Jennifer L. Sta.Ana, FBANC President (2021-2022)

Jennifer L. Sta.Ana is a Trial Attorney at the Office of the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor, enforcing federal laws born out of the labor and civil rights movements of our country. She is a proud alumna of Levy Vinick Burrell Hyams LLP, a workers’ rights firm, passionately committed to civil rights and social justice. As an associate in private practice, Jennifer was selected as a Rising Star on the 2018 Northern California Super Lawyers List. As a federal prosecutor, Jennifer was recognized in 2022 as a Rising Star by the National Association of Women Lawyers, the oldest bar association supporting women lawyers in the United States since 1899.

Jennifer is Filipino Bar Association of Northern California’s 41st President. While she has been on the FBANC Board, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division have given the organization national recognition for its service to the public and for propelling novel programming. In particular, Jennifer spearheaded one of the first virtual free legal clinics in California during the height of the pandemic. For two months, along with Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, the clinic was open 7 days a week and 12 hours a day to serve those suffering from unemployment, many of whom were low-wage Filipino workers. FBANC provided services grounded on language access and cultural competency, offering services in Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean. FBANC served 140 clients and served over 500 callers. 

Along with Visionary Founder and FBANC Past President Christine Start and FBANC Past Presidents Vanessa Candelaria, Lorna Garcia de Guzman, and Mari Bandoma Callado, Jennifer co-founded the Pinay Powerhouse, a movement of lawyers, judges, law students, and aspiring law students as leaders in the law.

In 2020, Jennifer created the FBANC community grant, which FBANC renamed the William R. Tamayo Community Grant in 2021, to further goals focused on helping the Filipino/Filipina/Filipinx American community. The grant was initiated in recognition that FBANC is part of a collective effort to raise Filipino/Filipina/Filipinx American voices and champion our presence where we remain relegated to the margins.

Jennifer obtained her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she was the first woman of color to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the law review. During law school, Jennifer worked as a judicial extern for the Honorable Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye of the California Supreme Court. Prior to law school, she pursued graduate work at Georgetown University and Northwestern University, focusing on post-colonial studies and critical race theory.

Contact jenniferstaana@fbanc.org