Ieshaah Murphy is an Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Criminal Defense and Racial Justice Clinic at the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law (“UDC Law”). Prior to joining UDC Law, Ieshaah was a Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Maryland and a Trial Attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS). While at PDS, Ieshaah supervised other lawyers and represented hundreds of indigent children and adults charged with serious offenses. Ieshaah frequently trains lawyers and law students on various topics related to criminal defense and trial advocacy. She has served as teaching faculty for the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop, the Deborah T. Creek Criminal Practice Institute (CPI), the Wisconsin State Public Defender Trial Skills Academy, and several other defender training programs. Ieshaah is a founding member of the Black Public Defender Association (BPDA), where she develops and leads race equity trainings at defender offices around the country. Ieshaah earned her B.A. in Sociology from Spelman College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Mrs. Alaina Bloodworth currently serves as the Interim Executive Director of the Black Public Defender Association.  She is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana.  She attended Southern University A&M College where she received her B.S. in Elementary Education and Juris Doctorate.  Upon graduation, Mrs. Bloodworth served as a Public Defender and Director of Students at the Baton Rouge Office of Public Defender where she has practiced client-centered zealous representation for the past several years. As the Director of Students, she increased diversity in new attorney hires and raised awareness of the importance of public defense at her local law schools. Additionally, recognizing the importance of fair and sensible legislation, Ms. Bloodworth has bolstered her office's involvement with local and State legislators through a stronger legislative, policy, and strategic planning presence.  She is a recipient  of the Gideon?s Promise 2020 Public Defender Ambassador Award for her work with her local chapter of the NAACP where she raised funds from her community to bail out women for Christmas.  Mrs. Bloodworth has also served as the Social Justice Chair of her local branch of the NAACP.  She now serves as the Interim Executive Director of the Black Public Defender Association where she aims to improve the quality of defense provided to low-income communities across the United States by creating and maintaining a national network of skilled Black public defenders that identify with and are committed to the populations they serve.