Advisory Board Member

Janine Zweig

Associate Vice President for Justice Policy, Urban Institute

Janine Zweig, PhD, is Associate Vice President of Justice Policy at Urban Institute (Urban). She is a nationally-recognized expert in conducting research, policy analysis, and technical assistance on violent victimization (particularly sexual and intimate partner violence), as well as substance use interventions, programming for incarcerated and reentry populations, juvenile justice reform, and adolescent and young adult development.

For over 25 years, Zweig has worked to elevate the voices and needs of crime survivors in her work and has developed strategic partnerships with practitioners, advocates, policymakers, national-level associations, and businesses to build knowledge and provide actionable data-driven guidance. In addition to her executive management responsibilities for Urban’s justice-related research portfolio, Zweig has conducted her own research, including studying several provisions of the Violence Against Women and Prison Rape Elimination Acts and the Office for Victims of Crime’s Vision 21. She has led projects that examined issues around bridging the gap between research and practice in victim services; the national implementation of the SAFE (sexual assault forensic exam) Protocol; payment mechanisms for sexual assault medical forensic exams; the effectiveness of community-based domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking services; the effectiveness of community collaboration among local stakeholders to address domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking; the nature and prevalence of teen dating violence; services for victims of sexual violence in jails, prisons, and juvenile facilities; and trauma-informed programs and practices for incarcerated women.

Zweig also co-created the Sexual Misconduct and Violence Taxonomy with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center to address issues of sexual harassment and assault in the ride share and hospitality industries, which Mashable.com named one of 14 innovations that helped make the world a better place in 2018. Further, Zweig has examined the links between violent victimization experienced by adult justice-involved populations (both in the community and while incarcerated) with mental health issues, substance use/abuse, and recidivism, and has evaluated placed-based sexual health and safety programming for youth living in chronically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Before joining Urban, Zweig served as project manager for the CDM Group and a volunteer/intern at a domestic violence shelter. Zweig holds a PhD and MS in Human Development and Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University, and a BS in Child Development and Family Studies and a BA in Psychology from Purdue University.