Bria works with the Criminal Justice team and is focused on improving local justice systems and developing alternatives to jail incarceration.
Bria joined the Foundation after serving as a Senior Attorney Advisor for the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As a legal and policy advisor to the Chair and the Commissioners, Bria was responsible for developing policy initiatives focused on equal pay and religious discrimination and conducted outreach on Equal Employment Opportunity laws. She previously served in President Barack Obama's White House Domestic Policy Council and helped implement the Administration's policies on criminal justice reform, equal pay, and Native American affairs. She leveraged her law and social policy expertise to coordinate with federal agencies, academics, and the private and philanthropic sectors on some of the Administration's key civil rights initiatives, including convenings on reentry and employment and school discipline, organizing the White House Tribal Nations Conference, and administering executive actions on equal pay. Prior to the Obama Administration, Bria served as a law clerk to Judge Eric L. Clay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Bria received a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief for the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, and JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
