Vera Institute of Justice

Jakevia Wheeler is a senior research associate with Vera Louisiana (VL), conducting quantitative data analyses and other research efforts in support of VL’s goals to reduce incarceration and advance legislative reforms statewide. She has more than a decade of applied public health research and evaluation experience, centering equity in her approaches by framing data in historical, social, and political contexts and foregrounding marginalized identities.

Before joining Vera in 2024, Jakevia worked for nearly a decade at the New Orleans-based organization, the Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies (IWES), where she most recently served as director of programs. At IWES, she collaboratively designed programs and interventions for youth, adults, and families and led the design and implementation of applied research and evaluation initiatives across the sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health, and mental and behavioral health fields.

Jakevia holds an MPH in epidemiology from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.