From Adversity to Advocacy

JRF alumnus Ashley Williams ’12 draws on her life experience to help others

JRF alumnus Ashley D. Williams ’12 has left behind the difficult times of growing up in various foster homes and group homes and is now pursuing a career as an advocate for children and families involved in child protection.

Today, Williams is an attorney with The Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, Inc. (LADL) and represents parents assigned to the Dedicated to Restoration through Empowerment and Advocacy (DREAM) Court, a specialized courtroom that handles minors who have been victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CREC).

Ashley was placed in 36 foster homes and group homes and attended 26 different schools from kindergarten through age 18. Somehow, she managed to maintain a 3.0 grade point average by focusing relentlessly on her studies.

While attending Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, Ashley lived in two houses. At Dorsey, Ashley was a member of the Law Magnet Program and was placed on the Principal’s List, graduating 16th out of 337 with a 3.5 GPA. At Dorsey High, Ashley was active in a variety of extracurricular activities and programs, serving as Student Body President and receiving the Teen Court Judge and Clerk Award.

After graduating, she was honored with the opening of the “Ashley Williams Computer Center” at Dorsey High School.

“I was always a determined kid. I refused to be like my family. I saw myself going to college and doing something big with my life,” Williams said in an interview with LA Youth newspaper when she was released from her last foster home at age 18, adding, “My foster parents heard they weren’t going to get a check for me anymore. One day I came home and all my stuff was on the porch.”

Ashley recently reflected on her time as a JRF student.

“When I got to a certain age, I knew I wanted to go to college. My senior year of high school, I moved in with one of my mentors and lived on campus at UCLA,” Williams said, adding, “My mentor was one of the directors of the Vice Initiative for Pre-College Scholars at UCLA. That’s where I learned about the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Once I got to the JRF, I was grateful for it because it really gave me that ‘foundation.’ I was already prepared. In my head, I knew what I wanted to do, but I think the JRF gave me the mentoring, the guidance, the professionalism, and how to do it. ‘They introduced us to attorneys, had us shadow people, and put us to work — if this is what you want to do, here are the people to make those connections with, this is what you need to do to become a professional.’ The workshops that they gave us in that program just set us up for success,” Williams said.

At UCLA, Ashley co-founded the Bruin Guardian Scholars Program and the First Star Bruin Guardian Scholars Summer Academy. Designed to support foster youth as they navigate life on the UCLA campus, the programs included a five-week residential summer academy that provided academic support, leadership development, and mentoring to applicants to two- and four-year colleges. In 2012, in recognition of that program, she was awarded the JRF Spike Lee Youth Motivation Award. Established in 1995 with funding from the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, the award recognizes the JRF Scholar who has performed the most outstanding community service and made an especially lasting impact through his or her dedication to serving others.

“Ashley is a true example of the legacy of our iconic namesake, Jackie Robinson,” said JRF President and CEO Della Britton in presenting the award. “Through her passion for providing opportunities for those in the foster care system, she brings exceptional value to an underserved community while changing lives.”

After graduating with honors from UCLA, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and a minor in education, Williams enrolled at Southwestern Law School, where she served as a legal extern to Judge Harry Pregerson on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and later as an intern for Congresswoman Karen Bass.

“At law school, she again distinguished herself and continued to take leadership positions as a law student, always focusing on service to those in need, both among her peers and in clinical settings… I was delighted when she sought an internship in my congressional office, where she prepared a policy report and presented her findings at a congressional briefing titled, ‘Fostering a Culture of Silence: The Need to Improve Reporting of Sexual Abuse in Foster Care.’ Ashley has proven herself to be unstoppable, both in pursuing her professional goals and in pursuing justice for children and families,” Bass wrote in a letter of recommendation nominating Williams for the NACC (National Association of Counsel for Children) Outstanding New Lawyer Award, which Ashly won in 2022.

That same year, Ashley was awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition of Outstanding and Invaluable Service and nominated as the Congressional Coalition of Adoption Institute Angel of the Year for her extensive record of service in the field of child welfare. She also presented at the 2022 National Child Welfare Law Conference and was named Outstanding New Lawyer by the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC).

In 2023, Ashley was appointed by the President of the American Bar Association (ABA) to the ABA Commission on Youth at Risk. As a member of the Commission on Youth at Risk, Ashley provides expertise in improving access to justice for parents and families in child welfare.

She currently trains judges, attorneys, and staff in dependency courts on ABA Resolution 606 of 2022, which addresses best practices for combating anti-racism in child welfare. Ashley’s professional goal is to become a judge in the area of ​​juvenile dependency and juvenile delinquency.

In the 12 years since Ashley Williams left UCLA as a graduating JRF Scholar, she has excelled and achieved all the goals she set for herself while making an indelible impact on the lives of others.