"[2] Anderson started her career as the director of the Books Not Bars campaign at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
[3] Following this, she served as the Director of Public Safety for the Oakland Mayor,[4] the director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice,[5] and as the Chief of Policy and Chief of the Alternative Programs Division at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
[9] In 2016, Anderson expanded upon her work in California by launching the national organization Alliance for Safety and Justice alongside Robert Rooks, focusing largely on the states with the highest incarceration rates and helping enact new policies in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio.
[13] Anderson was the Campaign Chair and co-author of 2014 California Proposition 47, a ballot initiative to reduce incarceration and reallocate prison spending to treatment, prevention, and victim services.
[14][15] Anderson served on the Steering Committee for 2016 California Proposition 57, a ballot initiative that incentivizes inmate rehabilitation through earned time credit and risk-based parole reviews.