Courtroom Confidant

It just took one powerful, eye-opening moment for Irene Cedano, CLA ’18, to turn her career plans upside down.  

Cedano, who had always been fascinated by the criminal justice system, assumed that she would work for a law enforcement agency, perhaps as a detective or a probation officer.  

But, during her junior year at Temple, Cedano participated in the Inside-out Prison Exchange Program through the College of Liberal Arts, which brings college students into prisons to take classes with incarcerated people, and her outlook was transformed. 

Probable cause

Learning alongside incarcerated women and listening to their stories about struggles with domestic violence, mental health, poverty and substance abuse dramatically shifted Cedano’s perspective. She began to understand how the criminal justice system is rooted in a history of oppression and discriminatory policies that have deliberately targeted Black and Latinx people.

“The women’s stories really resonated with me and I thought about all of the other stories out there that people aren’t listening to. I decided that the way I wanted to make an impact wasn’t to further the system—it was to prevent people from falling into it.”

Serve and protect

As a senior, Cedano put her passion for advocacy to the test through an internship at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia. She worked in the Re-entry Court, where people recently released from federal custody connect with case managers who help them navigate the next part of their lives.  

In that role, she helped people with things like applying for jobs and registering to vote. Working hands-on with people who are in the system and seeing firsthand the impact that advocacy can have solidified her career path.  

“Temple taught me that even as a young, Latina woman, that I could go into intimidating spaces, like the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and make a difference,” she said. 

Hometown hero

Her first job after graduation was working as a case manager for Drug Court at home in Philadelphia, supporting clients through drug and alcohol treatment and other services. Later she accepted a position working in the Brooklyn Public Defender’s Office as a jail services advocate, fighting for the basic human rights, like clothing, food and medication, of incarcerated people at Rikers Island. Cedano would visit the jails to meet with clients, gather information and then share her findings and recommendations at Board of Corrections and City Council meetings. 

“A lot of the job took place throughout COVID, and I was advocating for things like testing, care and release of some vulnerable clients,” she said. “There were awful conditions there and it was really emotionally taxing to do it, but also rewarding.” 

In 2022, she moved back to Philadelphia to work as a social work advocate at the public defender’s office. There, she connects clients both in and out of jail with services in the community and writes mitigation reports, which advocate for sentences that include treatment or alternatives to incarceration. 

“When someone is charged with a crime, their lives are changed forever. Every single day they’re battling against so much discrimination, and just to have someone say, ‘I’m here and I’m trying to help you get to where you need to be,’ can make all the difference.”  

For Cedano, this is just the beginning. She’s started studying for her master’s in public policy at Temple with the hopes of further expanding her advocacy work in her hometown of Philadelphia. 

“Between homelessness, mental health issues and substance abuse, many in our city are in desperate need right now,” she said. “I want to make a difference in the place I care about.”