Ainka Sanders Jackson
Ainka Sanders Jackson originally came to Nashville to start graduate school at Peabody College, intending to pursue a career in education. Within a short time, she recalls, "I realized I wasn't a teacher, but I wanted to be an advocate for teachers and students." While working as a caseworker in the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, Jackson had noticed that lawyers had the skills and ability to make a positive difference in the lives of the children with whom she was working. She decided to pursue a law degree instead. "I wanted to be able to do policy work supporting the education and welfare of children, and I realized I needed a law degree to do that," she said. "A law degree opens doors, if for no other reason than people listen to lawyers. Sadly, when a social worker makes a recommendation, people may ignore her. However, when I make the same recommendation as an attorney, they listen and things usually happen fairly quickly. Just the degree itself is extremely powerful."
When Jackson entered Vanderbilt in 2004, she had a six-year-old daughter. Her son was born in September 2005, at the beginning of her 2L year. "I couldn't have chosen a better place for law school," Jackson said. "Vanderbilt was so supportive of me being a mother and a law student." She particularly enjoyed the clinics she took, which afforded an opportunity to learn practical lawyering skills. "The clinics were one of the best things about the law school for me," she said. "I loved being able to see things in action."
Jackson accepted a position in the Public Defender's Office after passing the Tennessee bar examination and spent a year representing adults in General Sessions Court before moving to the juvenile division as a Metro Guardian Ad Litem. She works closely with a social worker to advocate for children and ensure they receive court-ordered counseling and other needed services. "I represent the best interests of children who have been abused or neglected or if there's a custody situation," Jackson explained. "What I ultimately do is provide a recommendation to the court on what should happen, and then I do the follow-up in terms of orders and motions."
Jackson handles 40 to 60 cases at any given time and typically deals with more than 150 cases each year. Though her caseload sometimes seems daunting, she finds the work extremely rewarding. "The Loan Repayment Assistant Program makes it possible for me to do this work," she said. "You definitely don't work in the Public Defender's Office for the money. We are all here because we are passionate about the people we serve. My finances are manageable because Vanderbilt pays 50 percent of my loan debt each year, which is a blessing, and I deeply appreciate this program."
