Margaret diZerega

Margaret diZerega was named the Director of the Center on Sentencing and Corrections in 2020. She has experience from a range of projects related to housing, postsecondary education in prison, family contact, and families’ role in reentry. Margaret leads Vera’s work on expanding access to postsecondary education for people in prison. She also directs a national initiative to expand access to public housing for people with conviction histories called Opening Doors to Public Housing.

Past projects include a study of video visitation in the Washington State Department of Corrections, leading cross-system stakeholder teams in the Safety and Justice Challenge, and helping corrections and juvenile justice agencies increase the levels of family engagement in their system. Before joining Vera in 2009, Margaret was the director of training and technical assistance at Family Justice and was a program officer for LISC’s Community Safety Initiative providing technical assistance to police and affordable housing developers. She holds a BA in American Studies from Williams College and an MPA from NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Vera Office
  • Los Angeles