Gerald Polanco

Gerald serves as Staff Counsel on Impact for Equity’s Criminal Legal Systems team. His work focuses primarily on exploring and implementing appropriate alternatives to police response for community needs.

Prior to joining Impact for Equity, Gerald was the Co-Executive Director and, previously to that, Director of Programs at the Chicago Community Bond Fund (CCBF). At CCBF he managed the Revolving Fund team, charged with paying bond and providing post-release support for people incarcerated pre-trial, while advocating for the elimination of cash bail and pretrial detention. He also held roles as Medical Legal Partnership Coordinator for Uptown People’s Law Center with Heartland Alliance Health. He provided direct representation of tenants and people with disabilities. His commitment to criminal systems change was fostered at First Defense Legal Aid where he represented individuals in Chicago Police custody and facilitated Know Your Rights workshops on 4th, 5th, and 6th amendment rights.

Gerald holds a JD from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a BA from the University of New Mexico.