Nate Balis is the director of the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Under his leadership, the Foundation has launched several youth justice initiatives, including the transformation of juvenile probation. Balis has broadened Casey’s reform efforts beyond juvenile detention and JDAI® to expanding diversion from formal justice system involvement and significantly and safely reducing youth incarceration. He has also directed greater investments toward youth leadership and community engagement.
Balis and his team produced an unparalleled analysis of COVID-19’s effects on youth justice. This research led to a call for action to reverse the large and widening gaps in youth detention by race and place.
Applying more than two decades of experience in youth justice, social policy and research, Balis frequently presents and testifies about youth justice reform. His guest essays have appeared in publications such as The Hill, Maryland Matters and The Imprint.
In 2019, Maryland’s governor appointed Balis to the state’s Juvenile Justice Reform Council for a two-year term. In 2023, Balis was appointed by Maryland’s attorney general and public defender to the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative, for which he co-chairs the juvenile justice reform committee. A native of Maryland, he earned a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from Franklin & Marshall College.
