and Chicago. He also founded his own consulting firm, Justice Agenda, which has partnered with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, and many other organizations devoted to racial, economic and social justice.

Sherene Crawford will rejoin the Center, where she previously co-led its criminal justice programs, and serve as Chief of Staff to Executive Director Courtney Bryan.

Crawford previously worked as an Executive Assistant District Attorney and Division Chief of the Pathways to Public Safety Division at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she supervised efforts to prevent intervention, pre-arraignment diversion, problem-solving courts, and reentry. Prior to her prior tenure at the Center, Crawford worked at the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.

The Center for Justice Innovation is a non-profit that collaborates with communities and justice systems to promote equity and safety. Since its founding in 1996, the Center has expanded from a small group to a large organization with over 800 employees and a $100 million budget. It operates numerous initiatives in three states, advises practitioners and policymakers nationwide and globally and conducts research to advance the transformation of the justice system.