BS, 2008, Sociology, UW-Madison
Alison says that her Sociology education at Wisconsin, particularly the study of social movements theory, has equipped her with the tools and knowledge necessary engage with the grassroots organizing and coalition building that is absolutely essential to her civil rights case work.
Alison is the Investigative Supervisor at Civil Rights Corps (CRC), a non-profit legal organization that specializes in innovative civil rights litigation to reform the American criminal system. CRC has brought successful legal challenges to the criminalization of poverty in states across the US, through lawsuits challenging private probation systems, debtors’ prisons, and money bail. In her role, Alison spends much of her time interviewing and telling the stories of people directly impacted by injustice in the criminal legal system, and trains and mentors new investigators to work with CRC’s litigators.
Prior to her work at Civil Rights Corps, Alison was a criminal defense investigator at the Federal Public Defender for the District of the Virgin Islands and at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and did development and reentry work at Free Minds Book Club, a DC-based non-profit providing literacy and reentry programming for incarcerated teenagers.
While at Wisconsin, Alison had the opportunity to assist Professor Pamela Oliver with her research analyzing data on racial disparities in prosecution and incarceration and completed a senior honors thesis focusing on voting rights for people with felony convictions. Alison was captain-coach of the UW Women’s Club Lacrosse team. She enjoys scuba diving, spending time with family, and watching the Packers and Badgers.
A native of Ithaca, New York, Alison resides in Washington, DC.