Chant\u00e1 is a strategist, advocate, and storyteller who is passionate about Black liberation and women\u2019s leadership. Before joining the Management Center, Chant\u00e1 served as the founding Managing Director of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit, where she stood up an entire office of 50+ employees from scratch, developed an inaugural training program for all staff, and cultivated a robust leadership team. In 2020, Chant\u00e1 was recognized as one of Crain’s Detroit 40 Under 40 for her leadership of the burgeoning public defender office during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that, Chant\u00e1 served as the Special Counsel for New Initiatives at the Innocence Project, leading the organization through an examination of the role of race in its outward-facing work and internal operations. She has over fifteen years of litigation and management experience with organizations such as the Orleans Public Defenders and the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn. Chant\u00e1 is nationally recognized for her expertise in the training, management, and supervision of criminal defense practitioners. She is a faculty member for Gideon\u2019s Promise and for the National Association of Public Defense\u2019s Executive Leadership Institute. Chant\u00e1 also serves as the Board Secretary of the Essie Justice Group, a sisterhood of women with incarcerated loved ones. Chant\u00e1 is a Women\u2019s Media Center SheSource Expert and a 2015 Council of Urban Professionals Fellow. Chant\u00e1 holds a BA in African American History from Spelman College and a JD from NYU School of Law. Chant\u00e1 loves long walks with loved ones, sunshine and soul music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14422,"template":"","team":[59,54,60],"class_list":["post-10323","staff-board","type-staff-board","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","team-coaching","team-progressive-sector","team-public-sector"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n