Vera Institute of Justice

Karen joined Vera in March 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. As the founding member of Vera’s Los Angeles office, Karen served as the local point person for Vera’s two-year comprehensive analysis of the Los Angeles criminal justice system for the Los Angeles County Jail Overcrowding Reduction Project. Karen also worked with Vera’s Substance Use and Mental Health Program on the Los Angeles Jail to Community Reentry Project. Additionally, Karen worked on improving assessment systems for corrections systems and provides assistance to the National Prison Rape Elimination Resource Center. Before joining Vera, Karen was a Skadden Fellow in the Education Advocacy Project of the Disability Rights Legal Center, where she represented youth with special education needs in the juvenile delinquency system. Prior to her fellowship, Karen clerked for the Honorable Justice Norman Epstein of the California Court of Appeals. Karen earned her JD from the UCLA School of Law in the Program in Public Interest Law and Policy and her BA in history from Cornell University. She is a member of the California Bar.