Justine Palacios is deputy chief of staff for operations and counsel at the Urban Institute. She works across the organization to develop and implement processes, systems, and initiatives to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness, and serves as legal counsel for the organization.

Before joining Urban, Palacios spent 10 years helping build the operations at Arnold Ventures, serving in both legal and grants management roles during her tenure. In her last role, Palacios was vice president of grants, where she was responsible for the administration of the organization’s philanthropic activity, including grants, contracts, program-related investments, and other avenues of charitable and political giving.

As a board member of PEAK Grantmaking, Palacios works to advance effective grantmaking practices across the philanthropic sector.

Palacios holds a BA in international studies and Spanish from Kenyon College, and JD from Tulane University Law School.