Meet Mara Easterbrook, BPI’s Newest Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellow

Hometown: Bethesda, Maryland

Education: JD, University of Chicago Law School, class of 2016; BA, Law Letters & Society, University of Chicago, 2013.

Areas of Interest: The legal issues that interest me most concern civil rights, particularly in the context of criminal justice reform, housing, and voting rights. I’m also interested in public policy as a tool to combat poverty, particularly in the realm of education, community development, and health care.

Why BPI: I hoped to come to BPI because I wanted to work on Chicago-specific social justice issues. BPI, and the Polikoff-Gautreaux Fellowship in particular, provides an amazing opportunity to work on a variety of issues that are pressing to low-income and under-represented people in Chicago. BPI is staffed by thoughtful and dedicated people with expertise on Chicago social policy, and it’s a great place to work on advancing law and policies that improve quality of life for low-income Chicagoans.

What she’s working on: I’m primarily working on public housing issues. I’m involved in litigation to preserve the number of public housing units on Chicago’s North Side. I’m helping to determine BPI’s position on CHA waitlist policy, and I represent the interests of the Gautreaux class at several public housing developments. I’m also involved in BPI’s criminal justice reform project, working on the issue of cash bail and pre-trial systems reform in Cook County.

Book on her nightstand: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. And, from my phone on my nightstand: the “Stuff You Should Know” podcast. I just listened to a good one called “Why Did Easter Island’s Civilization Collapse?”

Hobbies: Reading, working out, cooking, following Chicago Sports, waiting for Beyonce’s next album to come out.

Fun fact: I saw Chicago’s own Phil Ponce in the audience at a play last week! I was too shy to go up and say hi, but I’m hoping word gets back to him that I’m a big fan and have several story ideas I’d like to run by him.