This month, we asked all of the VISTA members to interview one another to help us all to get to know one another a little better. Below, Amanda interviewed Tanisha uncovering her ambitious career goals and shedding light on what the future of justice reform might hold.
What is your field of study for your Masters program?
“I am getting a dual degree. A Masters in Public Administration and a Masters in Criminal Justice. I also did a dual degree in undergrad. I wanted to have multiple options and also soak up as much knowledge as possible, and then decide what to do with the degrees later.”
Why choose the areas of study that you did? Tanisha is passionate about criminal justice reform, specifically in the areas of corrections, mass incarceration, and policing. She decided to pair her Criminal Justice Masters with an MPA because she would like to work in a non-profit and be able to effectively manage at that level.
What about law school?
"I did think about law school, there are dual degree programs offered throughout the country where I could have done both, but I realized I didn’t want to practice law and thought the JD would be an unnecessary degree for my future goals."
After she completes her Masters program in August of 2019, Tanisha sees herself ideally working in the non-profit sector in criminal justice reform, as part of the organizational staff. She would like to be behind the scenes and wants to gain experience in policy work, but says that her strengths are more in managing projects and people. And speaking of managing projects, which problem do you think should be tackled first, corrections or policing?
"I believe that the mass incarceration issue should be the first to be addressed because it encompasses issues that are common throughout criminal justice reform in general, including policy, racial disparity, and private prisons."
Last, but not least, if you had your ideal world and no one could stop you from implementing a policy, what would be the first thing you would do and why?
"Removing non-violent offenders from prison or shortening sentences would be my highest priority because it would effectively decrease the jail and prison populations, which is very important."
Thank you so much, Amanda and Tanisha!