Amalea Smirniotopoulos is a Senior Policy Counsel and Co-Manager of LDF’s Equal Protection Initiative, an interdisciplinary project that brings together litigation, policy, communications, organizing, and research to defend and expand programs that create equal opportunity for Black communities. In her role as Senior Policy Counsel, Amalea works on fair housing, fair lending, employment discrimination, anti-poverty programs, and environmental justice issues at the federal, state, and local level.
Prior to joining LDF, Amalea was the Legislative Director for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, where she led a team of over a dozen legislative staffers to develop and execute the Senator’s agenda. She was previously a Judiciary Counsel, advising the Senator on criminal justice, immigration, civil rights, and national security issues. Amalea began her legal career at The Bronx Defenders, where she was a Staff Attorney, Supervising Attorney, and an Associate Legal Director in the Criminal Defense Practice. She clerked for the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Amalea is a graduate of New York University School of Law and New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
