Careers

At the Vera Institute of Justice, we envision a society that respects the dignity of every person and safeguards justice for all. At this critical moment for justice reform, we are standing up and driving change on a variety of fronts—by eliminating money bail, ending mass incarceration, vastly improving life behind bars, ensuring that immigrants get due process, and centering our work on principles of racial equity.

Importantly, our work occurs in the context of a dynamic, rapidly changing, and increasingly high-profile organization and field. Vera has more than 250 staff members who work across four offices—in Brooklyn, New Orleans, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles—as well as remotely. Each year, we are launching new and more complex initiatives, cultivating new constituents, and deploying new tools and tactics to create a justice system that lives up to its name.

As an employer of choice in our field, supporting Vera staff—both personally and professionally—is a priority. To do this, we invest in the well-being of our employees through above market rate compensation, student loan repayment benefits, generous assisted reproductive technology coverage through our comprehensive medical insurance plan, paid leave time including Paid Family Leave, employer retirement savings contributions, and on-site mindfulness meditation sessions and other wellness initiatives throughout the year.

Race, Equity, and Inclusion

We are taking the steps necessary to become an antiracist institution. This means we are committed to dismantling racism both within our institution and the wider community and to transforming our professional relationships and activities to align with this vision. Through our Racial Equity and Inclusion Initiative, we offer trainings to build organizational capacity and create formal and informal channels for discussion. We have created a Racial Equity Action Plan that spells out some of our key goals and commitments.

Professional Development

As part of our commitment to staff, Vera is proud to offer unique opportunities for professional development.

Learning/Sharing Incentives: Vera supports staff learning and sharing in many forms, including:

• Publication incentive awards. To recognize the amount of work and time that goes into writing mission- or strategy-connected articles, self-published multimedia projects, and conference-related publications, Vera rewards staff with $1,000.
• Conference support. To aid both idea and professional development, Vera pays for staff to attend relevant conferences, including registration fees and travel. The only requirement attached to this support is that the Veran report back what they learn to interested colleagues.
• Peer-to-peer capacity building. This fund supports time and travel for staff to learn from each other, fostering a culture of constant personal and interpersonal development. For example, the fund might help a staff member observe a peer facilitate a meeting with people who work at a prison or immigrant detention center, meet with a coworker to learn how they successfully broadcasted Vera events, or assist another team with hands-on data collection.

Idea Pipeline investments: Any Veran may apply for more significant internal funding to pilot a project that has the potential to become an important new area of work for Vera. The idea pipeline is part of our journey to be more equitable internally by providing a broader range of staff with a path to design new work that will impact the justice field.

Environment

Vera encourages opportunities during and after work to strengthen bonds and create meaningful relationships. We host a monthly staff breakfast, sponsor coffee meet-ups, organize brown bag learning opportunities and, twice a year, we convene all staff for a series of workshops and fun. Learn a little more about why we come to work.

At no time since the early 1970s has there been such potential to reform our justice system. More and more Americans are demanding bolder solutions, concrete and significant change in more places, and resilient organizations capable of making the most of emerging opportunities. Vera is stepping up to this challenge by driving measurable change and producing new insights to radically transform American justice around the values of human dignity and opportunity for everyone.