John F. O’Toole has served for 30 years as the Director of the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL). Under his leadership, the Center has built a national reputation for its successful advocacy on behalf of tens of thousands of poor children and youth in states throughout the country. In 2004, John was named among California’s 100 most influential attorneys by the Daily Journal, California’s statewide legal newspaper. In 2007, he was appointed by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George to serve on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care. John also sits on the board of Legal Services for Children in San Francisco. Prior to joining NCYL, he was a staff attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance in Marysville, CA, where he was responsible for a broad range of individually oriented civil cases involving poverty law. John earned his undergraduate degree from UCLA in 1971, and his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall) in 1974. He joined NCYL in 1980, becoming its Director a year later.
