Our current criminal legal system fails everyone that it touches, both directly and indirectly. I joined Urban to research innovative alternatives to traditional legal system responses that redress the harm that mass incarceration has caused.
Andreea Matei is a senior policy associate in the Justice and Safety Division at the Urban Institute, where her work focuses on criminal and juvenile justice reform. She works on projects related to prosecutorial discretion and decisionmaking, public defense quality, restorative justice, long sentences and resentencing, 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.
Along with her work at Urban, Matei serves on the advisory board for the Prosecution Research Collaborative, where she shares her expertise on prosecutorial decisionmaking.
Matei previously 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, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act 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.
Urban experts are permitted and empowered to work and affiliate with outside organizations, whether serving on boards, volunteering their time, or providing advice and counsel. And Urban welcomes visiting scholars, nonresident or affiliated fellows who work for other organizations. These outside affiliations enrich our perspectives and our learning environment. We also require all paid and unpaid experts to disclose their affiliations to Urban leadership and follow rules governing their engagement to ensure transparency for audiences and independence of experts.
