Meet Alejandra!

Meet Alejandra, our new Consumer Law Attorney. Alejandra came to us from Catholic Charities where she worked with women and children impacted by chronic illness and homelessness. Previously, she worked in public health law and policy, education policy, and immigration law. “This position brings together the social work skills that I have been building and my legal skills. I’m very passionate about racial and economic justice and I think that [BHPCL] has a good understanding of how our work impacts broader structures. I don’t see much difference in the core of work that I’m doing. It feels like a natural progression of my interests.” In consumer law, Alejandra works with clients who have experienced a violation of their rights by an entity with far more power and resources. “The areas that I’m working in are geared towards addressing economic injustice. I love that my work ties in all of my experience. I call upon my background in community organizing and things that I learned in law school studying critical race theory and public interest law and policy. It’s a big challenge.”

Alejandra feels that the most rewarding part of her job is face to face time with her clients. “I like working with people and the feeling of putting people at ease, making them feel supported and having them leave the situation feeling more empowered. I see the process of diving into people’s problems as therapeutic and healing. They have power in that room that they’ve rarely had before. As an advocate I can give them leverage.” For Alejandra, these moments are the culmination of years of practice. “I’ve been working towards this my whole life. I feel like I’ve been building my skills since I was a little girl–to help the people around me and to be an advocate. Growing up in Modesto, I played the advocate role for my family.”

What makes Alejandra equally as excited, is that she doesn’t feel that she’s alone in this work. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how passionate our attorneys and our mentor attorneys are about being a part of the community and helping people who wouldn’t normally be able to access legal representation.” Nevertheless, the problems persist, and Alejandra is getting a better sense of how common they are. “I feel strongly that the general public needs to know how many people are being exploited on a daily basis with no way out. From insurance companies to for-profit schools to landlords, there are a lot of people making money on people who have very little. I’m excited to work with other organizations in the area and look forward to coordinating creative solutions to make San Francisco a more just city.” Aside from being our best Consumer Law Attorney, Alejandra is killer on the dance floor and enjoys taking Samba, Capoeira, and Zumba classes.