Gordon Sandison Memorial Lecture Presents Presents: Descendant Daughter

Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis is an Associate Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court. She was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee in December of 2019 and won a full term in a contested election in 2020. Prior to that, she worked as a trial judge for 20 years, serving as a Whatcom County Superior Court judge for five years and a tribal court judge for tribes in Washington and the Southwest for fifteen. From 2003-2015, she was an Associate Professor at Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College where she taught law-related courses and cultural identity development; she has also taught legal writing in law schools. She is a sought -after speaker and trainer, training judges, social workers, and community groups on understanding generational trauma and how creating a trauma-informed legal system serves communities and improves decision-making; she does extensive training on compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act, and best practices in child welfare and domestic violence cases. Justice Montoya-Lewis holds a B.A. degree from the University of New Mexico, and J.D. and M.S.W. degrees from the University of Washington. She also holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certificate from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.