Araceli Campos, President
Commissioner Campos brings a long record of public service to the Commission, with work focusing on the empowerment of women in underserved communities. Commissioner Campos worked for several years at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the nation's premiere Latino civil rights organization, in the Office of the President and General Counsel. In addition, she clerked for the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Civil Rights Enforcement Section, where her work focused on civil rights public policy for the residents of Los Angeles. Ms. Campos is also a long-time volunteer with the Dolores Huerta Foundation, an organization for empowering California's farm worker communities, emphasizing the empowerment of women.
Commissioner Campos also provides attorney services pro bono to residents of Los Angeles, garnering recognition for her defense of a female genocide child asylum claimant for the National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children. Ms. Campos also served as one of the first pro bono attorneys for the Los Angeles Homeless Veterans Clinic. She regularly assists in naturalization workshops for residents of Los Angeles, and in numerous other endeavors to benefit the Los Angeles community.
She is an independent attorney and author, with experience focusing in transactions involving artists and intellectual property, media, entertainment, employment, business issues, and public policy. Commissioner Campos began her legal career with the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, where for several years she represented a variety of clients in high-profile government investigations, and in a variety of complex intellectual property matters. She has also worked with the law firm Carlsmith Ball LLP, where she represented a variety of clients in both business litigation and transactions.
Commissioner Campos graduated from Stanford Law School, where she was a founder of the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, and was awarded the Public Service Award for her community work and academic achievement. She graduated from Yale College, with honors, and remains active as an At-Large Alumni Delegate to Yale University. Ms. Campos is a first-generation American, with family from Mexico and Cuba, and is a graduate of Los Angeles area public schools.