unBail

If I was selected as a winner, I would use the funds towards achieving unBail's goals outlined below. 

Year 1: 2021 - 2022

• Connect court docket web scraper to database
• Source content relevant to defendants’ experiences
• Create engaging legal content
• Develop initial mobile application (beta version)
• Test beta application with defendants
• Update the application based on feedback from defendants Continue building relationships with court actors to incentivize & market unBail when launched

Year 2: 2022 - 2023

• Continue beta testing with defendants (if necessary)
• Release final mobile application
• Market the product pre and post-launch
• Develop and publish additional legal content based on feedback from defendants 
•  Develop supplementary web application for use on laptop and desktop computers

Year 3: 2023 - 2024

• Build dedicated team for continued product development & data analysis
• Gather and implement feedback from defendants to improve the product and its features
• Analyze data collected from defendants and draw insights Operationalize model to scale to additional cities

I’m an advocate, researcher, and social impact entrepreneur focused on pushing institutions to be more democratic and produce fairer and more equitable outcomes for all, especially those who experience disproportionate impacts. 

I’ve been personally impacted by the inequities in the criminal legal system. I’ve seen firsthand how who you are can determine your future when faced with possible jail time. Two of my family members were facing similar charges at a similar time. One of them had money and connections and the other did not. The one with money and connections did not face any jail time and went to a weekend rehabilitation program in a hotel that served continental breakfast. The other, without the money and connections, went to jail. There was little to no difference between them and their initial charges, so I learned at a young age that these decisions weren’t made in a fair or consistent manner. 

In 2018, I co-founded unBail, a mobile app startup creating a wayfinding platform to help defendants navigating the criminal legal system. 

The criminal legal system is a maze of laws, language, and unwritten rules that lawyers are trained to maneuver to represent defendants. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 73% of county public defender’s offices exceed national caseload recommendations for cases per attorney, leaving most public defenders overworked and their clients underrepresented. Defendants must complete an estimated 200 discrete tasks during their legal proceedings. Without clear guidance, defendants are often left feeling overwhelmed, lost, and severely disadvantaged while attempting to navigate the system. Nationally, Black people are incarcerated in jail at a rate 3.5 times that of white people. In Cuyahoga County, that rate is 6.4 times.

There is no “one-stop-shop” or trusted advisor that defendants can access free of charge, 24/7. That’s why we created unBail, an intuitive and comprehensive mobile application that delivers valuable and relevant legal and case information to users in plain language. unBail helps defendants navigate the criminal legal process, access vital resources, and use their stories to help other defendants and inform targeted legal reform efforts.

unBail is currently the only mobile app that provides a comprehensive guide dedicated to defendants navigating the criminal legal system.

We are the only non-profit social impact startup to create a version of Google Maps for individual court cases.  unBail addresses the severe limitations of existing legal tech products in terms of scope and usability.  For example, the existing platforms such as those listed above rely on text-heavy designs to communicate complex legal information to defendants when most people feel overwhelmed by paragraphs of unstructured text.  These platforms also tend to be limited in their scope (i.e only for domestic relations court, etc.) and rely on links to external websites to communicate information.  These issues result in a fragmented user experience and ultimately low usership.  By studying these existing platforms and asking for feedback directly from our users, we hope to provide comprehensive, engaging, and accessible content that empowers defendants and their families. 

Our product was born out of and a response to deep listening conversations with those who are directly impacted by the criminal legal system.  

In 2019, through a partnership with Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, we created a practicum dedicated to creating a matrix of possible outcomes for defendants in Cleveland. We co-taught this class with Erika Cunliffe, veteran attorney from the Cuyahoga County Office of the Public Defender. Using this matrix, we created a clickable wireframe that displays the steps of the criminal legal process based on the information gathered during the practicum.  This wireframe has since been used by the City Tech Collaborative to conduct holistic user testing sessions to get feedback on the usability of the product. 61% of testers said that they were “Very Likely” to use the product because the information is important, accessible, and there are not many other sources for it. All but one of the remaining testers were “somewhat likely” to use the product.

We have collaborated with defendants, advocates, elected officials, universities, court systems, foundations, and public sector organizations to advance our mission to democratize legal information for anyone, free of charge, 24/7.