Janel George is a 2005 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Law.  Prior to law school she worked as an advocate for victims of domestic violence in the Dekalb County Solicitor General’s Office.  During law school, she represented incarcerated clients in the Family Law/ Restorative Justice Project of the Frank J. Remington Center.  She was a member of the Public Interest Law Foundation and a Managing Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review.  She is a recipient of the Foley and Lardner Minority Scholarship and a scholarship from the Wisconsin Association of African American Lawyers.  In addition, the Christine Ebert Memorial Scholarship and a grant from the Children’s Justice Project enabled her to intern at the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, DC, where she researched state subsidized guardianship programs and the impact of domestic violence on children.  She graduated cum laude from Spelman College in 1999.

Janel spoke across the country about reproductive justice and violence against women on behalf of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF).  For example, Janel presented on the intersection of violence against women and reproductive health during NAPAWF’s Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill, at the Reframing Global Reproductive Rights Conference at George Washington University Medical School, and the annual NAPAWF Board meeting in San Francisco.  Along with WLPPFP Alum Courtney Chappell (US 2004-05), Janel presented a workshop on violence and reproductive health issues (including trafficking, violence, and sexual harassment) at the annual East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) Conference.  She also participated in the Southwest Regional Leadership Training that NAPAWF conducted with Choice USA, the Third Wave Foundation, and the Latina Institute for Reproductive Health to train young leaders in the reproductive justice movement from Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada.  Janel drafted a comprehensive national policy agenda addressing violence against APA women and how it affects their reproductive health and rights, including intimate partner violence, trafficking, international brokered marriages, sexual violence, sexual harassment of Asian women on college campuses, discrimination and stereotypes of Asian women and how they influence violence against APA women. 

Janel served as Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Donna Edwards and worked on issues like health care, education, immigration, women, children, TANF/welfare, and the judiciary. She recently joined the office of Senator Maria Cantwell, where she has focused mainly on health care and education.