Seleeke Flingai,
Social researcher and data curator,
Philadelphia, PA

I am a researcher working at the intersection of data, social policy, and justice. Currently, I'm a senior research associate with the Incarceration and Inequality Project at the Vera Institute of Justice. Earlier in my career, I was a senior researcher on Vera's Reshaping Prosecution initiative. In both roles, I used quantitative methods and data visualization to describe how racial and class inequality feed into and result from the criminal legal system.

Prior to my current role at Vera, I was an Assistant Instructional Professor at the University of Chicago, where I taught courses in geospatial analysis, race and class, and urban health in the Master of Public Health program. I've also taught courses in race and public health in the Master of Public Health program at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine.

In addition to my criminal legal system research work and academic roles in critical public health, I've held applied research roles with the National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the planning agency of the Greater Boston region.

Ultimately, I am interested in the relationship between social policy, the built environment, race/racism, and justice. I use geospatial analysis, statistical methods, data visualizations, and the written word to translate complex research and data into policy-relevant, actionable insights.

I earned my MPA in Domestic Policy (with a certificate in Urban Policy and Planning) in 2018 from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. Before that, I obtained a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2016 from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and received my S.B. from MIT in 2011, where I majored in Brain and Cognitive Sciences.