Thomas Zaleski joined CCE in 2018 as Executive Director. She brings her years of experience representing indigent clients in both civil and criminal matters in the District and directing two legal reform non-profit organizations to further CCE’s vital mission to enhance D.C.’s justice system and ensure that all people who rely on our courts and government are served fairly and effectively. Prior to joining CCE, Thomas Zaleski served as the Director of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Due Process Review Project, which focuses on research, education, and policy advocacy related to capital punishment and other criminal justice issues. She previously was a senior Affordable Housing Initiative attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, where she represented homeless individuals and low-income tenants in cases to preserve their access to housing or shelter, and advocated to government agencies for more effective affordable housing laws and regulations in the District. She also worked at Howrey LLP as the firm’s Pro Bono Fellow, where she represented indigent clients in a wide range of criminal and civil cases and supported the pro bono practices of other lawyers at the firm. Prior to law school, she served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, which works to correct and prevent the wrongful conviction of innocent people in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Thomas Zaleski holds a B.A., cum laude, from Claremont McKenna College, and a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Public Interest Law Scholar and where she has taught as an adjunct professor of law.