Laura Chavez

Director of Research & Data

Laura Chavez is the Director of Research and Data at The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI). She manages a multi-faceted, data-driven research agenda designed to inform CSI's advocacy and public education efforts, measure and refine impact, and expand the policy footprint in clearing barriers and increasing opportunities for millions of people with records. She is responsible for curating, managing, and implementing research strategies that advance CSI's mission while establishing a body of analyses to validate the impact of Clean Slate policy among academics, policymakers, donors, bipartisan allies, and the public. 

Dr. Chavez is a proven leader with over a decade of experience in research and data analytics. Prior to joining The Clean Slate Initiative, she served as the Chief of Research and Evaluation for the Alameda County Probation Department. There, she led a team of researchers and data analysts and oversaw program evaluations conducted internally and in partnership with external researchers. In this role, she built the organization's research and data analytics capacity to address historical racial and ethnic disparities. 

Before that, Dr. Chavez was an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia Southern University. She researched various criminal justice issues centered on understanding the role of social inequities in multiple facets of the criminal legal system. She taught courses on gender, race, and crime; research methods; victimology; and social inequalities, and taught one semester in a women's prison. 

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Ph.D. in Sociology from Virginia Tech and has published a book and over thirty research publications, including more than twenty peer-reviewed journal articles. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoys the local scenery, from the mountains to the beach.