Zoë Towns is the Vice President for Criminal Justice Reform at FWD.us, a bipartisan political advocacy organization committed to safely and significantly driving down America’s incarceration rate. Zoë and her team work in coalition with policymakers and constituencies across the political spectrum to advance sentencing, parole, and pretrial reforms that deliver more freedom, opportunity, and fairness.

Before joining FWD.us, Zoë was the Criminal Justice Project Director at the Pew Charitable Trusts where she collaborated with state leaders, administrators, practitioners and advocates on legislative reforms in Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, Louisiana, and elsewhere. Earlier in her career, Zoë was the inaugural director of The Bronx Freedom Fund, a nonprofit bail fund in the South Bronx. Zoë has a B.A. in ethnic studies and creative writing from Columbia University and a masters in criminal justice policy from Kings College London where she was a Fulbright Scholar.