Fatoumata Ceesay, M.A., joined the Center for Innovations in Community Safety as a Senior Program Associate in October 2023. In her role, Ceesay supports the Active Bystander Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project, where she supervises the ABLE training operations, oversees the law enforcement agency application process, and assists with ABLE’s statewide initiatives. As necessary, Ceesay supports the ABLE Director in strategic planning and growth management of the program.

Prior to joining the team at Georgetown, Ceesay worked for years in the criminal justice space, including with Arnold Ventures and the Center for Policing Equity, where she focused on addressing challenges in policing and community safety through evidence-based research. Some of the projects she has led and assisted in are related to promoting police accountability measures and advancing community violence intervention efforts. Ceesay has also been actively involved in various projects dedicated to formulating strategies addressing mental health crisis response issues.

Ceesay is currently in the final stages of her Ph.D. program in Sociology at Rutgers University, and her doctoral research is primarily concerned with uncovering racial disparities in alternative response systems. Ceesay’s professional and research interests include improving community safety by implementing strategies and interventions that reduce reliance on law enforcement and promote the use of community and public health-driven solutions. In cases that require police intervention, she focuses on approaches that enhance police department culture, transparency, and training to minimize bias and harm in interactions between police officers and civilians.

Ceesay graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2018 with a major in Sociology and minors in Gender Studies and African-American Studies. She received her M.A. in Sociology in 2022 and Graduate Certification in Public Policy in 2023 at Rutgers University.