Rachel Sottile

Rachel serves as the President & CEO of the Center for Children & Youth Justice (CCYJ), leading communities, our state, and the nation in empowering children and youth, stabilizing families, and strengthening communities through meaningful and lasting justice reform. She is relentlessly committed to developing innovative and creative solutions that bring forth a new future for children, youth, and families for generations to come. With over twenty years of executive leadership experience in the non-profit sector and state government, she catalyzes stakeholders, partners, and the voices of those impacted by injustice and inequity to discover what’s possible and create real and lasting change. Over the last ten years, Rachel’s work centered on advocacy, education, and systems reform, most recently as Senior Vice President of the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI), a national criminal justice non-profit advocating for safe, fair, and effective juvenile and adult pretrial practices. Prior to PJI, Rachel served as the Executive Director of YES Institute in Miami, Florida whose mission is to prevent suicide through communication and education on gender and orientation. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University and has a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She was the recipient of the National Association of Social Workers “2014 Citizen of the Year” Award for Miami-Dade County, and currently serves on the Washington State Commission for Children in Foster Care.