Bio
Ashtan Grace Towles is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology, working at the intersection of carceral transparency, organizational sociology, and inequality. Her research examines the relationship between institutional transparency and outcomes for incarcerated people, as well as the reentry resources that support successful transitions after incarceration.
Prior to Columbia, Ashtan worked on human rights practices within prisons, community-driven approaches to hate violence prevention, alternatives to law enforcement, and the impacts of legislative decision-making on communities of color. She is a recipient of Columbia's Provost Diversity Fellowship and the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellowship.
Born and raised in Nashville, TN, she holds a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Yale University (2019).