Tess joined Disability Rights Maine in 2025 as a staff attorney with the Deaf Services team. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School that same year.
During law school, Tess worked on disability discrimination cases as an intern with the ACLU Disability Rights Program and at Disability Rights Advocates, seeking to enhance access to effective communication through impact litigation. She also provided direct legal support to the d/Deaf and hard of hearing community as an intern with Disability Rights Maine. Outside of her work in disability justice, Tess served as a Student Attorney with the Michigan Law Juvenile Justice Clinic, representing minors charged with criminal law violations and adults sentenced to prison as juveniles.
Tess graduated from Boston University in 2022, where she earned her B.A. in Linguistics and B.S. in Deaf Studies.