
Our current criminal justice system fails those inside the system, victims, and every community. We need reform that corrects these shortcomings and uses evidence-based research to guide policy. Urban is doing that research, and it is advancing a fair and humane justice system for all affected by the overreach of mass incarceration.
Andreea Matei is a policy associate in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where her work focuses on a variety of topics related to criminal and juvenile justice reform. Specifically, she works on projects related to prosecutorial decisionmaking, quality of public defense, and youth alternatives to justice involvement. She believes in creating safety, rehabilitation, and accountability outside the criminal justice system and investing in communities supports and services.
Before Urban, she worked with the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan as a Civil Liberties Fellow. She collaborated with the policy team to advocate for issues related to juvenile life without parole, bail reforms, and other state criminal justice issues. Matei holds a BA in history and political science from the University of Michigan and an MPP from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.