Aja Nicole Brooks is a native New Mexican, born in Hobbs. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Spanish. She attended the University of New Mexico School of Law and graduated with her juris doctorate in 2008. She currently works as the Statewide Rural Justice Program Coordinator for the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, and previously served as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico. Prior to that, she was employed as the Director of the Second Judicial District Court’s Center for Self-Help and Dispute Resolution. She is involved in many legal groups and activities, including serving as a mentor in the Bridge the Gap Mentorship Program and as a member of the Committee on Diversity in the Legal Profession. She is a member of the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association, a past President of the State Bar of New Mexico and the Bar Foundation, and a member of the Iota Xi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She enjoys exploring and traveling near and far with her husband, Johnn and her son, Emerson.