Brenda McKinney is Legislative Counsel with the New York City (NYC) City Council. She holds a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) from Boston College, a Juris Doctor (JD) from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she was one of seven Civitas Childlaw Fellows, and a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Otago in New Zealand, where she conducted research on restorative juvenile justice. Brenda has spent time in over 70 countries and is also an alumna of the Fulbright program, AmeriCorps JD Program, and she has professionally served at the White House, United Nations, U.S. Department of State, as an Obama Administration presidential appointee, as President of the 501(c)(3) JET Alumni Association of New York and as an Advisory Board member for the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice (NACRJ), the Restorative Justice Initiative (RJI) and Restorative DC.

In her free time, Professor McKinney enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, running very slowly and volunteering.