Actually, it was not my plan to become a reform activist. My dream in law school was to become a prosecutor. I adored the theater and drama of trial work and appreciated the meaningfulness of the role. After serving as a prosecutor at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, I did complex commercial litigation with law firms for a while and enjoyed the intellectual challenge. However, something was missing.

After I had accomplished both my goals of being a criminal and civil litigator, I felt empty. As an overachiever, I realized that I had “checked the boxes,” but needed a new goal. And I wanted a purposeful, meaningful role.

I decided to return to my first love, criminal law, but I was unsure of the kind of job that would be a fit. I took some time to think about reform and read “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness.” I also watched Ava DuVernay’s documentary “13th.” I consumed law review articles, books and attended criminal justice conferences about reform.

Then, I had an awakening.

I realized that the criminal justice system, and especially prosecutors, had played a pivotal role in accelerating mass incarceration. This realization hit me deeply, because I saw that the system I had once revered had caused deep harm to my own community, African Americans. I believed that as a prosecutor of color my unique lens and perspective could be harnessed to make a deeply positive impact.

The uncertainty. At times, my inner voice raced, “Will this work? Is launching a business crazy and impractical?” I’m a person who likes to plan, to forecast and prepare for outcomes because the model I had seen from family and friends was working for an employer. Specifically, the example that I saw in law school was the traditional road of working for a law firm, nonprofit or state/federal government.

I had to let go of that rigidity to have the courage to create my business. I became a social entrepreneur. Social entrepreneurs focus on addressing problems that benefit communities, but the business also makes a profit. Since my passion was criminal justice reform, I decided to create the job I wanted from scratch and launch an LLC. It’s been the hardest journey with exponential learning but I have no regrets. It’s been the most rewarding work of my career.

I had to embrace being one of only a few entities in my sector. The “Prosecutor Reform” movement is new and evolving. Arguably, it started around 2016 with a flush of newly elected progressive prosecutors winning in several large cities.

At first, it seemed risky to work in an evolving space. However, instead of spiraling into a panic, I asked myself, “What do I bring to reform that is unique?” I took a breath and leaned into my creativity and ideation and developed a “blueprint” or program for data-driven reform with state prosecutors.

After I created my program, again it felt like I was doing something essential but in isolation and that was overwhelming. I then asked myself, “Who should I collaborate with to support my vision?” I sought out key partners to collaborate with me, specifically American University. Then we were off.

I realized that the key was to always, consistently embrace uncertainty with a wise mind and build out my vision and business over time.

We launched our pilot at the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office in Fairfax, VA (“Fairfax”) in July 2021.

It was a particularly thrilling and fulfilling accomplishment because I saw that my vision was becoming reality. The year prior, I had developed my prosecutor reform program and found an amazing partner in American University. The next step was finding a site location to launch the pilot program.

I determined that Fairfax was the best office. I then met the elected and his executive team and shared my vision, namely using Tableau software to build data dashboards and develop a data policy program.

We worked incredibly well as a team and I served as a change catalyst. I shined a light on the office as an outstanding place for entities to invest resources. For instance, I pitched my program to Tableau Foundation and the criminal justice nonprofit Measures for Justice (“MFJ”) and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (“APA”). Each entity was impressed with Fairfax. I emphasized to the Foundation that Fairfax was the perfect site for a Tableau software licensing grant. Tableau is a data dashboard software. The Foundation was impressed and awarded a grant to MFJ and APA. The office became a grant recipient and received free Tableau licensing with some technical assistance from MFJ and APA.

More importantly, the office knew they needed my vision and team too. Fairfax hired us for a 3+ year contract to work with its internal staff, as well as MFJ and APA, to assist in developing and implementing its data program. IPC became the longest serving partner to the office. We assisted Fairfax with dashboard development, enhanced the office’s data capacity and case management system, and advised on internal culture change and community engagement — all through a holistic lens. It was exhilarating to see my vision come to life.

