Jasmine Mendez is a promising Visual Arts (B.A.) graduate with a bright future in Photography & Design. Born and raised in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., August 30th 1998, Jasmine grew an interest in the arts at a young age. She discovered a passion for graphic design while attending McKinley Technology High School where she studied graphics under their Information Technology (IT) department.

Shortly after graduating in 2016, she picked up photography while working for a national non-profit organization, Men Can Stop Rape (MCSR). In this moment her love for photography began and she also discovered her passion to serve her community. Before entering undergrad, she continued her work with MCSR while she further developed her passions. She worked as a photographer and in high schools as a facilitator to young women in MCSR’s co-curricular club Women Inspiring Strength & Empowerment (W.I.S.E). Jasmine also served as a member of Washington, D.C.’s Young Women’s Leadership Council learning the importance and processes of legally protecting women and people of color for a year before beginning her studies.

In the spring of 2018, Mendez attended the Lincoln University of Pennsylvania where she took her beloved passions, merged them and began sharpening her skills. She completed her degree in Visual Arts, with a concentration in photography and graphic design in the summer of 2021. As she reared graduation she sought a fulfilling career that would not only include the vastness creativity art has to offer, but one that also would make an impactful difference in lives of people of the African diaspora, who she strongly sees as a community that is overlooked but deserving.

As there was always an interest in the law within Jasmine, she naturally gravitated toward the field of Intellectual Property (IP). With IP, she could stay connected to art while tackling the prevalent issues of racial discrimination and division within the art world itself. Currently, Jasmine is studying for the Law School Admission Test and plans to take the test this Fall. She aspires to get her Masters of Laws at American University’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property in the years to come. Her main goal is to further illuminate the light that already exists within the world of Black Art & Culture while simultaneously preserving and protecting not only the art, but also the artists and stories that are behind it all.