Ms. Kristie Brackens has been with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) since 2007. She joined the Bureau of Justice Assistance at DOJ as a senior policy advisor on law enforcement in July 2014. She currently oversees the day-to-day operations of the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) as its Co-Director. As Co-Director of PSP, she works with various DOJ components to coordinate the delivery of training and technical assistance and DOJ programmatic and federal law enforcement resources to support cities with high rates of violent crime to enhance local jurisdictions’ capacities to better address drug, gang, and gun crime to improve public safety. Previously, she worked as a juvenile justice specialist within the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention State and Community Development Division, where she worked on the Defending Childhood Initiative as the initiative’s team lead. Ms. Brackens is a 2018 graduate of the DOJ Leadership Excellence and Achievement Program and is an adjunct faculty member for the University of Phoenix. Ms. Brackens is a graduate of Arizona State University. She holds a master of public administration degree and a master of science degree in justice studies and a bachelor of arts degree in justice studies (magna cum laude).
Ms. Tammy Brown brings 20 years of experience in the criminal justice system to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) as a senior policy advisor. She oversees several projects related to law enforcement and prosecution, including the Crime Gun Intelligence Centers, Improving Investigations, Addressing Witness Intimidation, Developing Best Practices in Prosecution, and Improving Homicide Clearance Rates. Before coming to BJA, Ms. Brown served as the Chief of External Affairs for the Baltimore City, Maryland, State’s Attorney’s Office, where she was responsible for community affairs, victim services, prevention programming, communication, grants, legislation, and policy for the office. In that capacity, she served as the frontline to the community and spearheaded initiatives to help reform the criminal justice system.
Dr. Katharine Browning is a senior policy advisor for the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). She currently oversees a range of BJA programs, including Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation, Wrongful Conviction and Capital Case Litigation, the Sentinel Event Initiative, and Smart Suite Training and Technical Assistance. Prior to joining BJA in 2018, she served as a policy advisor for the Office of Justice Programs Diagnostic Center, providing subject-matter expertise on a wide range of criminal justice topics and research methods for Diagnostic Center teams in community engagements. In addition, she spent 11 years at the National Institute of Justice managing a diverse portfolio of research and program development projects and four years in the Research Division of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Dr. Browning earned a doctor of philosophy degree in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland, College Park and a master of science degree in administration of justice and risk from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Ms. Sharron Fletcher is a lead victim justice program specialist with the Office for Victims of Crime in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). During her 25 years with DOJ, Ms. Fletcher has developed strategies to improve services for underserved victim populations, contributed to approaches to sustain youth violence prevention efforts, and supported community crime reduction programs. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology.
Dr. Jennifer Grotpeter is a National Institute for Justice (NIJ) social science research analyst, currently supporting the juvenile justice, school safety, and trafficking in persons portfolios. Prior to joining NIJ, Dr. Grotpeter conducted research and evaluation on youth aggression, delinquency, and violence at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she served as research director on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded, community-based, youth violence prevention program and was an author on five of the first ten volumes of the Blueprints for Violence Prevention initiative. She continued work on evidence-based repositories at Development Services Group, Inc., where she served as a senior researcher on CrimeSolutions for NIJ and the Model Programs Guide for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Dr. Grotpeter earned her doctorate degree in human development and family studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Ms. Catherine McNamee is a senior policy advisor within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). She joined DOJ as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2001 and manages national-level criminal justice programs designed to assist state and local law enforcement in adopting evidence-based practices. At BJA, she oversees the Smart Policing Initiative and Project Safe Neighborhoods portfolios. Ms. McNamee holds a master of science degree in justice, law, and society from American University and a bachelor of arts degree in English and political science from The George Washington University.
Mr. Scott Pestridge is a senior program manager with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in the Special Victims and Violent Offenders Division. In this role, he supports program and policy development related to gang suppression and diversion, police and youth engagement, mentoring, and juvenile justice system improvement. He has worked with the U.S. Department of Justice for 23 years, serving at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and OJJDP. Mr. Pestridge began his career in the juvenile justice field as a case manager for a juvenile diversion program in Baltimore, Maryland. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon was appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and was named Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) in May 2021. She leads the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) principal funding, research, and statistical component, overseeing grants and other resources to support state, local, and tribal criminal and juvenile justice activities and victim service programs.
Before being appointed to lead OJP, Assistant Attorney General Solomon was Vice President of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures, where she launched and led a corrections reform portfolio. Prior to joining Arnold Ventures, she served for seven years in the Barack Obama Administration as Director of Policy for OJP and as Senior Advisor to OJP’s Assistant Attorney General. She worked with DOJ leadership and the White House 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.
Before joining the Obama Administration, Assistant Attorney General Solomon spent ten years at the Urban Institute, where she directed projects relating to prisoner reentry and public safety. She 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. Assistant Attorney General Solomon holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan.