Virginia Bersch

Director of Criminal Justice, Arnold Ventures

Virginia Bersch is Director of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures and manages the nationwide rollout Foundation’s pretrial risk assessment, the PSA, as well as other tools and reforms developed by the Criminal Justice team. Prior to joining the Foundation, she spent nine years developing innovative, data-driven approaches to improving government systems. As chief of policy, research, and training at the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention, Virginia led teams of policy, legal, research, and information technology experts in the implementation of new laws impacting public safety. With a focus on law enforcement, justice information systems, forensic sciences, and domestic violence, Virginia managed multi-agency efforts to integrate systems in a streamlined effort to reduce violent crime. She spearheaded an anti-human trafficking initiative within the Maryland Governor’s Office that is mobilizing state agencies to formalize response protocols in partnership with law enforcement and victim service providers. In addition, she managed the rollout of Maryland Safe Streets, an offender-based model now being replicated at the national level, to facilitate collaboration, information sharing, and risk-based decision-making in local criminal justice systems. Virginia also implemented a number of initiatives for the city of Baltimore during her tenure as an assistant coordinator in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods. Virginia graduated summa cum laude from Boston University with a degree in English and film production.