Leah Nelson is an experienced qualitative researcher and writer who began her career as a journalist. She spent time as a paralegal and investigator on post-conviction appeals for individuals on Alabama’s Death Row. Prior to joining PARCA, Leah was Research Director at the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, where she designed and led mix-method participatory research action projects seeking to understand how court and justice systems are experienced by the people who run them, as well as the communities they are designed to serve. Her work has been supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Institutes of Health, and University of Alabama at Birmingham. Leah holds an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University.