Vera Institute of Justice
Vera Institute of Justice’s In Our Backyards initiative is tackling mass incarceration where it is growing fastest – in rural jails. I was part of a team of Google.org Fellows that worked with Vera to aggregate the first real-time nation-wide jail dataset in order to drive reform in local jurisdictions across the country.
Background
In 2017, the Vera Institute of Justice published a report with a surprising insight – that mass incarceration is actually declining big cities like New York and Chicago, but dramatically rising in thousands of rural jails. Vera’s working to reverse this trend by collaborating with local officials to drive system-level changes.
In order to effectively push for reform, Vera needs comprehensive, up-to-date data, but the most recent nationwide jail census was conducted over 5 years ago. Our team of Google.org Fellows helped Vera collect and standardize the data they need, visualize and analyze this data, and present insights effectively to their partners in the criminal justice system (local sheriffs, district attorneys, advocates and community organizations).
Role
I worked on a team of 10 Google.org Fellows. I collaborated with a UX researcher, product manager, and program manager to first understand user needs, prioritize product and design goals, deliver a product recommendation. Then, I drove the end-to-end UX and visual design process – from ideation to iteration to execution – working with an engineer to implement the final product.
Skills
Design strategy
Design facilitation
Interaction design
Data visualization
Visual design
Press
The Keyword: Google.org Fellows bring transparency to local jail data nationwide
New York Times: ‘A Cesspool of a Dungeon’: The Surging Population in Rural Jails
Vera Institute of Justice: First of Its Kind Look at 2019 Jail Data Reveals Urgent Need to Address Mass Incarceration in Smaller Cities & Rural Counties
Vera Institute of Justice: People in Jail in 2019