Jana Baker is a 2012 graduate of Grants Pass High School. After graduation, Jana moved to Las Vegas, NV, where she went to school for medical assisting and became the practice manager for a primary care medical facility.

She had a lifelong dream of becoming an attorney and after five years, she moved back to Oregon to pursue her dreams. In 2017, she began school at Rogue Community College as a first-generation, non-traditional student. In 2019, she transferred to SOU where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in criminal justice and a minor in psychology in 2021. During her time at SOU, she was the governmental affairs and university board assistant, the Chief Justice for the Associated Students of SOU and in the criminal justice department, received the Outstanding Junior Award, Future Lawyer Award, Outstanding Graduating Senior, Outstanding Pre-Law Student and Criminal Justice Department Award of Appreciation.

She is now a 2024 candidate for her Juris Doctor degree from Willamette University College of Law. In 2023, she had the opportunity to intern with the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association’s Legislative Director. Currently, she works as a second-year legal intern at a criminal defense firm in Medford at The Law Office of Justin Rosas and is also a law clerk at a post-conviction relief firm in Salem. She is a true believer in criminal defense and hopes to return home to the Rogue Valley after law school.

“SOU will always be really special to me for many reasons, but the lifelong friends, mentors, and a new type of family I gained will always be the most important. From faculty, staff, classmates, and alumni, the connections I have made, have lent a hand in my success since graduating. No matter where you go or who you are, when you meet a fellow Raider, you are welcomed with open arms because you’re a part of the family – the Raider family!”