Julia Spiegel

Founder & CEO

Julia Spiegel is the Founder and CEO of GovAct and an award-winning attorney who has championed fundamental freedoms at the highest levels of federal, state, and local government. Prior to founding GovAct, Julia served as legal counsel and senior advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom, directing litigation, and helping oversee and drive the state’s work on reproductive rights, health and human services, consumer protection, and immigration. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, Julia worked under Governor Newsom’s leadership to build the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of 23 governors committed to defending and expanding reproductive freedom through novel executive, administrative, legal, and policy initiatives. The New York Times featured this work as a leading example of innovative resistance to the rollback of fundamental rights in America.  

Prior to joining the Governor’s office, Julia litigated high-impact cases on immigration, voting rights, and other social justice matters in the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office, receiving California Attorneys of the Year and County Counsels’ Association of California awards for her work securing a nationwide injunction that barred the federal government from defunding sanctuary jurisdictions. Julia previously served as senior advisor to then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, clerked for Judge M. Margaret McKeown on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, conducted field research on armed conflict in east Africa, and taught courses on foreign affairs and the U.S. Constitution at Stanford Law School and on U.S. foreign policy at Stanford’s Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy Program. 

Julia has a B.A. from Stanford University, M.P.P from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and J.D. from Yale Law School.