Jessica Valadez assists school districts with navigating complex issues involving litigation, labor and employment, and board governance.

As the wife of an educator, Jessica has seen first-hand the challenges that districts face in both serving students and supporting teachers and administrators. Jessica’s background in working with children and families gives her a broad and unique perspective and allows her to evaluate matters holistically.

Most recently, Jessica was a Public Defender with Los Angeles County. Prior to that, she was an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the National Center for Youth Law. There, she developed and led a coalition of advocates who sought to develop a training and guide for county-level social workers, service providers, judges, and advocates to better identify and address the needs of Native American youth experiencing commercial sexual exploitation. Additionally, she worked in a statewide coalition to pass AB 124, the Justice for Survivors Act, which supports survivors of violence including human trafficking, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence by providing trauma-informed sentencing relief and trial advocacy considerations.