Shaena Fazal

Shaena Fazal is a veteran public policy executive with over two decades of experience leading and winning legislative campaigns across more than ten states. She brings a diverse set  of skills to each endeavor, including sophisticated strategy, policy acumen, grassroots organizing, coalition-building, and strategic communications. This combination has earned her a reputation for finding common ground across the political spectrum to advance lasting policy change.

She is a nationally recognized leader in criminal justice reform, dedicated to advancing practical, evidence-based solutions that improve public safety while ensuring that systems treat people fairly and use resources wisely. Throughout her career, she has championed the needs of young people, crime survivors, incarcerated people, and their families, working to modernize outdated laws and strike a better balance between accountability, fairness, and rehabilitation.

Currently serving as Chief of Advocacy at the Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ), a project of Just Safe, Shaena sits on the organization's management team and oversees its research, policy, and advocacy teams. She supervises a team of staff and professionals, including contract lobbyists across several states, bringing together policymakers from both sides of the aisle to deliver effective, balanced solutions.

Prior to her role at ASJ, Shaena spent a decade as Chief of Public Policy, Advocacy & External Communications for Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP), serving on the Executive Team to direct national strategy, government affairs, and organizational growth. She was part of a team that landed the organization's first multi-year, multi-million-dollar grant, an investment that delivered strong results for children and families involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, along with measurable returns across cost savings, outcomes, and system efficiencies. 

Her extensive background in legal defense and legislative advocacy also includes serving as Co-Founder and Director of the Long-Term Prisoner Policy Project at the John Howard Association of Illinois, as an Assistant Appellate Defender for the First District State of Illinois, and as a Constituent Advocate in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Shaena holds a Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law and a BA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.