Elizabeth Swavola

Liz is a project director of Vera’s jail decarceration efforts. She provides technical assistance and training to local jurisdictions seeking to implement data-driven criminal justice policy reforms. Prior to joining Vera, she was a policy and advocacy manager at the Joyful Heart Foundation, where she conducted research and advocated for improved responses to violence against women, with an emphasis on ending the backlog of untested rape kits nationwide. She also co-founded a nonprofit organization to assist men and women returning home from prison to the Bronx and served as a law clerk in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court. Liz holds a JD from Temple University Beasley School of Law and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.