Heather Conley is a Research & Policy Advisor for the National Network for Safe Communities.
Heather brings experience and knowledge to advance NNSC’s research and development agenda; support new innovations; build and sustain a feedback loop with partner sites and staff; and, works across teams to inform and lead research, analyze trends, and contribute to NNSC’s work to reduce violence and achieve public safety outcomes.
While at NNSC, Heather has contributed to the conception, development, and drafting of research proposals for innovations within existing portfolios and new interventions; managed the logistics and development of content for numerous conference panels, working sessions, and national conferences including NNSC’s 2017 bi-annual conference; and, managed the production and logistics for the Smart on Crime Innovations conference hosted at John Jay College in 2017 and 2018.
Prior to joining NNSC in 2015, Heather had an over twenty-year long career as a freelance photographer. Based in Los Angeles and New York, she specialized in portraits for editorial and advertising clients, which included Time, Rolling Stone, W Magazine, Essence, and the Innocence Project, and toward the latter years of her career focused on work that highlighted criminal justice issues.
Heather is currently pursuing a MA in Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.