Valerie Alexander ’25

Valerie Alexander is the co-founder of And Justice For All (AJFA), a national nonprofit law firm dedicated to representing people who have been wrongfully convicted and driving substantive change in the criminal justice system – grounded in bipartisan reform efforts.

After more than 20 years in high level public policy, government, and non-profit roles, Valerie made the decision at 50 to go to law school with a clear purpose: to stand beside people who need representation after being wrongfully convicted, and to work toward correcting the miscarriages of justice that too often occur in our system. Drawing on both her legal training and decades of policy experience, she co-founded AJFA to create an organization that combines direct advocacy while addressing the root causes of injustice.

In 2024, nearly 25 years after she began her career in the U.S. Senate, she returned as an advisor to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where her work focused on the First Step Act, conviction review units, and prison reform. Valerie brings a deeply personal perspective to this work, with her own family having been directly impacted by the criminal justice system—both as victims of violent crime and as a relative of incarcerated individuals.

Prior to founding AJFA, from 2016 to 2022, Valerie was president and CEO of The Dragonfly Firm, a private advisory company she founded to provide strategic support to high-profile clients—including CEOs, dignitaries, public figures, and global organizations—working at the intersection of business, policy, civic, and philanthropic engagement.

Between 2008 and 2015, Valerie served in senior leadership roles at the Clinton Foundation, including seven years as its chief marketing officer, where she led global marketing, communications, digital strategy, events, and partnerships across the Foundation’s work in over 70 countries. She also served as chief communications officer and director of the History Project, working closely with the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, helping to design and launch the bipartisan Presidential Leadership Scholars Program involving the presidential centers of Presidents Johnson, Bush (41 and 43), and Clinton.

Earlier in her career, Valerie was an executive vice president of public affairs at Edelman, where she developed global public affairs campaigns for Fortune 100 companies. Valerie began her work in government and politics working for U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, ultimately serving as his chief of staff. Throughout her career, she has served as a senior advisor to former presidents, presidential candidates, members of Congress, governors, and state and local officials across the country.

Valerie maintains a strong commitment to civic engagement. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Spring Bank, a certified B-Corp community bank based in the Bronx and Harlem, and on the Dean’s Advisory Council at Purdue University.

Valerie earned her JD from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2025, graduating cum laude, and is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois. She holds a BA in English with a minor in Psychology from Purdue University (1994).