Brenda Velazquez

Senior Vice President

Brenda Velazquez is a Senior Vice President at Commonwealth. In this role, she advises the development and tracking of metrics to measure outcomes, organizational impact, and how that impact contributes to system change for communities living on low to moderate incomes. Prior to joining Commonwealth, she served as the Executive Director of Research at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. Brenda has a proven record of utilizing data and research in collaboration with stakeholder partners to improve justice policies and implement community-centered public safety initiatives that enhance well-being for underserved populations. Her work has examined racial and gender disparities in justice policies and practices and measured the impact of criminal justice programs and initiatives. Brenda is a National Science Foundation Fellow and holds a Doctorate in Criminology, Law, and Society and a Masters in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University.