Chapin Hall

Olivia Wilks is a Senior Policy Analyst at Chapin Hall at The University of Chicago. At Chapin Hall, Wilks collaborates with state and local child welfare jurisdictions in reform efforts aimed at improving family outcomes in safety, permanency, and well-being. Currently, she supports several jurisdictions with FFPSA readiness and is working on projects to improve program models in the child welfare and juvenile justice contexts. Wilks is particularly interested in data-driven decision making and strategic use of state and federal policies and resources to enable children, youth, and families to reach their full potential and to thrive in their own communities.

Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Wilks was the Director of Juvenile Justice and Violence Prevention Initiatives at the Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY) where she oversaw the capacity building services ICOY provided on behalf of the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission and the Redeploy Illinois Program. In that role, she also served as the Racial and Ethnic Disparities Coordinator for the State of Illinois. In these dual capacities, she worked with local jurisdictions around the State of Illinois to implement reform efforts and to reduce racial and ethnic disparities within their jurisdictions.

Wilks holds a Master of Arts in Social Work and Social Welfare and a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Art History from Grinnell College.