Summer 2025 - Graduate Research Intern, Incarceration and Inequality Project

Who we are:

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. For more information, visit vera.org.

Vera has a staff of 224 people, is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York and has offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and New Orleans. We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity in the workplace. We expect our staff to embody respect, independence, collaboration, commitment, anti-racism, and equity—both in our outward-facing work and the internal culture of our workplace. We value a range of experiences in people’s educational backgrounds and encourage people who have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system to apply.

About the team:

The Incarceration and Inequality Project (IIP) combines research, data science, and strategic communications to explore and document how mass incarceration has impoverished communities and widened racial disparities in income and wealth over the past five decades. Vera is creating a national dataset that includes information on incarceration, community supervision, and economic outcomes from a range of local and federal sources. The project team will use this dataset to produce data-informed products, including policy briefs, research papers, and an online data visualization tool.

About the role:

We are seeking a part time (10-20 hours/week) Graduate Intern to provide a range of supports for new and ongoing studies, including quantitative analysis, data management, and literature reviews on topics related to mass incarceration, and economic justice. This is an opportunity to join a multidisciplinary team that is addressing policy-focused questions at the intersection of mass incarceration, economic mobility, and racial equity. 

What you'll do:

Background research 

• Reviewing the literature on criminal legal and economic justice topics
• Producing research summaries
• Working with members of the research team to develop estimation techniques, based on existing research 

Data management and exploratory analysis 

• Merging and aggregating administrative datasets
• Conducting descriptive analysis
• Producing data visualizations
• Authoring memos and other internal documents describing results 

Research methodology 

• Participating in IIP research meetings, discussing research designs and providing feedback on emergent findings
• Presenting findings to the team 

What qualifications are we looking for?

• Currently enrolled in graduate school in economics, sociology, criminology, demography, public policy or a related discipline
• Interest in applied social justice research, particularly to advance policy reform and advocacy
• Ability to show initiative, ask questions, and adapt to changing priorities
• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills
• Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills
• A demonstrated ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds
• Familiarity with analyzing quantitative datasets
• Experience with R and/or Python is a plus 

Knowledge