Margaret Egan is an accomplished leader with expertise in strategy, systems-level change, and operational reform across the criminal justice, social justice, and education sectors. She currently serves as chief operating officer at Fountain House, a national nonprofit fighting to improve health, increase opportunity, and end social and economic isolation for people most impacted by mental illness. Prior to joining Fountain House, she served as the executive director of the New York City Board of Correction, the oversight body for the New York City jail system. Ms. Egan served as vice chancellor for human resources as well as director of strategic initiatives for the City University of New York (CUNY), managing an administrative and academic restructuring to bring the system’s core services to best in class. Margaret also oversaw the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance’s (ISLG) work developing systemic reforms for the New York City Department of Corrections, which included ISLG’s work on the plan to close Rikers Island. She served as assistant secretary for public safety to the Governor, assisting in managing the Governor’s public safety portfolio, overseeing agency operations and implementation of the governor’s priorities for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the Division of Criminal Justice Service, and the State Commission on Correction, among others. Margaret has also held positions in Cook County (Chicago) government including director of policy & government affairs to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, overseeing jail population reduction strategies, jail conditions reforms, and eviction process reforms, and the acting executive director of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council, where she led the development of criminal justice reform and violence reduction strategies for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Margaret received her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago, MAs from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago and a BA from the University of Wisconsin.
