Jennifer Mathis is a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. She reviews the work of the Disability Rights Section and the Special Litigation Section’s disability work. Prior to arriving at DOJ, Jennifer served as Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a national non-profit legal advocacy organization that advances the rights of people with mental disabilities. At the Bazelon Center, Jennifer used litigation as well as legislative and administrative policy advocacy to promote equal opportunity for people with disabilities in all areas of life, including community living, health care, housing, employment, education, parental and family rights, voting, and other areas. Jennifer played a key role in coordinating strategy and briefing when the Olmstead case was heard by the Supreme Court and has litigated numerous community integration cases before and after. She also served on the disability community negotiating team that worked with representatives of the business community to craft language that became the ADA Amendments Act and played a lead role in securing passage of the ADAAA. Jennifer served at the Bazelon Center from 1999 to 2021, with the exception of 2010-2011, during which she served as a Special Assistant to Commissioner Chai Feldblum at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, helping to draft regulations implementing the ADA Amendments Act and the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act.
Jennifer received her A.B. at Harvard College (1988) and her J.D. at the Georgetown University Law Center (1994).