About Jackie

Jackie Wu is an experienced consultant who specializes in nonprofit advocacy, civic engagement, communications, event planning, and project management. She has been featured on NPR, Los Angeles Times, and CalMatters and has provided presentations and workshops on voting and the election process to numerous local and statewide organizations.

Prior to starting J Wu Consulting, Jackie worked as the Community Outreach Manager for the Orange County Registrar of Voters, where she oversaw the translation of election materials in 9 languages, election worker training, pop-up voting, social media, media, legislation, and outreach to 1.8 million voters in the fifth largest voting jurisdiction in the United States.

Following the highly controversial and scrutinized 2020 General Election, Jackie felt deeply impacted by the false accusations of voting and election fraud that sought to undermine voting rights. She experienced an epiphany after the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, which led Jackie to feel called to utilize her experiences and knowledge to play a more direct role in empowering historically excluded communities to realize their political power and potential.

Jackie later authored On the Front Lines of Democracy: An Election Official's Story of Protecting the Vote in 2020, a firsthand account of her time at the Orange County Registrar of Voters during this pivotal period, including the early uncertainty of COVID-19, election misinformation, threats of violence, fake ballot drop boxes, and wildfires. The book has drawn endorsements from California's Secretary of State and other election officials and democracy leaders nationally. Learn more at jwuconsulting.com/book.

Jackie's past work experience includes the City of Palos Verdes Estates, Orange County Asian & Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA), and the California State Senate. Having worked in nonprofit advocacy and government agencies at differing levels enables her to develop innovative and resourceful solutions from multiple perspectives.

A daughter of Chinese Vietnamese refugees, Jackie is a graduate of UC Irvine with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, and holds certificates in Advanced Public Engagement for Local Government from Pepperdine University and Applied Compassion Training from Stanford University.

My Approach

My background is in translating legal mandates (statutes, court orders, rulings) into operational practice: figuring out how something gets implemented on the ground, where it breaks down, and how that feedback makes its way back to policymakers and advocacy organizations. My work stays strictly nonpartisan, focusing on structural integrity rather than political argument.

I bring this lens from direct experience leading voter outreach and language access programs for one of the largest election jurisdictions in the country, including crisis communications during the 2020 election cycle and COVID-19.

I bring the same operational approach to nonpartisan advocacy strategy, particularly community mobilization by translating broad coalition goals into consolidated, actionable plans across diverse stakeholder environments.

I work with election officials, civic organizations, advocacy groups, and policymakers who need to move from "what the law or ruling says" to "how this actually works for the people it affects," and to answer the question, "does the law or ruling actually serve the people it affects?"