Vera Institute of Justice

Maria Rafael is a senior research associate on the impact strategy team of Vera’s Impact Pipeline, an internal innovation hub for sourcing, testing, and developing new initiatives in the criminal legal and immigration reform fields. In her role, Maria works with multiple early-stage teams across the Institute to develop and pilot research approaches to inform policies aiming to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems. In addition to her work with the Impact Pipeline, Maria oversees Vera’s small body of work on fines and fees reform.

Before joining Vera in 2019, Maria worked at the ACLU of New York and the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services.

Maria holds a BA in politics from Princeton University.