Lavina Kalwani graduated from Rice University in 2021 where she studied Neuroscience and Sociology, completing an honors thesis on the effects of pretrial detention on socioeconomic status. While in college, Lavina served as a criminal justice and neuroethics research assistant, a legal assistant to a Court of Appeals judge, and was active on campus in leadership development, youth outreach, and the university newspaper. Lavina began as an Advocate in Miami-Dade County before transferring to Harris County.