Our Staff

Nerissa came to The Opportunity Agenda after working as the Reigle Human Rights Staff Attorney at Justice Now, where she documented and publicized human rights abuses occurring in California's women's prisons.  Prior to that, she drafted bench memoranda for numerous political asylum appeals as an Immigration Law Clerk for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  While at NYU School of Law, Nerissa participated in the Juvenile/Criminal Defense Clinic, the Capital Defender Clinic, and internships at the Brooklyn Legal Aid Society, the NAACP-LDF, and the Public Defender Service of D.C.

Nerissa holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and a B.A. in English Literature and Comparative Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.