2021 Fellow Focus: Devshi Mehrotra + JusticeText
Technologist, visionary, social justice champion…2021 Fellow Devshi Mehrotra of JusticeText shares more about her #RuthlessForGood journey.
What propelled you into the entrepreneurial space? And what do you enjoy most about being a founder?
I lived in Chicago during the age of an unprecedented wave of majority-black school closures, of the murder of Laquan McDonald, and of the relentless expansion of the second largest municipal police department in the country. The 25-minute ride along the Red Line from North and Clyborn to the 63rd Station reveals the physical manifestations of a century of segregationist housing policy – as the glass skyscrapers of Chicago’s downtown morph into scattered public housing projects. Looking out across the elevated tracks, I catch glimpses of neighborhoods whose struggles have been routinely branded as moral failings. I am flooded with the resignation of a community whose pleas for greater investments in schools, hospitals, and transportation have been co-opted by tough-on-crime policies which exacerbate the legacy of structural racism.
During the summer of 2018, I spent countless hours reading and re-reading Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness on the subway commute to and from work. While tracing the birth of the modern-day American carceral state, I remember being particularly struck by the state of the public defense system – which is designed to serve those whom it is anything but politically expedient to represent. Astounded by how thoroughly the criminal justice system fails to protect its most vulnerable, I began to familiarize myself with the nationwide public defender crisis.
While navigating the city through the lens of a computer scientist, I realized the extent to which the set of priorities driving technological development fail to be inclusive of the most marginalized communities. In the aftermath of Laquan McDonald’s murder, Chicago saw a proliferation of facial recognition software, gang databases, and predictive policing tools. It was then that I made a commitment to myself to leverage my technical background in furtherance of racial justice efforts in the city I had grown to care so deeply for.
Tell me about an experience you had as an entrepreneur or in starting your company that exemplified one of Camelback's core values: "Belief in Mission + Vision"; "Unafraid of Failure"; "Constant Learner"; "Humble + Hungry"; and "Give First."
Our very decision to build a product for the indigent defense community speaks to the strength of our belief in our mission. In pursuing this work, after all, we have grown keenly aware of the funding disparities prevalent in legal innovation – particularly in light of the staggering amount of federal grant funding directed towards developing technology that more efficiently polices and incarcerates low-income communities of color. Through this work, we have the opportunity to showcase the potential for technology and innovation to alleviate inequalities rather than exacerbate them.
As a BIPOC founder, Camelback understands that the struggle is constant, what motivates you to get up every day and keep on fighting?
While the innovation ecosystem has an incredible wealth of capital and talent, not nearly enough of these resources are being used to uplift the lives of low-income communities in America. As a female technologist myself, I have the ability to manifest my vision for greater equality into a concrete product without asking for anyone's permission. Having that type of agency is incredibly motivating and inspires me to get up and keep working every day.
What's your favorite book or podcast that you draw entrepreneurial inspiration from?
NPR's How I Built This with Guy Raz, the ClassPass episode (another South Asian female entrepreneur)
Why did you choose to embark on the Camelback Fellowship? And what do you hope to gain from this experience?
A strong community of entrepreneurs who share my value system and connections to funders and stakeholders who can help us realize our vision of a more accountable and restorative criminal justice system.
You can learn more about ➡ Devshi Mehrotra of JusticeText.
Get to know more of the 2021 Camelback Fellows👇🏽