BRENDON WOODS, appointed in December 2012, is the first Black Chief Public Defender in Alameda County’s history and is currently the only Black Chief Public Defender in the  state of California. Woods has 20 years of experience in criminal defense litigation and leads 170 staff in providing superior legal defense in more than 3,000 new files monthly. Woods is committed to providing holistic representation to his clients and is a nationally  recognized leader in public defense.

He is a Board Member and former President of the California Public Defenders Association and was honored with the Harvard Law School  Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship for outstanding public service. From a young age, Brendon Woods had formative experiences with law enforcement –steering his life and  career toward public defense. He feels fortunate to fight for those battling systems of  oppression and strives to reshape the discourse and nature of public defense and criminal  justice as a whole.