Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley Celebrates Chantell Jewell as First Black Woman to Lead House of Correction 

Today, the appointment of Chantell Jewell as Supervisor of Milwaukee County House of Correction was approved by the County Board making Jewell the first Black Woman to ever lead the House of Correction.  

“I want to thank the County Board for voting to confirm Chantell Jewell’s appointment as the next Superintendent of the House of Correction, and I congratulate Chantel on making history as the first Black Woman to ever step into the role,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley “Chantell is the right kind of leader for the House of Correction at a time when the County is focused on promoting racial equity, addressing disparities, reducing incarceration, and promoting improved outcomes for residents across the board I have great confidence that Chantell will help us guide the House of Correction into a new era of restorative justice, one that gives residents the tools they need to thrive and avoid entering the system altogether.”

For the past year, Jewell has served as a Deputy Administrator for Milwaukee County’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS). Prior to joining Milwaukee County, Jewell worked as a Reentry Services Manager for EMPLOY Milwaukee where she developed EMPLOY Milwaukee’s long-term policy agenda of reentry programming, increased employment opportunities and placements for people in the system in Milwaukee County, and led systems integration between the Workforce Board, Department of Corrections, and community based organizations.

A Milwaukee native, Chantell Jewell brings over 25 years of experience to her new role as head of HOC. For 20 years, Jewell served in various positions within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), including roles as a youth counselor, parole agent, and field supervisor. During her tenure at DOC, Jewell Co-Chaired the Regional Diversity Committee to improve organizational culture, educate staff on implicit bias, and review hiring practices to increase staff diversity. Jewell also participated in a statewide committee that developed evidence- based responses to violations in order to improve consistency and decrease racial disparities in the system. 

With Jewell’s confirmation, nearly two-thirds of department leaders in Crowley’s administration are Black and over half of department leaders are women.