Deborah Smolover, J.D.

Deborah S. Smolover is a Managing Partner of New Profit and leads New Profit’s policy work, advocating for more innovative, effective, and efficient policy solutions to our country’s most pressing social problems affecting access to opportunity in America.

Deb also serves as the Executive Director of America Forward, New Profit’s DC-based nonpartisan policy initiative. America Forward’s mission is to unite social entrepreneurs with policymakers and advance a public policy agenda that fosters innovation, rewards results, and catalyzes cross-sector partnerships. Deb advances this vision through the leadership of the America Forward Coalition, a network of more than 100 social innovation organizations achieving measurable outcomes in more than 15,000 communities nationwide and driving progress in education, workforce development, economic mobility, early learning, youth mental health, evidence-based policy, poverty alleviation, and national service. Together, the America Forward community has leveraged over $1.9 billion for social innovation and has driven millions of federal resources toward programs achieving measurable results for those who need them most.

Deb is deeply interested in how the public, philanthropic, nonprofit, and private sectors can best leverage their resources and expertise to address intractable social problems and transform local results into national change. Prior to joining New Profit, Deb served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Counsel to former Attorney General Eric Holder. While at DOJ, Deb ran the multi-agency, multi-disciplinary Children Exposed to Violence Initiative and the Public Private Partnership Initiative. She came to her leadership position at DOJ from a distinguished career as an award-winning federal prosecutor handling high profile criminal and civil cases across the country, and made the move from trials to policy work to focus on prevention and intervention strategies vital to breaking the cycle of violence and addressing other social problems. Deb has also served in leadership roles at numerous nonprofits and foundations, including Turnaround for Children, the Yale University Child Study Center/National Center for Children Exposed to Violence, and the I Am Your Child Foundation.

Deb is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College. She has taught courses including Social Innovation Policy and Practice, American Government and Policy, White Collar Crime, and Law and Writing at colleges and law schools in Massachusetts and DC. She is a sought-after public speaker on issues relating to social innovation, policy, and children exposed to violence. She has published numerous articles on innovation in education reform, juvenile justice policy, law enforcement/mental health partnerships, and evidence-based policy. She serves on the boards of a number of national social justice and social innovation organizations, including America Forward Coalition organizations Third Sector Capital Partners and the AppleTree Institute, the We Are Family Foundation, and the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

Outside the office, Deb enjoys making music, hiking mountains, and savoring the magic of everyday moments with her husband and two children.

Q&A

What is your favorite quote?

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank