Maribel Medina is an labor and employment attorney with significant experience in education and public entity law. Coming from an agricultural community where students did not receive the quality education offered in more affluent college prep high schools, Maribel excelled academically. She earned a bachelors degree at UC Berkeley, and attended Boalt Hall School of Law and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government where she earned a JD and MPA, respectively.

Maribel was the first MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund), Fried Frank Fellow. This Fellowship entails a unique alliance between the nation’s leading Latino civil rights and advocacy organization and a prominent international law firm. Her activities and work experience span the gamut from grass roots local organizing and education to policy and enforcement of the law on the national level, including: the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division enforcing federal labor laws; the U.S. Department of Justice enforcing the Voting Rights Act; private law firms, where she chaired practice groups; General Counsel of the San Francisco Unified School District; President of the Mexican-American Bar Association; Assistant City Attorney for Pasadena; and Special Counsel to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education. She is Vice President of the Latina Lawyers Bar Association, and Board Member of PODER PAC.

Maribel was named the “Latina Lawyer of the Year” from the Hispanic National Bar Association and received the “Community Impact Award” from the Mexican American Bar Foundation.