The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law

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Alicia Virani

The Gilbert Foundation Director, Criminal Justice Program

Alicia Virani is the Gilbert Foundation Director of the Criminal Justice Program at UCLA School of Law. She was previously a Deputy Public Defender in the Orange County Public Defender’s Office for three years where she represented indigent clients in criminal matters and parents navigating the dependency system.

Virani earned her B.A. from Vassar College, and a joint J.D. from UCLA School of Law and M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA. Virani is a graduate of both the Critical Race Studies Program and the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy of the Law School. Following graduation, Virani served as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and staff attorney at the California Conference for Equality and Justice where she handled juvenile justice matters and created and directed a Restorative Justice Community Conferencing program that diverts 100 youth out of the juvenile justice system each year. She also led a citywide Juvenile Justice Working Group in the city of Long Beach, and engaged in statewide legislative advocacy for policies that reduce racial disparities in the educational and juvenile justice system.