About Me

I am from the wonderful city of Olympia, Washington, where I attended Lincoln Elementary School, Washington Middle School, and Olympia High School. I graduated in 2000 from Duke University (Go Devils!), with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a concentration in neuroscience.

Following college, I spent a year in AmeriCorps, working on violence prevention and diversity at Madison Middle School in Seattle, WA, and helping to organize and run three peace camps for Mothers Against Violence in America (MAVIA). I decided partway through the year to change my professional goals from medicine to law. While applying to law schools and graduate social work programs, I worked for the State of Washington for a year, as a research analyst on a pilot program to assist chemical-dependent mothers of young children.

In 2002, I headed down to San Diego to attend law school at California Western School of Law. In addition to my JD (Juris Doctor -- the law degree), I earned an MSW (Master of Social Work) from San Diego State University, through Cal Western's dual-degree program, which has a unique concentration in child welfare. I was admitted to the California bar in December 2006 and the Washington bar in June 2007.

After spending an amazing year clerking for Chief Justice Gerry Alexander of the Washington Supreme Court, I am recognizing my dream of working as an advocate for victims of domestic violence. Thanks to a recent increase in civil legal aid funding by the Washington legislature, I have secured a job as a staff attorney with the Northwest Justice Project, in the new Aberdeen field office. We provide free legal aid to low-income individuals and families in civil cases relating to basic needs such as housing, safety, food and medical care. I am proud to work for an incredible organization, assisting some of our most vulnerable citizens, in a state that values and strives to provide equal access to justice.

On a more personal level, I am a BIG fan of cats, as evidenced by the walls of my room and my cat page. I also love music - listening to, singing, and playing it - and I keep my hands busy with various arts and crafts. I also keep up with several sports teams.

My Family

• My mother, Marsha Ammons, is a watercolor artist.
• My father, David Ammons, is a journalist.
• I have one brother, Jon Ammons, who's three years younger than me. He graduated from The Evergreen State College in 2005 and now works for the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.

• Mom, Jon, and I at Grandpa and Grandma's 50th anniversary celebration
• Mom, Jon, and I, Christmas 1997
• Dad and I, graduation 1996
• Dad and Jon camping
• Mom and I in our Christmas pjs
• Jon complained that I haven't updated my pictures of him in a while, so here is a page devoted entirely to new pictures of him.

My Friends

• My best friend, Lisa Seward Shiira, is an auditor, who lives in Honolulu with her husband Mark and two kids (Noah and Ilana).
• My legal aid sister, Karen Palmer, is doing the noble work down in Nevada. The rest of our fearsome foursome from the Temple of Justice remain here in Washington: Cindy Jones in Seattle and Jessica Fogel in Tacoma.
• A number of my friends from my law school years remain in San Diego, including the members of my two home fellowships, folks in my church there (Community Church of San Diego), and two of my four fellow dual-degree students: Mariel Diaz, and Kelly Key. The other two fabulous dual-degree ladies have departed for greener (or snowier!) pastures: Marie Hommel to Pennsylvania with her family and Ashley Ratliff Feldman to Colorado.
• Other friends have settled in Maryland (Dave Dowdy), Montana (Jim Brown), Arizona (Karyn Narayan Banfield), and elsewhere in Hawaii (Mie Matsuda-Pastewski), while I simply can't keep up with others. (You know who you are!)
• The award for furthest move goes to Saralynn Blyth Nege, who left San Diego for Nigeria last year, where she now has a husband, David, and son, Timothy.

I can be reached by e-mail at jennifer.ammons@alumni.duke.edu.