About Jennifer

Jennifer McClellan was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from the 71^st District in 2005.  She is assigned to the House Commerce & Labor and Education Committees.  Jennifer is a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, and Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

She also serves on the Advisory Council on Career and Technical Education, the Commission on Youth Advisory Committee, the Civil Rights Memorial Commission, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission, and the Board of Trustees of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Living History and Public Policy Center.   In 2007 she served as a member of Governor Kaine’s Commission on Sexual Violence.  

Jennifer is Assistant General Counsel Mid-Atlantic South for Verizon Communications, focusing on state regulatory matters for the District of Columbia, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.  She is President of the Virginia State Bar (VSB) Young Lawyers Conference and Past Chair of the VSB’s Corporate Counsel Section.  Jennifer is a member of the Virginia Bar Association (VBA) Administrative Law Section Council, the American Bar Association Legal Opportunities Scholarship Fund Committee, and the Old Dominion, Richmond, and Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Associations.

Jennifer’s community service extends to a wide variety of state and local organizations.  She serves as Vice President of the State Board of the Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership, and is a graduate of the Institute’s 2001 Political Leaders Program and 2005 Candidate Training Program.  Jennifer is a member of several non-profit boards, including the Richmond SPCA, Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, the Virginia Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, and Boaz & Ruth.  Jennifer is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Junior League of Richmond, the Fan District Association, the Fan Women’s Club, the League of Women Voters, and the Richmond Crusade for Voters.  She is a member of the 2004 Class of Leadership Metro Richmond.  Jennifer’s past board memberships include the Metro Richmond Boys & Girls Club, Flagler Home at St. Joseph’s Villa, the Oliver White Hill Foundation.  

Jennifer has also been a longtime Democratic Party activist.  She currently serves as 1^st Vice Chair, Organization for the Democratic Party of Virginia, and is a member of the Democratic National Committee and the Association of Democratic Chairs.  Jennifer previously served as Vice Chair for Outreach and Chair of the 3^rd Congressional District Democratic Committee.  She has been active with local Democratic committees in Richmond, Chesterfield County, and Charlottesville.  She served three consecutive terms as president of the Virginia Young Democrats (1994-1997), and is the founding president of the Metro Richmond Area Young Democrats (1997-2004).

Prior to elected office, Jennifer served Governor Mark Warner on the Virginia College Building Authority (2002-2005), serving two years as Vice Chair.  She also served on the Board of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority from 2004-2008. 

Jennifer has received several awards in recognition of her dedicated community and public service.  These honors include being named among the Leaders in the Law by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (2008), Top Young Lawyers in Virginia by Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine (2007), Virginia Jaycees Outstanding Young Virginian (2006), recipient of the Leadership Metro Richmond Servant Leader Award (2005), and Style Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40 (2005).  In 2002, Jennifer was named the Virginia State Bar Young Lawyer’s Conference Edward R. Burnett Young Lawyer of the Year Award.  She is also a three-time recipient of that organization’s Outstanding Service Award. 

Jennifer was born in Petersburg and attended public school in Chesterfield County.  She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Richmond in 1994.  In 1997, she received her law degree from the University of Virginia.  Jennifer is married to David Mills, and lives in the Fan District in Richmond.