New York, NY – October 30, 2025 – Today, the Vera Institute of Justice and Vera Action announce that after 12 years of service, Nick Turner has informed its Board of Trustees that he will step down as president and director in May of 2026.

“Having the singular privilege of being selected to lead Vera over the last 12 years has been the honor of my life,” said Nick Turner. “Together, we have made progress in making the criminal justice and immigration systems fairer for all. From partnering with corrections leaders and incarcerated people to improve prison conditions, to launching a national initiative to secure more legal representation for immigrants facing deportation, to bringing post-secondary education to incarcerated learners, and supporting a new generation of prosecutors to advance safety, accountability, and justice – we have seen how our collective power has created meaningful change.”

“Nick leaves a profound and lasting impact at Vera,” said Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Vera Institute of Justice. “Under his leadership, Vera has modeled what it means to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems to be grounded in fairness and human dignity and to center racial equity and justice. Thanks to Nick and his leadership team we are well prepared to ensure that Vera can meet the challenges we face in the United States. He will be leaving Vera well-positioned to continue the fight for true safety and justice for years to come.”

“Nick has led Vera in underscoring its commitment to fighting for human dignity where money doesn’t determine freedom and fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention,” said Bari Mattes, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Vera Action and trustee of Vera Institute of Justice. “The creation of Vera Action was Nick’s vision to expand its policy advocacy footprint to shape public debate. Under his leadership, Vera Action has enacted transformative policy change for safety and justice at the local, state and federal levels.”

Turner’s tenure at Vera was marked by a commitment to racial justice, spinning off six bodies of work including federal contracts for immigrant representation, establishing Vera Action, an independent 501(c)(4) sister organization to expand its policy advocacy agenda, and transforming the organization into one that is not only a field innovator, but a field anchor as well. Through Turner’s leadership Vera has also become a field protector standing up for its values and the rule of law including by leading a class action lawsuit disputing the current Trump administration’s termination of federal grants to the criminal justice field.

He also previously served at Vera from 1998 to 2007. During his first tenure, Turner guided the expansion of Vera’s national work, launching and directing Vera’s state sentencing and corrections program while supervising Vera’s domestic violence projects and the creation of its youth justice program. As vice president and chief program officer, Turner was responsible for the development and launch of the Prosecution and Racial Justice Program and the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons.

Prior to re-joining Vera, Turner was a managing director at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he was a member of the foundation’s senior leadership team. He provided leadership and strategic direction on key initiatives, including transportation policy reform in the U.S. to promote social, economic, and environmental interests, and redevelopment in New Orleans to advance racial and socioeconomic integration.

Earlier in his legal career, Turner was an associate in the litigation department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York from 1997 to 1998. He was a judicial clerk for the late Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, United States District Judge in Brooklyn, from 1996 to 1997. Before attending Yale Law School, he worked with court-involved, homeless and disconnected young people at Sasha Bruce Youthwork, a Washington, DC youth services organization, from 1989 to 1993.

Turner is a current trustee for Activating Change, the Council on Criminal Justice and The Joyce Foundation. He is chair of the Advisory Board of the Policing Project at NYU Law and serves on the Leadership Advisory Council for the Tsai Leadership Program at Yale Law School as well as the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform. Turner has also previously served on the boards of Common Justice, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, Living Cities, Center for Working Families, St. Christopher’s Inc., and the advisory council of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.

Vera’s Board of Trustees has initiated a process for the selection of Vera Institute of Justice and Vera Action’s next president and director. It has retained On-Ramps, a search firm serving organizations in the social sector, that has worked with Vera on staffing prior senior leadership positions. Professor Muhammad will lead the search with a committee of the board.

About the Vera Institute of Justice: The Vera Institute of Justice is powered by hundreds of advocates, researchers, and policy experts working to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems until they’re fair for all. Founded in 1961 to advocate for alternatives to money bail in New York City, Vera is now a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change. We develop just, antiracist solutions so that money doesn’t determine freedom; fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention; and everyone is treated with dignity. Vera’s headquarters is in Brooklyn, New York, with offices in Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit vera.org.

About Vera Action: Vera Action is an independent 501(c)(4) organization and the advocacy partner of the Vera Institute of Justice. At Vera Action, we harness the power of advocacy, lobbying, and political strategy to end mass incarceration, protect immigrants’ rights, restore dignity to people behind bars, and build safe and thriving communities.