One born on the east coast and one born on the west coast, yet both faced similar injustices and had a passion for equality that led them to becoming friends and founders of the National Womxn of Color Collective.
According to Alexandra’s mother, she could sing before she could talk. Alexandra was born in Michigan, but spent most of her formative years in North Carolina where she always had a passion for music and desire to bring about gender and racial equality. She turned her love of music into a career at Syracuse University graduating summa cum laude with a B.S. in the Recording and Allied Entertainment Industries from the Bandier Program. While at Syracuse, Alexandra explored her career as a musician, managed a campus record label, and had an R&B radio show. After taking a course in Entertainment Law, Alexandra decided to pursue entertainment law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law (“USC” or “Gould”) where she served as President of Music Law Society, Vice President of Entertainment Law Society, and Event Coordinator of the Womxn of Color Collective. Alexandra recently graduated from USC with a J.D. and a Certificate in Media and Entertainment Law.
Jennifer was born and raised in California where she received a B.A. in Communication, summa cum laude and a B.A. in Psychology, cum laude from the University of California, Davis (“UC Davis) where she ignited her passion for mental health and social justice. Since the age of 16 Jennifer has wanted to attend USC, so it was a no brainer that she pursued her law degree at USC Gould. Throughout law school, she furthered her mental health advocacy by serving as a research assistant to three wonderful professors specializing in mental health law and being a 2018-2019 student scholar in Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics program. She also avidly fought for social justice as a staff member on the Review of Law and Social Justice Journal, a co-academic chair on BLSA, and as the Co-President and a co-founder of USC’s chapter of WOCC. Fun fact! She studied abroad for a semester in Lyon, France and participated in the International Business Law program during her third year. In May 2020, Jennifer earned her J.D. from USC Gould.
Jennifer and Alexandra met during the first week of law school and quickly bonded as singer/songwriters and volleyball players. They had different career interests and student involvement, but one thing they wholeheartedly agreed on was the lack of opportunities specifically geared towards womxn of color at the law school. There were affinity groups for minorities and affinity groups for womxn, but there was nothing that catered to both of these identities combined.
During their second year at USC, Jennifer and Alexandra were approached with the opportunity to be part of the founding board for the Womxn of Color Collective (“WOCC”). As WOCC board members, Jennifer and Alexandra spent their time developing opportunities and creating safe spaces for womxn of color at Gould through various networking events, social outings, educational programs, art installations, and panels. The support received from the school and the gratitude felt by students of color was overwhelming. A gap was filled at USC and many womxn of color felt they gained a support system that didn’t exist before. The success of USC’s WOCC chapter inspired Jennifer and Alexandra to unite existing collectives across the country as well as create more opportunities to support womxn of color interested in law nationwide.
Now their dream has become a reality as the National Womxn of Color Collective launches as a nationwide nonprofit corporation. Alexandra currently serves as the President and CEO of NWOCC, and Jennifer currently serves as the Vice President and COO.
After they pass the October Bar Exam (wish them luck!), Alexandra will be working as an associate attorney at Morris Music Law, PC, and Jennifer will be working as an associate attorney at Jones Day. Although life as new attorneys will keep them busy, Alexandra and Jennifer are committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession and supporting womxn of color in any way they can.