Colette Marcellin is a research analyst in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where her mixed-methods research focuses on reducing incarceration through state criminal and juvenile justice reform, addressing behavioral health needs, and advancing policies and programs that are trauma-informed, humane, and just. Before joining Urban, Colette led gender-based violence prevention programs both as an intern for the University of Virginia’s Women’s Center and as a leader of a student advocacy organization. She has also conducted research and contributed to publications for the University of Virginia’s Power, Violence, and Inequality Collective and Department of Politics.

Marcellin graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in economics and political philosophy, policy, and law, as well as a minor in women, gender, and sexuality. She was awarded highest distinction for her undergraduate work and thesis, which developed an original feminist framework for the symbolic importance of women’s representation in American politics.