Asheley Van Ness
Director of Criminal Justice
Asheley helps to identify and manage philanthropic opportunities for the Criminal Justice team. Prior to joining Arnold Ventures, she served in multiple criminal justice and public safety leadership roles. Most recently, Asheley was the executive director of research operations at the New York City Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, where she developed and advanced research and evaluation strategies to inform city-wide criminal justice reform.
Before that, she served as a management consultant at Civic Consulting Alliance, Chief of Staff at the city of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, and Assistant to the Mayor for Public Safety in the city of Chicago Mayor’s Office, where she helped to direct policy, operations, and strategy.
Asheley has also held positions with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and the Urban Institute. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Carleton College and a master’s degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.
