About Jennifer

Jennifer McClellan was elected to represent the 71^st District in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2005.  She serves on the House Commerce & Labor and Education Committees.  In 2006, Governor Kaine appointed Jennifer to the Commission on Sexual Violence, and the Speaker appointed her to 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.  Jennifer is a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. 

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 Secretary of Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference and Immediate Past Chair of the Virginia State Bar’s Corporate Counsel Section.  Jennifer is a member of the Virginia Bar Association Administrative Law Section Council, the VBA Young Lawyers Division, the American Bar Association Legal Opportunities Scholarship Fund Committee and Young Lawyers Division, and the Old Dominion, Richmond, and Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Associations.

Jennifer 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.  Since 2004, Jennifer has served on the Board of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority.  Jennifer also serves as Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, and is a member of the boards of the Virginia Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, Flagler Home at St. Joseph’s Villa, Boaz & Ruth, and the Oliver White Hill Foundation.  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 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. 

Jennifer has received several awards in recognition of her dedicated community and public service.  In 2007, Jennifer was named one of the Top Young Lawyers in Virginia by Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine.  In 2006, Jennifer was named the Virginia Jaycees Outstanding Young Virginian.  In 2005, Jennifer was awarded the Leadership Metro Richmond Servant Leader Award, and named to Style Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40 in 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.