Vera Institute of Justice

Shiqueen worked as a senior program associate with the Reshaping Prosecution Program. This included working with elected prosecutors across the country to end mass incarceration, address racial disparities, and make their offices more accountable to the communities they serve. Shiqueen worked to support the strategy and work of the sites, coordinated the Black Women Lead initiative, and handled internal operations including hiring and cross team learning.

Shiqueen joined Vera in 2018, as a program associate for the Restoring Promise initiative in Vera’s Center on Youth Justice. Restoring Promise works with jails and prisons across the country to end the punitive correctional model and replace it with an approach that centers accountability, healing, and equity. Shiqueen trained correctional staff and mentors and provided technical assistance to South Carolina Department of Corrections and Middlesex House of Correction and Jail.

Prior to working at Vera, Shiqueen worked at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office crafting reentry strategies. Her focus included pre-sentencing initiatives, the Manhattan Reentry Task Force, and cultivating relationships with reentry community-based organizations.

Shiqueen has extensive experience working in the community with young adults developing and managing the curriculum for the Police Athletic League’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Shiqueen’s professional career has been shaped through her work in local and federal government, community experience, and working on a variety of policy issues.

Shiqueen is a Licensed Social Worker and holds a Master’s Degree from Columbia University.