Keli Young joined the Innocence Project in 2024 as a state policy advocate. In this capacity, she works with exonerees and network organizations lobbying for state level policy changes to prevent and correct wrongful convictions. Keli has a decade of experience in local and national criminal justice policy. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Keli was the civil rights campaign coordinator at VOCAL-NY working alongside formerly incarcerated New Yorkers on legislative and budget campaigns to end mass incarceration.

Keli was born and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her B.A. in psychology from Tufts University. She is deeply passionate about living out her faith and advocating for actual justice and Black liberation. When Keli is not plotting the fall of capitalism and white supremacy, you can find her on a plane, at the movies, or out and about with her husky, Riley.