Jacqueline Rodriguez

Pathways to Higher Education Project Advocate

Jacqueline Rodriguez is the California Pathways to Higher Education Project Advocate at the Youth Law Center (YLC), providing critical capacity support and technical assistance for our Pathways to Higher Education work. She partnered with YLC in 2019 to work on a variety of juvenile justice advocacy efforts, including bringing her incredible story and insights around juvenile justice to the forefront to advocate for Senate Bill SB716. She also participated as a panelist in multiple Pathways to Higher Education webinars and conference sessions, and testified on budget measures before the CA Assembly Public Safety Committee and CA Community Colleges Board of Governors. Jacqueline was also a Law Facilitator and Youth Leader for the non-profit, Fresh lifelines for Youth (FLY), and served as a Student Ambassador for UC Berkeley Underground Scholars Initiative for two consecutive years.

She graduated from College of San Mateo (CSM) in 2020, with an A.A in English, Sociology, and Social Science, as well as participated in the CSM Honors Project, and was a student lead with Project Change. When she transferred to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Jacqueline served as the Communications Director for the Pre-Law Transfer Society (PLTS), and continued her student leadership with the UCLA Underground Scholars Initiative. She recently graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a B.A., in English, a minor in Professional Writing, and is currently in the process of applying to law school. She is a mother of two small children, and as someone who was previously incarcerated as a teen, Jacqueline is passionate about serving her community to help young adults in the juvenile justice system.

Education:

A.A., College of San Mateo (CSM)
B.A., University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)