ABOUT

Nadine Tebeh Graves is a Minnesota native (daughter of Liberian immigrants) and a graduate of, an HBCU, Delaware State University, where she earned a BA in Sociology and Criminal Justice, and Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she focused on public interest areas of law.

Nadine is a 2023 Bush Fellow and is a Managing Attorney at Hennepin County Public Defender's Office located in Minneapoils, MN. She supervises attorneys who represent people charged with misdemenaor and gross misdmeanor offenses. She started her legal career in the same office as a Law Clerk. As an attorney she has represented hundreds of people charged with criminal offenses ranging from misdemeanors to felonies.

Nadine is a former Deputy Director of Community Legal Services at the Legal Rights Center, where she oversaw the Community Defense Program. 

She also previously represented parents subjected to child protection cases, as well as residents facing evictions in Housing Court, while at Hennepin County's Adult Representation Services Unit. 

Outside of the courtroom, Nadine is Commissioner on Minnesota's newly formed Clemency Review Commisson where she was appointed by Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. 

In 2021 Nadine was appointed and continues to serve as an Advisory Board member for Minnesota's first-ever Conviction Review Unit. 

Nadine previously served as the board chair and board member of the Minnesota non-profit, We Are Criminals, an organization dedicated to challenging society’s perceptions of what it means to be “criminal.”

Nadine has a long history of working with and advocating for people in need. A significant amount of her experience is in human services assisting underrepresented people of diverse social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds predominately in Minneapolis.

Nadine’s advocacy isn’t limited to direct service. She is a voice for racial equity and meaningful justice reform too. She has testified at Minnesota’s Second Chance Day on the Hill in support of Ban the Box, expungement reform, and voters’ rights restoration.

Nadine is a public speaker, active in her church, loves to travel, read, write, and a mother of two dope sons. 

Nadine created this podcast as a means to expose the invisible impact on families affected by the criminal legal system.