Insha Rahman is the Vice President of Advocacy and Partnerships at the Vera Institute of Justice and serves as the Director of Vera Action, an independent 501(c)(4) sister organization of Vera Institute. She is responsible for leading advocacy strategies, building partnerships, and shaping campaigns that focus on ending mass incarceration, protecting immigrants’ rights, improving dignity for people behind bars, and strengthening communities. Her work also includes supervising place-based initiatives in California, Louisiana, and New York, ensuring that reforms have a meaningful impact across different regions.
Rahman is widely regarded as a national voice on criminal legal reform. She has been quoted in many leading outlets, including The New York Times, NPR, Mother Jones, City and State, PBS’s MetroFocus, and The Nation. Over the past year, she has led efforts to reframe the narrative on safety, accountability, and justice, particularly during election cycles when “tough-on-crime” rhetoric often dominates. In 2024, Rahman spoke at the Masters of Scale Summit, highlighting why punitive policies fail and offering a vision centered on rehabilitation, restorative justice, and investments in communities.
Her path into this work began during her years at Vassar College, where she joined a college-in-prison program. This experience revealed the failures of the existing system to provide true justice or safety. Learning about Vera Institute’s research on alternatives to incarceration showed Rahman that real, evidence-based solutions existed. Since then, she has held many roles within the organization, including leading bail reform nationally, overseeing justice reform work in New York, and now guiding advocacy priorities at the national level.
Earlier in her career, Rahman worked as a staff attorney at The Bronx Defenders, where she represented clients facing serious charges and supported families through complex challenges. She also worked as an Associate Planner at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services and as a Program Associate at Vera Institute’s Center on Immigration and Justice. Each of these roles deepened her understanding of how reforms can improve lives and provide opportunities for better outcomes.
Beyond her professional leadership, Rahman serves on the boards of the Aspen Institute’s Criminal Justice Reform Initiative and Dignity and Power Now, where she also chairs the board. She dedicates time every month to mentoring individuals pursuing careers in criminal justice and social justice, paying forward the guidance she received early in her journey. With a Bachelor of Arts in Africana studies from Vassar College and a JD from the City University of New York School of Law, she has built nearly 25 years of experience in advancing justice reform. For Insha Rahman, the work has always been about helping families, shaping better futures, and ensuring justice truly works for all.
