Amanda Leavell is a researcher and advocate in the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, where she specializes in youth justice. Her work focuses on developing effective strategies for reforming the ways in which US states interact with youth accused of crimes. As a Human Rights Fellow at Columbia University in 2021, Amanda provided essential research for the Obama Presidency Oral History, which guided interviews related to the Obama Administration's human rights policies and the state of global human rights during this presidency.
Before joining Human Rights Watch, Amanda led research efforts on extreme sentencing in California, specifically the reintegration of individuals formerly sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. She holds a B.A. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University and an MA in International Policy from Stanford University where she was a Knight-Hennessy Scholar.
