Leah Rothstein

Leah Rothstein is co-author, with Richard Rothstein, of Just Action, a sequel to The Color of Law. While in The Color of Law, Mr. Rothstein described how government policy created residential segregation, the sequel will describe how local community groups can redress the wrongs of segregation. 

Ms. Rothstein has worked on public policy and community change, from the grassroots to the halls of government. She led the Alameda County and San Francisco probation departments’ research on reforming community corrections policy and practice to be focused on rehabilitation, not punishment. She has been a consultant to nonprofit housing developers, cities and counties, redevelopment agencies, and private firms on community development and affordable housing policy, practice, and finance. Her policy work is informed by her years as a community organizer with PUEBLO and Californians for Justice, working on housing, public safety, environmental justice, and youth leadership, and as a labor organizer with the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE). 

Ms. Rothstein received a Bachelor Degree, with honors, in American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master of Public Policy Degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.