Elyse Clawson is a founding Principal and member of JSP’s Board of Directors. Elyse brings over 30 years of experience in both executive level roles in correctional agencies and as a nationally recognized consultant. She specializes in criminal and juvenile justice system reform at the state and local level, and is known for her innovative approaches to complex problems. Previously, Elyse was Executive Director for the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI) for 13 years. She led the team that developed the Integrated Model for Evidence Based Practices for the National Institute of Corrections, which is now widely used across the country. Prior to CJI, Elyse was Executive Director of Multnomah County Department of Community Justice, where she assisted elected officials and partners in the development of countywide criminal and juvenile justice policy. In this role, she was able to substantially reduce juvenile detention and jail bed usage, and racial and ethnic disparities through pretrial supervision practices and an administrative sanctions system for probation. Elyse implemented evidence-based programming in both the adult and juvenile divisions of the department. As Assistant Director for the Oregon Department of Corrections, she developed several pieces of legislation to reform community corrections, and implemented a risk assessment system, administrative sanctions, and evidence-based reentry programs. Elyse was also involved in the oversight and planning for institutions.

Elyse has been a consultant to elected officials and state and local leaders on policy and practice reform. She has led planning at the system and organizational levels, provided leadership coaching, led organizational change efforts, and provided implementation assistance. Elyse has overseen several large-scale reform efforts, both as a consultant and as an agency leader. She has a comprehensive understanding of the complexities to consider when developing new models and frameworks for doing business.