Sasha Cotton is the Executive Director of the National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she leads national efforts to reduce violence and strengthen public safety through evidence-informed strategies and partnerships among communities, government agencies, and law enforcement.
Over the course of her career, Cotton has held leadership roles across multiple sectors of public safety, including probation and parole, domestic violence prevention, victim services, community violence intervention, and municipal government. A nationally recognized expert on violence reduction and systems change, she advises local and federal leaders on strategies to prevent violence, strengthen community-government partnerships, and improve outcomes in communities disproportionately impacted by crime.
Since joining NNSC in 2022 as Senior Strategy Director, Cotton has worked with jurisdictions across the country to advance community violence intervention, Group Violence Intervention (GVI), and other place-based approaches designed to reduce serious violence and enhance public safety.
Prior to joining NNSC, Cotton spent nearly a decade leading violence prevention efforts in Minneapolis, including serving as the inaugural director of the Minneapolis Office of Violence Prevention. There, she oversaw the development and implementation of a comprehensive violence prevention strategy that integrated hospital-based violence intervention, street outreach, youth violence prevention, and focused deterrence approaches. She also played a key leadership role in the city’s response to the murder of George Floyd and the unrest that followed.
Earlier in her career, Cotton served in a range of probation and parole roles in Minnesota and held leadership positions at the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community at the University of Minnesota and Violence Free Minnesota, the states domestic violence coalition where she helped advance state and national efforts to prevent domestic violence and strengthen community responses to violence.
Cotton is widely recognized for her ability to bridge the worlds of public health, public safety, and community leadership in pursuit of safer, stronger communities.
