JENNIFER ROGRIGUEZ

Former Board Member

Jennifer Rodriguez is a lawyer with over 25 years of experience in advocacy for systems change in foster care and juvenile justice systems through policy reform, litigation, public education and creative systems change.

Since 2012, Jennifer has served as the Executive Director of the Youth Law Center (YLC), a national legal advocacy organization that has worked for over four decades to protect and advance the rights of youth impacted by systems so they are not only protected from harm in systems, but also receive the opportunities and nurturing they need for healthy and full lives.

Jennifer’s experiences growing up in foster care and juvenile justice facilities and work to invest in the leadership of systems-impacted youth to lead and inform change drive her commitment to change.

Jennifer’s advocacy has resulted in significant local, state, and national policy and practice changes around the relational, economic, housing, educational, and support needs of youth and formal inclusion of system-involved youth as a key part of all policy processes. She is the recipient of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Janet Reno Women’s Leadership Award for her advocacy for ensuring youth are included in foster care and juvenile justice policy development; the Juvenile Law Center’s Leadership Prize for her advocacy fighting for rights and well-being of youth in foster care and juvenile justice; and was recognized in 2021 as a federal Children’s Bureau Champion for her national impact in transforming foster care to a support for families.

Jennifer received her GED from San Jose Job Corps, her J.D. from University of California, Davis and is the proud mother of two beautiful children who teach her daily about the power of love, high expectations and opportunities.