Brie Mendoza is the Clinical Supervising Attorney of the newly launched Unhoused Advocacy Clinic, serving unhoused folks in Santa Clara County. Originally from Florida, Brie began her career as a high school psychology teacher, an experience that continues to inform her trauma-informed, client-centered approach to advocacy. Brie earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and clerked for Judge Darrin P. Gayles of the Southern District of Florida following graduation. Prior to joining KGCLC, Brie served as a temporary reentry attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid and then spent nearly five years as an Associate Deputy Public Defender with Alameda County. As a public defender, Brie saw firsthand how the legal system routinely criminalizes survival instead of addressing the inequities that cause it. That experience drives her commitment to reimagining the law as a tool for collective care rather than punishment. She is grateful to now meet the needs of her unhoused clients in the community to reduce legal barriers created by the criminalization of homelessness. Brie believes the law’s true power lies in solidarity, not control, and sees it as a privilege to guide students in learning how to practice law in service of dignity rather than enforcement.