Imogen Carr

Imogen Carr champions the vital work of grassroots community organizing and advocacy in holding systems accountable for their roles in perpetuating racial and gender inequity. Her career spans positions in philanthropy, government, social services, and research, at the intersections of criminalizing systems, homelessness, and racial injustice.

Throughout her time in philanthropy, Imogen has worked to decrease the power of criminalizing systems on impacted communities through an invest/divest lens. As a program officer at the Open Society Foundations, she developed strategies, formed alliances, and managed grantmaking addressing drug policy, criminal-legal, and housing reform. Most recently, Imogen focused on how punitive drug treatment in New York and internationally adversely affects healthcare systems. Previously, she co-led the NYC Equity Initiative, supporting power building and community organizing in Black and Latinx communities impacted by racial inequities at city agencies, including the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and NYPD.

Imogen formed her philosophy and approach to combatting systemic racism through her experiences in the alternatives to incarceration field as a case manager and later in government. Her evaluation of over 260 New York State programs for people facing incarceration deepened her understanding of how criminalizing systems can undermine the quality of care in mandated services.

Imogen holds a First Class Honours in Psychology from the University of Sydney, Australia.