Jade Ellis Mathis, also known as “The Resilient JEM,” is an attorney, TEDx speaker, mental health advocate, and television personality. While following in the footsteps of her father, host of the Emmy Award-winning Judge Mathis Show, Jade experienced several obstacles and setbacks on her challenging road to becoming an attorney. After receiving a life-changing diagnosis of clinical depression, ADHD, and a learning disorder in her junior year in college, she was determined to change the way the world views mental health. Jade’s bold, authentic, and unapologetic approach to addressing mental health is admired and respected by many. In 2016, she gained national notoriety after sharing her story of resilience and perseverance in her viral testimony “Don’t Quit, Anything Can Happen” video with over 900k views.

Jade served as a non-traditional prosecutor for six years, specializing in criminal justice reform. In 2016, Jade created the Back on Track -Prince George’s County diversion program as an alternative to incarceration, modeled after the program created by Vice President Kamala Harris during her tenure as Attorney General. Jade has been recognized for her work and expertise in expungements and second-chance initiatives.

In 2021, Jade resigned from prosecution to follow her passion for inspiring the masses and embarked on a full-time journey of mental health advocacy and inspirational speaking. Since then, she has been featured in People, Essence, E!, NBC, FOX, Rolling Out, The Root, and several other publications, podcasts, and media outlets for her advocacy and resilience journey. Jade has served as a panelist, host, moderator, and keynote speaker for dozens of community events, private companies, federal government agencies, national conferences, high schools, universities, law schools, faith-based institutions, and many more.

The Detroit native obtained her Juris Doctrine from Western Michigan School of Law with a concentration in Litigation and a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism. Jade is certified and trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid and serves as an Advisory Board Member at Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, a male youth Detention Center. Jade works with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Black Greek Letter Consortium as their mental health influencer and keynote speaker for their national Rooted in Resilience tour. Jade also serves as Of Counsel and media consultant to the District Legal Group, litigating high-profile civil rights cases in Washington, D.C., and is a recurring guest contributor on MSNBC.