Tamalani Barnett was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ms. Barnett grew up with a passion for helping families become whole and for protecting vulnerable children. She has bachelor's degrees in political science and sociology from Pepperdine University and a Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine’s Caruso School of Law. Ms. Barnett is a National Association of Counsel for Children Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist. She has sixteen years of experience working with children in foster care. This includes nine years at the Children's Law Center of California as a staff attorney for children and as the director of the attorney conflict panel. While at CLC Ms. Barnett lead the initial efforts for the firm regarding child sex trafficking identification and prevention.  Ms. Barnett opened a private adoption law practice in 2008. In 2020 she joined FamilyBuilding, a law firm that assists with independent, agency, dependency, relative, stepparent and adult adoptions. She engages the community through trainings and public speaking on the topics of foster care, adoption, reunification and child welfare law. Ms. Barnett is the executive director of a nonprofit she co-founded called RaisingHOPE, Inc that empowers teens and young adults experiencing foster care to achieve their dreams through resources and relationships. RaisingHOPE provides funds, mentoring, life skills and advocacy individuals who are or were in the foster care system. Ms. Barnett is a member of the TEACh Scholarship Committee for foster youth students and she is a Preceptor for Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. She has a passion for coaching and providing resources to young adults aging out of the foster care system. Ms. Barnett and her husband, Clark, live in Southern California. They have been married for 17 years and they have two children.