However, the most rewarding part of our journey as partners was showcasing our progress and positive results to peer groups (Fair & Just Prosecution, American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section, and Institute for Innovation in Prosecution) with presentations and webinars.

Today, because of our successful pilot and thought leadership, we have expanded to a second office, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office in Atlanta. We plan to continue to expand nationally and partner with 1-2 additional offices in 2025.

A key benefit of an entity like Innovative Prosecution Consulting (IPC) is that we can create a customized work plan to meet an office’s exact needs and data capacity. Some nonprofits, who do similar work, are funded by foundations and don’t have the same flexibility. For instance, the nonprofit may only have funding to examine charging decision data. However, if an office doesn’t have charging data in good condition to analyze then the nonprofit can’t help. That’s where we come in. IPC meets the office where they are in their data journey.

My focus is data because it’s a powerful tool.

I realized that data was essential to evolve prosecutors’ minds and behavior. I wanted to use data as a tool to show lawyers the patterns of their decision making (e.g. charging, plea, bail, and sentencing). The hope was to catch decisions that were inconsistent. For example, data could reveal, in a trial bureau, whether some attorneys are offering plea agreements that are too harsh or too lenient. My vision was to encourage equitable and consistent decisions without diminishing a prosecutor's discretion. I knew this was critical because a prosecutor’s decision directly impacts a defendant’ life. Whether someone is sentenced to jail or probation is life changing, and we need data to guide us as prosecutors to make just, consistent, and informed decisions.

There is an understandable fear and hesitancy that I sense from some elected DAs about how internal data may be used (or even misused) if it’s made public. I think there is a legitimate concern that “bad” or even neutral data can be unfairly used against them or misconstrued by political opponents and other stakeholders (e.g. governor, state legislature, and attorney generals). For instance, if the office has data which shows that some prosecutors are exercising bias and/or inconsistent charging or sentencing recommendations for violent crimes with some defendants, that data could make an elected official hesitant.

However, I believe that releasing this data is still important. Data can be a starting point. The elected can show how she intends to address the disparity and then show progress over time. This earns trust from community members because they see progress and accountability. And most important, the elected and the office is actually demonstrating transparency.

Most lawyers, and certainly prosecutors, do not use data analysis or dashboards in their professional work. Our professional culture is entrenched in legal research and facts, not statistics and data analysis. We typically don’t conduct consistent quantitative assessments of our decision-making and effectiveness. Therefore, the value of tools, like data dashboards and a data team, may not be fully understood, appreciated or utilized by prosecutors because it’s not part of the job of a trial attorney.

That’s why culture change is paramount. Prosecutors must understand how data and dashboards can be used to make their job more efficient, implement reform more successfully and keep their communities safer. For instance, an elected District Attorney may want to know the % of drug cases she prosecutes per year or how effective a mental health program is for defendants, a supervisor may want to ensure all sentencing recommendations for felony theft cases are consistent among prosecutors in her trial bureau, a line prosecutor may want to measure how many hearings and trials per month/year she has completed and analyze similarities and differences with the cases.The answers to these research questions require data.

The key to adjusting culture is to show all levels (executive team, supervisors, line prosecutors, and administrative staff) how a data program will help them. That is change management and it’s what we do at Innovative Prosecution Consulting. We assist the office with incorporating data and technology into the office’s culture.

My hope is that the entire sector will evolve to embrace using technology for several purposes: enhancing safety, implementing reform, and driving efficiency.

Criminal justice reform and prosecutor reform is experiencing an exciting time. With AI and data analysis and dashboards, we now have more tools to bring the entire field into the 21st century. It will be hard, but over the next 5-10 years it will happen.

Innovative Prosecution Consulting will expand over the next 5 years to multiple offices. The plan is to work with 1-2 offices per year. IPC’s goal is twofold: 1) use data to shine a light on racial disparities in prosecutorial decisions (e.g. charging, plea, and bail sentencing) and enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs, and 2) to show prosecutors how to use dashboards and technology to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

This work is the next frontier in criminal justice. It’s exciting to leverage a way to elevate the profession and role that I love — that of the state prosecutor.