Vera Institute of Justice

Stephen Roberts is the associate director for research with Vera’s Reshaping Prosecution initiative, where he leads a team of qualitative and quantitative researchers working with prosecutors and the communities they serve. The team measures the reach of prosecution in communities, shines a light on disparate racial outcomes, builds evidence for reform, and promotes data transparency, emphasizing collaboration and community participation. Since joining Vera in 2012, Steve has researched immigration, New Orleans pretrial services, solitary confinement, fines and fees, and jail decarceration.

Before Vera, Steve developed a database of New York City’s subsidized housing at New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. He also created software to analyze nonprofit fundraising data for Target Analysis Group.

Steve holds a BA in economics from Bates College, an MA in quantitative methods for social sciences from Columbia University, and an MPA from New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.