The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) announces exciting updates to the organization’s executive leadership team with the promotion of Deanna Carrithers to Executive Vice President of Operations and Dr. Khalilah M. Harris to Executive Vice President of Program Strategy. Before their promotions, Harris served as the Chief Strategic Advisor to the CEO, and Carrithers served as Chief of Staff to the Co-Founder, President, and COO at the Center for Policing Equity.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to lead a team of exceptional mission-driven individuals,” said Deanna Carrithers. “I am excited to collaborate with each member of the operations team to co-create new ways to drive impact in public safety redesign efforts by building upon the remarkable work already underway. Together, we will continue to work with communities and justice partners to forge new pathways."
"I am truly honored to be entrusted with leading the program strategy team at CPE,” said Dr. Khalilah M. Harris. “Mission-driven work is fueled by high-level skill, passion, and dedication. This team’s work to identify data-driven strategies to reduce harm to communities by law enforcement and identify alternatives in partnership with elected officials, police leadership, and community advocates is truly a reflection of that sentiment. I look forward to harnessing our collective expertise to advance our ongoing initiatives and chart new pathways for increased impact in the fight for Black liberation."
Deanna Carrithers has a distinguished career in public service, serving as a leader in local government, non-profit, and educational institutions. Before joining the CPE, she served as Chief Equity and Diversity Officer for Tompkins County in upstate New York. Carrithers also previously served as director of operations at Wichita State University for the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement as the liaison between the vice president and chief diversity officer. She provided operational leadership for multiple departments, including oversight of a division budget of more than $15 million, including the President’s Diversity Council, TRIO/GEAR UP, Wichita GEAR UP, Military and Veterans Services, Army ROTC, Public Policy and Management Center, and Office of Community Engagement and Opportunity. Carrithers served as a volunteer for the City of Wichita Police Department and a Sedgwick County Community Corrections Advisory Board member for more than ten years. In the 2021-2022 academic year, Deanna served as a Flora Rose House Fellow at Cornell University and is a former Executive-In-Residence for the Executive Masters of Public Administration Program for the Cornell Institute of Public Affairs in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. She is also an Associate Member of the Chief of Staff Association.
Dr. Khalilah M. Harris brings a unique perspective to the organization from an extensive career working to expand access to opportunity through a racial equity lens in community organizing, research, strategy development, collaborative organizational and system change, K-12 public education, education policy, youth advocacy, economic development, and building an inclusive workforce. Before joining CPE, Dr. Harris served as the first Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans in the Obama presidential administration and later served in the Biden presidential administration as chief of staff at the US Office of Personnel Management. She was managing director of the K-12 education policy team at the Center for American Progress between the two administrations. Khalilah has been a contributor on cable news networks such as Black News Channel and MSNBC and has published and been sought after as a reputable and knowledgeable source in a variety of news outlets, including the Washington Post, Education Week, The 74 Million, the Baltimore Sun, the Hill and others.