Jayla Simone Meeks is a first-generation rising third-year law student at American University Washington College of Law and a Public Interest Public Service (PIPS) Scholar from Detroit, Michigan. She earned her B.A. from the University of Tulsa and completed the Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University.

Before law school, Jayla worked in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s historic Greenwood District, where she supported the Terence Crutcher Foundation and advocacy connected to the legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and efforts honoring the last living survivors and descendants of the massacre. She also engaged with initiatives focused on restoring rights for descendants of enslaved people within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. This work grounded her understanding of law as a force that determines whether historical harm is acknowledged, repaired, or reproduced.

Since beginning law school, Jayla has worked at the intersection of litigation, courts, and public interest advocacy through roles with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Klein Hornig LLP, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Across these experiences, she has supported civil rights litigation, housing and disability rights advocacy, federal judicial decision-making, and strategic efforts to dismantle structural barriers in housing, education, and economic opportunity.

Jayla serves as Vice Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Black Law Students Association, a regional leadership role supporting Black law students across 26 law schools spanning the Mid-Atlantic region, where she helps coordinate programming, initiatives, and engagement focused on professional development, community building, and advocacy. She also serves as Vice President of the Plaintiffs Law Association and is a Senior Staff Editor on the Administrative Law Review. She has served as a Teaching Assistant for Torts, Administrative Law, and Contracts. Outside of formal roles, she mentors five law students, providing ongoing academic and professional guidance throughout the academic year.

Her commitment to service extends beyond her law school. She has served as a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) preparer on the Navajo Nation, provided more than 100 hours of pro bono litigation and advocacy support with the Advancement Project, and organized a book drive delivering over 200 books to students in Ghana through an international study abroad program focused on cooperative economic development.

In her free time, she enjoys dance fitness, cooking, runway modeling, and exploring cultural spaces and hidden gems.