Kristi Cruz

Kristi Cruz is an attorney and policy advocate with more than 17 years of experience advancing civil rights, language access, and disability rights across public systems. For nearly 15 years at Northwest Justice Project, she represented low-income clients in civil matters through CLEAR*ASL, a statewide program providing direct civil legal services in American Sign Language to Deaf clients. Kristi's policy work includes being a co-reporter for the American Bar Association’s Standards for Language Access in Courts, adopted as national policy to improve court access for people with limited English proficiency, and informing the development of Washington's Language Access Plan for the COVID-19 response, Washington Court's Deskbook on Language Access, and other agency language access plans. 

Most recently, she served as an Administrative Law Judge with the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings and, before that, as a Language Access Specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Access to Justice, advising on Title VI and ADA implementation. She values collaboration with community organizations and impacted communities to identify and address systemic barriers to accessing government services. A former nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, Kristi brings both legal and practical experience to advancing meaningful access and equity.