About Devontae

Lawyer, Advocate, Writer

I’m a civil rights lawyer and writer based in Philadelphia. I currently work at the National Police Accountability Project, where I litigate law enforcement and correctional misconduct cases in federal court on behalf of individuals harmed by officers.

I have a background in civil rights litigation, policy advocacy, communications, politics, community organizing, and social movements more broadly. Before law school, I worked in various roles in Washington, D.C., including at Community Change, a national nonprofit focused on supporting policy changes and on-the-ground organizing for housing, racial, economic, and immigration justice. I also worked at Priorities USA, a key Democratic Party political action committee, where I coordinated nearly $200 million in paid media with dozens of partner organizations focused on winning the 2020 presidential election. At Priorities, I coordinated paid media programs focused on Black voters and climate issues across battleground states. I’m also a co-founder of and advisor for Blue Future, a youth-led civic engagement organization focused on training young people to get involved with progressive political campaigns.

Originally from a working-class family in New York City, I’m a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where I received the full-tuition Toll Public Interest Scholarship. I spent my time in law school working on behalf of various social causes and organizations, including the National Police Accountability Project, Constitutional Accountability Center, Pennsylvania Budget & Policy Center, and local efforts in Philadelphia. I graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., with my bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in Justice and Law and a minor in African American & African Diaspora Studies. At American, I served as the first Black president of the student government. I spent my college summers working at the Human Rights Campaign and Center for American Progress.

My writing on various social, legal, and political issues has been published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Salon, University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online, and more. I also have experience discussing those issues on the record. Feel free to get in touch with any questions, feedback, or ways we might be able to work together.

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