Vera Institute of Justice

Jennifer Stave, PhD, was a senior research associate in the Center on Immigration and Justice. Prior to this, she worked closely with senior law enforcement and policy stakeholders as a senior consultant in quantitative methods and subject matter expert in the rule of law. She holds her doctorate in political science from American University, where she conducted research on violence and the justice system in Mexico, in addition to a master’s degree with a focus on gangs in Central America and the United States. She has authored and co-authored numerous book chapters and articles about public participation in the rule of law and legitimacy in the judiciary and police institutions. Some of her key publications include: “Ulysses, the Sirens, and Increasing Commitments to the Rule of Law in Mexico” (Oxford University Press, 2012), the “Ethnic Identity, Informal Institutions, and the Failure to Elect Women in Indigenous Southern Mexico” (Journal of Politics in Latin America, 2013), “Social Trust in Government: Lessons from Mexico’s Justice System Reform” (Springer Publishers, 2016), and others. Dr. Stave has been invited to speak before numerous domestic and international conferences, including the 2015 United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Doha, Qatar. She has worked across public sector, private sector, academia and not-for-profit environments, including research with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, consulting with Customs and Border Protection, and in-depth field research as an academic Fellow in Mexico.