Jessica DeStefano, of Annapolis Maryland, is a director of Peace Through Action USA. Jessica is an attorney-advisor in the U.S. Department of Housing and Development’s Office of the General Counsel. Additionally, she is the general counsel for InterPride, an international association of LGBTQ Pride organizers. She previously worked as a supervising attorney in the civil litigation clinic for Rising for Justice, where she trained and supervised student attorneys. Prior to that, she was a staff attorney in the Housing Rights Project at Legal Services NYC and at the Legal Aid Society of Rockland County. In both of those roles she defended low-income tenants in eviction and related proceedings. As a volunteer, Jessica serves on the board of directors of the LGBT Bar Association of DC and as a mentor with the Washington Council of Lawyers. Jessica holds a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center. Jessica is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia.

Jessica is motivated to serve Peace Through Action because “I believe in the organizational mission of Peace Through Action and that our mission is especially important in our increasingly polarized society as polarization leads to increased incidents of violence and aggressions. I think that peaceful intervention addresses the actual problems rather than just “putting a band aid” on them. I also genuinely love nonprofit governance work, especially the aspects that are necessary in the early stages of incorporation.”