Laïssa Alexis is the New Jersey Reparations Council Research Fellow for the Economic Justice Program.

Laïssa recently completed a research assistantship with Prof. Amna Akbar, a visiting scholar at Columbia Law School. Laissa drafted research memos on a variety of social justice issues. Primarily, the aftermath of the George Floyd protests in the city of Minneapolis; specifically, to understand the city’s moves on police reform. Laïssa also researched California’s prison system’s facility closures and their effects on local communities and incarcerated people. This past year, Laïssa participated with a team of researchers, lawyers, activists, and students in drafting and submitting an Emergency Precautionary Measure to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. This precautionary measure requested that the IACHR to call for the release of prisoners detained unfairly in Haiti’s prisons during a cholera outbreak. This team worked across three universities, two countries, and three languages. Her key role was translating and interpreting various documents from French and Kreyol to English. Laïssa’s study abroad and research work has taken her to Martinique, Morrocco, Senegal and Switzerland. Laïssa has a wide range of experience, primarily in education. She is a graduate of Columbia University, receiving her Master’s Degree in Human Rights Studies and holds a B.A in Peace and Justice Studies from Wellesley College.