Bio
Greg Berman is the distinguished fellow of practice at the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and the co-editor of Vital City. He also contributes regularly to City & State.
Part of the founding team responsible for creating the Center for Justice Innovation (formerly the Center for Court Innovation), he served as director of the organization from 2002-2020, helping to guide the Center from start-up to an annual budget of more than $75 million. The Center’s operating programs have been documented by independent evaluators to improve public safety, reduce incarceration, and enhance public trust in justice. Under Greg’s leadership, the Center for Court Innovation won numerous local and national prizes, including the Peter F. Drucker Award for Non-profit Innovation.
Greg is the author/co-author of several books, including Gradual: The Case for Incremental Change in a Radical Age (Oxford University Press), which was named one of the books of the year by The Economist and shortlisted for the 2024 Zócalo Book Prize. Start Here: A Road Map to Reducing Mass Incarceration (The New Press) was short-listed for the Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice and the Media for a Just Society Award. Other books include: Reducing Crime, Reducing Incarceration: Essays on Criminal Justice Innovation (Quid Pro Books), Trial & Error in Criminal Justice Reform: Learning from Failure (Rowman & Littlefield), and Good Courts: The Case for Problem-Solving Justice (The New Press).
He has contributed chapters to a number of books, including writing the foreword for Malcolm Feeley’s Court Reform on Trial. In addition, his written work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Persuasion, The Hill, Governing, The Guardian, New York Daily News, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Public Books, Los Angeles Review of Books, New Statesman, National Law Journal, and many other publications.
Prior to being named director of the Center for Court Innovation in 2002, Greg served as deputy director of the Center and as the lead planner of the Red Hook Community Justice Center.
Greg has served on numerous boards and task forces including: New York City Board of Correction (appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg), New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Wesleyan Center for Prison Education, Coro New York, Centre for Justice Innovation UK (chair), Sloan Public Service Awards, New York Nonprofit Media, National Policing Institute, and the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform (the Lippman Commission).
Greg is a graduate of Wesleyan University and a former Coro Fellow in Public Affairs.
Contact:
gberman@vitalcitynyc.org