Interview with Whitney Louchheim, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Open City Advocates [video]

Whitney Louchheim is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Open City Advocates. She is a passionate advocate for the rights and well-being of youth in the deepest end of the juvenile legal system. As a defense attorney, she works every day with youth struggling to navigate the complexities of the justice system or who yearn to return home from incarceration to be with family and friends. After graduating from Wesleyan University, Whitney entered American University Washington College of Law, where she developed a commitment to this work.  As a law clerk in D.C. Superior Court during her first summer, Whitney was horrified to see a small child, shackled and scared, standing alone in juvenile court – a scene she saw repeatedly over the course of the summer. She began to comprehend the persistent racial injustice and the violence and poverty that so many D.C. children must overcome. During her second year in law school, Whitney joined her friend and classmate, Penelope Spain, in mentoring incarcerated youth at Oak Hill, D.C.’s juvenile facility, where youth were exposed to rampant violence and appalling living conditions.

She realized that youth who are incarcerated urgently need an attorney to advocate for them — to combat inhumane conditions of confinement, to ensure fair treatment in an environment in which few rules constrain staff discretion, and to advocate for youth to remain with their families. Upon graduation in 2005, Whitney and Penelope founded Open City Advocates to ensure that youth are not abandoned to the system once incarcerated. As Chief Operating Officer of Open City Advocates, Whitney provides her clients with long-term, holistic representation. In 2020, Whitney’s work was instrumental in securing the right to counsel for all youth committed to DC’s juvenile system. On a personal note, Whitney is grateful to have learned how to care for her own well-being, too. She loves traveling to new places, running, meandering through DC’s parks, and going on adventures with her family.