Antoinette Naddour

Veterans Legal Institute

Executive Director & Co-Founder

As executive director and co-founder of Veterans Legal Institute® (VLI), Antoinette Naddour leads the Tustin-based nonprofit with a mission to empower homeless and at-risk veterans through free legal services. A former officer with the California State Guard, where she served as a marketing and reserve JAG officer, she co-founded VLI in 2014 after witnessing returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans facing legal barriers to stable housing and benefits. Under Naddour’s leadership, VLI has served over 12,000 veterans and, in 2024 alone, secured $3 million in benefit awards for disabled service members. She pioneered a mobile legal clinic model that brings aid directly to high-need areas like the VA Long Beach campus, earning the organization the Innovative Lawyers North America 2023 Award. She remains active across Orange County’s veteran support networks and legal communities, including serving as board advisor to the Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce and on the board of the Orange County Women Lawyers Association.