Michelle Mbekeani is an attorney with over a decade of experience in legal and policy reform focused on the criminal justice system. As a Staff Attorney at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, she advanced major reforms related to police, prisons, and voting rights. She co-authored and lobbied for groundbreaking Illinois legislation that established the first voter polling station inside a jail, enabling pretrial detainees at Cook County Jail to vote in person. She led the coalition that designed and implemented this historic initiative. At the Shriver Center, she also authored Handcuffs in Hallways, a report exposing Chicago Public Schools’ reliance on police, documenting misconduct and systemic issues in school-based policing.
As Senior Legal and Policy Advisor to State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Michelle co-chaired Cook County’s “First Appearance” working group, tasked with implementing bail reform under the Pretrial Fairness Act, redesigning first appearance and detention hearings across the county. Working with the National Innocence Project, Michelle helped craft and pass landmark legislation banning deceptive interrogation tactics that have led to false confessions, including in the case of the Exonerated Five. The law was the first of its kind in the country.
Michelle earned her B.A. from Stony Brook University in German Language and Literature, Political Science, and Middle Eastern Studies. As a former Émigré Memorial German Fellow, she served in Germany’s State Parliament and authored a German-language report, In Richtung Integration—Mit guten Sprachkenntnissen für Integration, advocating for language access for immigrant children.
She holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and is currently an MBA student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she is a Neubauer Civic Scholar concentrating in Economics, Strategic Management, and Behavioral Science.
Michelle has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40 for her legal and policy achievements. She is also a Forbes Contributor in the Money section, reporting on the costs and return on investment in public finance and policy.