Nadia Woods (she/her) is a lawyer who wears multiple professional hats, working to center Black and Queer perspectives while approaching lawyering through an abolitionist lens. As a Staff Attorney at the Illinois Prison Project, Nadia enjoys the privilege of working alongside incarcerated folks and using a variety of avenues to bring them home- including medical release, executive clemency, and resentencing. As the Director of Community Legal Education at First Defense Legal Aid, Nadia is able to engage with and empower community members with legal education such that they are able to make further informed decisions and mitigate the harm they experience at the hands of the State. Finally, Nadia serves as an Adjunct Professor at her alma mater, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, teaching courses on Professional Identity Formation and Abolition & Movement Lawyering.
Before her current roles, Nadia served as a civil rights and criminal defense attorney with First Defense Legal Aid and The Bronzeville Law Group, respectively. Nadia graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2021, and has since been admitted to the Illinois Bar and the General Bar of the Northern District of Illinois. While in law school, Nadia was a staff writer for the Public Interest Law Reporter, was involved in organizing both on and off campus, and worked at various clinics, legal aids and public defense offices. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Anthropology with a minor in Africana Studies from Texas A&M University. When she's off the clock, Nadia enjoys reading, playing team sports, spending time with loved ones, and brushing up on her American Sign Language.
