Our team is built on individuals with various backgrounds in the criminal justice field.

Denise Symdon is a Senior Manager with the Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP). She provides training, technical assistance, facilitation, and strategic planning support to community corrections agencies and justice system partners across the country. Ms. Symdon’s primary work focuses on CEPP’s Indiana Local Justice Reinvestment Advisory Councils (JRAC) Project, where she partners with the statewide JRAC team, supports subcommittee initiatives, and provides technical assistance to local jurisdictions to strengthen evidence-based decision-making and collaborative justice system improvements. She also contributes to CEPP’s Alaska Therapeutic Courts Policy Project, supporting policy and practice enhancements across the state’s therapeutic court system, and the Jasper County Community Corrections Assessment, helping local stakeholders identify opportunities to improve effectiveness and outcomes. Through her work, Ms. Symdon helps organizations implement evidence-informed practices, strengthen organizational performance, and advance meaningful system change. 

Prior to joining CEPP, Ms. Symdon worked for more than 34 years in the criminal justice field in Wisconsin. During her tenure, she held a variety of leadership positions, including Administrator with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), Division of Community Corrections; Assistant Administrator with the Division of Adult Institutions; and Regional Chief within the Division of Community Corrections. Throughout her career with the Wisconsin DOC, she was a strong leader in implementing evidence-based, research-informed practices to improve outcomes in probation and parole supervision. 

Ms. Symdon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she earned a double major in social work and behavioral science and law.