Perennially proven and celebrated attorney Natalie Camacho Mendoza has been the principal owner of the Camacho Mendoza Law Office in Boise, Idaho, for more than a decade. With more than 35 years in her profession, she is experienced in litigation and appellate work. At her firm, Ms. Camacho Mendoza provides legal and consulting services in a variety of important areas, including labor law, workers’ compensation, and Indian law. She has consulted on public policy and police accountability. She also advises and works diligently with nonprofit organizations. Ms. Camacho Mendoza has been elected and appointed to many boards, commissions, and task forces governing health care, criminal justice, higher education, labor, human and civil rights, income inequality, poverty, and Indian law,
Notably, Ms. Camacho Mendoza conducted independent oversight of law enforcement as the director of the Office of Police Oversight for the City of Boise, Idaho, from 2015 to 2021. Her vital responsibilities included investigations into complaints and critical incidents, conducting audits of the Office of Professional Standards investigations, reviewing and making recommendations on police policies and procedures, making assessments, and creating recommendations for management, community engagement, and officer training. She believes that her hard work and perseverance are key factors underlying her success along with being grateful for opportunities and the opportunities to learn valuable lessons from people she worked with throughout her career.
Ms. Camacho Mendoza is especially thankful for the strong support system her family provided for her. Growing up, she developed immeasurable collaboration skills by engaging with her siblings and learning how to cope with life’s challenges and failures. Her parents instilled in her the belief that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to, and she has, indeed, worked hard her entire life to make her dreams a reality. Raised in a hardworking family with little money or access to education, Ms. Camacho Mendoza’s father was a farmworker and railroad laborer. She witnessed her parents being taken advantage of and exploited by so-called professionals in varying positions of power. Recognizing these very personal family financial struggles early in her life, Ms. Camacho Mendoza decided that, as an adult, she would build a career that allowed her to help her parents and others in similar situations.
Educationally, after discovering her own academic aptitude for social studies, Ms. Camacho Mendoza took an interest in government, history, and current events. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Idaho State University, where she realized she loved constitutional law. Impressively, she followed up by earning her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas. Equally active outside the classroom during her time in law school, Ms. Camacho Mendoza was president of the Hispanic American Law Student Association and co-chair of Project Due Process, part of a national partnership of law students, attorneys, and the Bar Association to represent Marielito Cubans that escaped Cuba but were then incarcerated in US federal prisons, an experience in which she is still glad to have been a part.
Alongside her work at her law firm, Ms. Camacho Mendoza has been a conflict attorney at Hovet Law PLLC since 2023. During her decades-long career, she has worked as an attorney for numerous organizations, including Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc., and Frank R. Rivas & Associates. She was a law clerk with Plunkett, Gibson & Allen from 1992 to 1993, and from 1995 to 1998, worked as an associate at Quane, Smith, Howard & Hull LLP. Between 1998 and 2005, Ms. Camacho Mendoza excelled as a senior associate to become a partner at Anderson Julian & Hull, after which she launched and became the principal owner of her current business, the Camacho Mendoza Law Office. She also served as the interim City Attorney for the City of Boise from 2018 to 2019.
Ms. Camacho Mendoza was honored with the Mary Helen Moore Ambassador of the Year Award from Philanthropy Northwest in 2016. Furthermore, she has received numerous professional accolades, including but not limited to the Harriet Tubman Award and the Thurgood Marshall Award from the NAACP Treasure Valley Chapter in 2015 and 2013, respectively. In 2014, Ms. Camacho Mendoza was named a Leader in Law by the Idaho Business Review. As an active authority and participant in her field outside of her firm, she has been a member of the NAACP Treasure Valley Chapter since 2013 and previously dually served as its chair of legal redress and chair of community engagement. Additionally, Ms. Camacho Mendoza maintains affiliation with the Idaho State Bar and the State Bar of Texas. She also is a council member of the Idaho State Bar Indian Law Section and is a member of the Police Executive Research Forum and the Hispanic National Bar Association, among other professional organizations.
Since the genesis of her career, Ms. Camacho Mendoza has consistently focused on underserved communities, including immigrants and farmworkers, understanding the legal issues impacting the lives of farmworkers like her father. She strongly advocates for underrepresented and underserved people, dedicating much of her law practice and nonprofit advocacy work to support these groups. In 2022, she was the interim chief executive officer of Farmworker Justice, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to empower farmworkers to improve their lives through policy work and legal actions. Further, Ms. Camacho Mendoza has served as the chair of the organization’s board of directors since 2012.
When she is not practicing law or fighting to improve working conditions for one of America’s most exploited labor forces, Ms. Camacho Mendoza enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, reading, and appreciating art and films. Her keen interests also involve visiting, interacting with, and learning about different communities, cultures, and peoples.