About Arnold Ventures and Panelists

Arnold Ventures’ core objective is to maximize opportunity and minimize injustice. Arnold Ventures is a philanthropy dedicated to tackling some of the most pressing problems in the United States. We invest in sustainable change, building it from the ground up based on research, deep thinking, and a strong foundation of evidence. We drive public conversation, craft policy, and inspire action through education and advocacy. We are a team of more than 90 subject-matter experts headquartered in Houston with offices in New York and Washington, D.C. We work in four key issue areas: Criminal Justice, Education, Health, and Public Finance. Our work is guided by Evidence-Based Policy, Research, and Advocacy.

• Lindsey Lovel Heidrich works on the Arnold Ventures Criminal Justice team as a projects manager. She works closely with the Criminal Justice Chief of Staff to support the Criminal Justice team through various ways big and small, administratively and creatively. She previously work as the Grants Manager for Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures. Before joining Arnold Ventures, Lindsey was the Research Analyst and a Project Manager at CASES, Manhattan's largest direct service provider of alternative to incarceration, detention, and bail programs. Before discovering her calling to criminal justice reform, Lindsey was a bartender for over a decade and is still a sommelier and wine lover. Lindsey holds a master's of public administration from Baruch College, CUNY and a bachelor’s in philosophy from Georgia State University.
   
• Dr. Robert Apel (pronounced AY-pull) is a criminologist by training and has been on the faculty at Rutgers University-Newark since 2011. Much of his research is at the intersection of crime, the justice system, and the labor market. This research seeks to better understand the work-crime relationship, the impact of criminal justice involvement on long-term employment, the comparative effects of the labor market and the social safety net on crime, and the efficacy of employment-based reentry programming. With financial assistance from Arnold Ventures, his recent efforts involve data analysis for the NJ Criminal Sentencing and Disposition Commission, in support of its dual charge to reduce the number of people incarcerated in state prison and remedy large racial disparities.
   
• Elie Honig will moderate the discussion. Honig is the Executive Director of the Rutgers Institute for Secure Communities, Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Before joining the Institute, Honig served as Deputy Director, and then Director, of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice from 2012 through 2018.  While Director, Honig oversaw a staff of over 500 law enforcement professionals, including prosecutors, detectives, analysts and support staff. During his tenure, the Division charged and prosecuted sweeping cases against street gangs, drug trafficking organizations, illegal firearms traffickers, corrupt public officials, child predators and white-collar corporate thieves. The Division also developed new practice areas aimed at emerging criminal threats including cybercrime, human trafficking, post-Sandy fraud and diversion of prescription painkillers.  As Director, Honig spearheaded successful statewide policy initiatives focused on bail reform, police-involved shooting response, body-worn cameras, community policing, internal affairs, witness protection and deconfliction. 
  
  Prior to joining the Division of Criminal Justice, Honig worked for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and served as Deputy Chief, and later Co-Chief, of the Organized Crime Unit. Honig obtained his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College (New Brunswick) in 1997.