Amy L. Solomon
Amy L. Solomon was appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs in May 2021. She leads the Justice Department’s principal funding, research and statistical component, overseeing about $5 billion annually in grants and other resources to support state, local and tribal criminal and juvenile justice activities and victim service programs.
Before 2021, Amy was Vice President of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures, where she launched and led a corrections reform portfolio, which aimed to transform the culture of prisons; spark a fundamental shift in the focus of community supervision from catching failure to promoting success; and expand economic opportunities for people with a criminal record. Amy collaborated with other philanthropies, serving on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Justice Funders Forum and the founding Clean Slate Advisory Board.
From 2010 to 2017, Amy served as director of policy for OJP and as senior advisor to OJP’s Assistant Attorney General. She worked to shape, launch and implement a broad range of domestic policy initiatives focused on criminal justice reform, urban policy, and building trust between the justice system and communities of color. Amy was also executive director of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a cabinet-level body established by President Obama comprising more than 20 federal agencies. The Council spearheaded the federal Ban the Box rule, fair housing guidance, the Second Chance Pell initiative, and Medicaid guidance for the justice-involved population.
Amy previously spent 10 years at the Urban Institute, directing projects relating to prisoner reentry and public safety. She also worked at OJP’s National Institute of Justice where she developed community crime-reduction and reentry initiatives. In addition, Amy has managed a community service program for justice-involved individuals; developed reentry strategies for a state department of correction; and worked with juveniles in probation, halfway house, and school settings.
Amy has served on numerous advisory councils and boards, helping shape innovative approaches to criminal justice challenges in collaboration with policymakers and practitioners, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, and the advocacy community. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan.