January Contreras is the co-founder of ALWAYS and an attorney committed to advancing the interests of women, children, and families in Arizona. January previously served as the Interim Director of the Halle Center for Family Justice, and before that she accepted an appointment in Washington, DC as the nation’s Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.
January also served as a Senior Advisor to Secretary Janet Napolitano and as a designee to the White House Council on Women and Girls. She used her leadership posts to launch the Combating Violence Against Women Initiative, which resulted in new training and resources to support the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed against immigrant victims, particularly battered women.
January has also extensively served the State of Arizona as the leader of the Arizona Department of Health Services, a Health Policy Advisor to Governor Napolitano, and an Assistant Director at the AHCCCS.