Jillian MacLeod joined DREDF as a Ralph S. Abascal Memorial Fellow in September 2023, became a Legal Fellow in September 2024, and became a Staff Attorney in June 2025.
Jillian engages in litigation, legal advocacy, policy advocacy, and education to fight for the rights of people with disabilities to have equitable access to healthcare and make self-determined decisions. Her work is largely focused on advocating for the bodily and decisional autonomy of people with disabilities. Since beginning at DREDF, Jillian has filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court in cases dealing with issues of bodily autonomy, worked on cases dealing with access to healthcare and public services for disabled people, led many trainings for medical providers on improving the accessibility of their practices, advocated against cuts to Medicaid and Medi-Cal, and conducted a nationwide survey of people with disabilities who have sought reproductive health care with a goal of educating providers about how to make their care more accessible.
Jillian received her undergraduate degree in Political Science with a Minor in Feminist Studies from UC Santa Barbara. She attended law school at UC Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings College of the Law) and graduated magna cum laude with a Concentration in Social Justice Lawyering.
