[1][2] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Smith College in 1993 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1996.
[5] Archer was assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 1998 to 2000, and then an associate at the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett from 2000 to 2003.
[7] She is also a member of the boards of the New York Civil Liberties Union,[8] the Legal Aid Society,[9] and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.
[10] In 2016 and again in 2017, Archer served as acting chair of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, the body that investigates allegations of police misconduct.
[7][12] As its eighth president, she chairs the board of directors, setting the direction the organization takes in civil litigation policies.