May 26, 2023 by Clarissa Ayala
Honoring Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2023: Celebrating the Inspiring Work of Jessie Campbell and Victoria Smith
Topic
News
In commemoration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we proudly highlight the exceptional contributions of Jessie Campbell and Victoria Smith at Lone Star Legal Aid. These remarkable individuals, with their diverse backgrounds and experiences, have played a pivotal role in advancing justice and championing the rights of underrepresented communities. Let’s delve into their incredible journeys and the profound impact they have made in their respective roles.
Jessie Campbell: Empowering the Community Through Pro Bono Involvement
In her role as the Supervising Attorney of Pro Bono Involvement at Lone Star Legal Aid, Jessie Campbell plays a vital role in ensuring access to justice for all. Jessie has enhanced the pro bono program at LSLA. Alongside her team, she recruits and engages volunteer attorneys, matches clients with appropriate attorneys, and provides support throughout the case process. In 2022, volunteer attorneys helped over 4,880 of our low-income clients. With a rich and diverse background, Jessie brings a unique perspective to her work. She joined Lone Star Legal Aid after serving as the Pro Bono & Outreach Director and Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic Director at Houston Volunteer Lawyers. Jessie’s journey is a testament to the resilience and strength of her mixed-race heritage, encompassing Asian and European roots. She is a first-generation American from Thailand, immigrating to the United States from Asia at the age of 7. Her father is of European descent, and on that side of her family, she is a 7th generation Texan and an 11th generation American. She is even a descendant of a Patriot and member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She embodies both the old and the new of America.
Victoria Smith: Leading the Way in Advocacy and Empowerment
As the Directing Attorney of Program-Wide Units at Lone Star Legal Aid, Victoria Smith leads critical initiatives, including the Legal Aid to Survivors of Sexual Assault Unit. Victoria’s deep commitment to serving vulnerable communities is rooted in her multicultural heritage. Her mother’s upbringing in South Korea was marked by extreme poverty, where she sold vegetables on the street and worked as a seamstress in a factory to support her family, while her own basic needs went unmet. Victoria’s mother immigrated to America to marry her father, a U.S. Army soldier, who also experienced the hardships of poverty growing up as the youngest of four children raised by a single working mother. Joining the military was her father’s chance to escape poverty and gain an education to become a Physician Assistant. Inspired by her parents’ resilience, Victoria pursued higher education at Texas A&M and Baylor Law. She has leveraged her expertise to advocate for special and underserved client populations. Her unwavering dedication to social justice has a profound and lasting impact on those she serves.
Through their remarkable achievements, Jessie Campbell and Victoria Smith exemplify the essence of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Their dedication, expertise, and unwavering commitment to justice inspire us all. We applaud their contributions in advancing equality, access to legal aid, and empowerment of marginalized communities.
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Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income and underserved populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. LSLA focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety, stability, health, and wellbeing; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those with disabilities, the aging, survivors of crime and disasters, the unemployed and underemployed, the unhoused, those with limited English language skills, and the LGBTQIA+ community. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org
