James Pagano is the Policy Advisor for Reform Initiatives at the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). He helps to coordinate, organize, and implement IDOC’s reform efforts. In his role at IDOC, he has also led the development and management of a strategic-planning and performance-monitoring framework and regularly leads efforts to revise and update a wide array of policies. Prior to joining IDOC, he served as an Innovation Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Performance Lab, where he helped to develop a strategy to improve the employment outcomes of people who completed IDOC’s career and technical-education courses. He is a graduate of the MPP program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he focused on analytical methods, election reform, and good government. Prior to earning his MPP, James worked as a program officer with Democracy International, where he helped to manage and support election and good governance programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Mr. Pagano holds a B.A. in political science and international studies from Dickinson College.