Rebecca Berry
Area of expertise: Trauma-informed legal services
You should get to know her because:
- Rebecca is the Hotline and Direct Services Attorney at Root and Rebound in Oakland, CA.
- She worked in 2018 and 2019 as a member of ERA’s legal team, serving as a Staff Attorney and helpeing to oversee the Advice and Counseling Program, assisting other attorneys with litigation and special projects, and participated in public education efforts.
- Prior to joining ERA, Rebecca was an If/When/How Lawyering for Reproductive Justice Fellow at the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI), a national organization based in Washington, DC dedicated solely to improving the health and wellness of the nation’s 21 million Black women and girls. There, Rebecca helped evaluate and develop national and state policies addressing issues most critical to Black women’s health, especially regarding: breast and cervical cancers, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, intimate partner violence and sexual assault, maternal and reproductive health. She also took lead on drafting the organization’s first ever Black women’s health policy agenda which was released in early September 2018.
- She served as Submissions Editor for the Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice and Vice President of the Black Law Student Association.
- Rebecca was also active in her law school’s National Lawyers Guild chapter, Street Law, and the Public Interest Law Foundation, and served as the law school liaison to the Provost’s advisory committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
- She has worked as a summer law clerk in Public Counsel’s Impact Litigation department, as well as Advancement Project’s national office. Before law school, Rebecca worked as JusticeCorps member where she helped self-represented litigants navigate the CA court system.
Alumna of:
- Rebecca graduated from USC Gould School of Law in 2017, where she was the inaugural student in the highly selective 3+3 Accelerated Bachelor/JD program.
Outside of Work:
- Rebecca is an avid foodie and true crime documentary enthusiast. She loves R&B music, queer dance parties, happy hours, monthly staycations, and hanging by Lake Merritt.