Jackie Payne’s works with the NoVo Foundation.
An experienced lawyer and policy advocate and a prominent leader in the field of women’s rights, Jackie Payne helps our clients research, design, and implement strategic initiatives. She is the director of Move to End Violence, a 10-year movement building project of the NoVo Foundation.
Jackie began her career in post-apartheid South Africa working on issues related to gender equality, women’s health and economic empowerment. She then became a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, working on matters of domestic and sexual violence, public benefits, housing and consumer protection.
Jackie next joined the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, where she led a national coalition of community-based organizations dedicated to addressing the gender roots of poverty in America. Jackie also chaired the National Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence and helped lead the successful campaign to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Jackie also served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, teaching the course “Gender, Equality and the Law.”
In 2003, Jackie was recruited by Planned Parenthood Federation of America to run its 50-state advocacy program. Jackie set the Federation's state policy agenda and enhanced the capacity of the 100-plus affiliates to engage in effective advocacy. . In 2006, Jackie was promoted to director of government relations, becoming responsible for all of the Federation's state, federal and international policy work.
Jackie received her bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She is a trustee of the Patsy Takemoto Mink Foundation and serves on the board of Generations Ahead.
