Carol Poole

Carol Poole Senior Policy Adviser, National Criminal Justice Association Carol Poole serves as a senior policy adviser in the areas of pretrial justice and strategic planning for the National Criminal Justice Association. On behalf of NCJA, Ms. Poole has provided technical assistance on statewide criminal justice strategic planning to the State Administering Agencies (SAAs) in Nevada, Mississippi, North Carolina, West Virginia, California, Texas, Indiana, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Until July of 2010, Ms. Poole served as the acting deputy director, Programs Office, at the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The Programs Office administers all of BJA’s state and local grant programs - 11,000 grants valued at $5.5 billion during her tenure. BJA Programs staff is BJA’s direct line of communication with the SAAs, county and local governments, territories, and tribal governments. While working at BJA, Ms. Poole represented the Department of Justice on a White House sponsored “town hall” tour with President Barrack Obama’s Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers. She used numerous management techniques to improve morale and team work throughout the Programs Office and BJA to enhance service to the field. In addition, she received two distinctive awards – the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, as part of the Office of Justice Programs’ American Reinvestment and Recovery Act Team, in 2010, and the United States Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Mission and Goals of the Office of Justice Programs in 2009. Prior to joining BJA in February 2007, Ms. Poole was acting director of the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), providing leadership to critical aspects of Colorado's criminal and juvenile justice systems. As DCJ’s Deputy Director, she received the 2001 Manager of the Year Award, in Recognition of Outstanding Leadership, High Ethical and Professional Standards, Vision and Commitment to further the Work of the Division of Criminal Justice. Before coming to DCJ, she supervised both the Victim Assistance and Juvenile Diversion Programs at the Weld County, Colorado, District Attorney's Office, worked six years for the Community Service Society of New York, and established the LEAA-funded North Shore Anti-Crime Program on Staten Island. Ms. Poole holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from William Jewell College, a Master’s Degree in Education, and completed graduate hours in business management at Louisiana State University.