Vera Institute of Justice

Jess Zhang is a research analyst with Vera’s Beyond Jails initiative, where she is supporting research and advocacy work on electronic monitoring and jail incarceration.

Before joining Vera, Jess worked at the Innocence Project in New York City; conducted research on housing mobility and educational access at the Johns Hopkins Poverty and Inequality Research Lab; conducted policy research in support of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland’s initiative to increase access to reproductive health care within Maryland’s prisons; and supported direct services and advocacy work at a grassroots nonprofit in Baltimore led by system-impacted people.

Jess holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University, where she majored in international studies and economics and minored in social policy.