Kristina Bedrossian
Chief strategy officer
Kristina Bedrossian is the Chief Strategy Officer at For The People, where she is focused on scaling the reach and impact of our programs and building new strategies, initiatives, policies, and partnerships that further our mission. Kristina has more than a decade of experience working in the field of criminal justice reform, community violence prevention, reentry, and health equity.
Prior to joining For The People, Kristina was the Executive Director of Community Works (CW), the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading restorative justice organization serving people who are incarcerated or at risk of incarceration, their families, and survivors. While at CW, she launched the Restorative Reentry Fund, a guaranteed income pilot for people who have recently returned home after a period of incarceration. She also partnered with law enforcement system partners to pivot in-custody programs during the COVID-19 pandemic—helping institute revised curriculum, pilot virtual modalities, and comply with health and safety regulations to ensure that incarcerated people could access restorative justice services while in custody.
Before that, Kristina was Managing Director at Bright Research Group, an Oakland-based, women and minority owned research firm focused on evaluating and building capacity of community-driven initiatives in the Bay Area. While there, Kristina offered strategic direction and technical assistance to city and county agencies, nonprofits, and foundations on key initiatives in the areas of health equity, community violence, behavioral health and trauma, and their disproportionate impact on women. She developed strategic plans and evaluated dozens of county, city, and nonprofit programs focused on connecting marginalized families and communities to vital public benefits, health insurance, housing, and other supportive services.
Kristina holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.P.P from UCLA, and is a certified community coach. Kristina lives in Oakland, California with her husband and two young children. In her free time, Kristina enjoys traveling and exploring new places, taking her kids to the beach or any parks where they can run wild and be free, cooking elaborate meals, and scheduling girls' nights with her friends.