Jennifer Maldonado
Community Planning Justice Organizer

Preferred Gender Pronouns: J-Mo, she 

J-Mo was raised in El Sereno. She graduated from Wilson High School where she first joined InnerCity Struggle's youth program- United Students. It was through community organizing that J-Mo was inspired to create change in her community. She graduated from UC San Diego with a BA in Ethnic Studies and minor in Education Studies to return to her Eastside communities and work with families for educational justice. She was first hired as a Fellow through the Funder’s Collaborative on Youth Organizing at InnerCity Struggle to assist in building out a Community Schools model for the Eastside. Later, J-Mo was hired as a Site Organizer at Woodrow Wilson High and Lincoln High School. The Eastside has been experiencing drastic changes caused by rent hikes, displacement, and lack of equitable investment. J-Mo is currently the Community Planning Justice Organizer. She works with Los Angeles County representatives and  Eastside Leadership for Equitable and Accountable Development Strategies (LEADS) coalition to ensure authentic community engagement in relation to public developments. To address the housing crisis, J-Mo organizes with tenant advocacy groups to pass tenant protections policies for unincorporated communities in Los Angeles county.