Vera Institute of Justice

Chris Mai is the program manager for the Justice Fines and Fees initiative. Through research and close partnerships with community organizations, her work aims to substantially reduce the amount of wealth extracted from people of color and low-income communities due to contact with the justice system. Chris has been studying the criminalization of poverty in the justice system since joining Vera in 2015. Chris earned her BA from the University of Virginia and holds an MPP from the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Prior to joining Vera, Chris worked at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.