Description:

Public defender, Partners for Justice co-founder, and author Emily Galvin Almanza joins NAPD for a conversation about who we are, and the incredible value we hold as a community. How are public defenders impacting public safety? What role do we play in helping lower public health costs or increasing the chances that a neighborhood will thrive? How are public defenders innovating around the country—and how are they getting the resources to do it? In this fireside chat, Emily will discuss the national landscape of defense innovation and what works when it comes to increasing both our resources and our impact.

Presenter Bio:

Emily Galvin Almanza is the co-founder and executive director of Partners
for Justice, a nonprofit creating a new collaborative model designed to
empower public defenders nationwide. Prior to founding PFJ, Emily fought
for clients inside the LA County Public Defender, Santa Clara County Public
Defender, and Bronx Defenders, and with the Stanford Three Strikes Project.
Emily clerked for the Honorable Thelton Henderson of the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California, and is a graduate of
Harvard University and Stanford Law School, where she earned the Deborah
Rhode Prize for her work in the public interest. In 2017, she was named one
of the American Bar Association’s Top 40 Young Lawyers.
Galvin-Almanza’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington
Post, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, and TIME, and her upcoming book, The Price
of Mercy, will be published by Crown in February of 2026.
See her writing and interview clips at emilygalvinalmanza.com, on X at
@GalvinAlmanza, or on BlueSky at @galvinalmanza.bsky.social.