Our Board
Cybele Kotonias
Cybele Kotonias has spent more than 15 years working to advance criminal justice reform through policy advocacy, research, technical assistance, and grant-making. She partners with organizations committed to leveraging research and community expertise to improve the wellbeing of people impacted by the criminal justice system.
Cybele previously served as director of criminal justice policy at Arnold Ventures, where she designed funding strategies to drive criminal justice reform focused on prisons, community supervision, monetary sanctions, and reentry. In prior roles, she worked with the Urban Institute, FWD.us, ACLU of Northern California, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and Relman Colfax PLLC.
Cybele holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in political science and Latin American studies from Macalester College.
“I am honored to join DC Justice Lab because they are working to build a public safety system in DC that is led by community expertise, informed by research, and rooted in compassion and liberation for every one of us. Getting there is no small task: it requires engaging on the immediate, incremental policy questions that impact our lives today while designing a system that can restore and repair tomorrow. DC Justice Lab’s incredible leadership and staff are fit for the task.”