Zachariah Oquenda

Zachariah Oquenda is a Senior Policy Attorney at Alliance for Children’s Rights with four years of experience providing legal and policy advocacy for access to justice and equitable opportunity. Specializing in legislative advocacy, Zachariah helps advance the Alliance’s policy priorities to support young people and caregivers in the child welfare system.

Before joining the Alliance, Zachariah worked for the California State Senate as a Policy Analyst where he was responsible for staffing several bills through the legislative process, including bills affecting low-income affordable housing access, parental reunification rights, and post-incarceration community reentry support. He has also served as an attorney and policy advocate for formerly incarcerated people and their families, advising and representing in cases with issues ranging from housing and employment discrimination to barriers attaining higher education and occupational licensure.

Zachariah has earned a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Claremont McKenna College, a Master of Public Policy from the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, and a J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law.

Zachariah lives in Sacramento. When he’s not working in legal or policy advocacy, he enjoys volunteering, wilderness backpacking, and recreational team sports.