In 2009, Sykes was hired as a Senior Assistant Attorney General to the Oregon Department of Justice, tasked with creating and leading a Civil Rights Unit. The CRU investigated and litigated several fair housing, employment discrimination and consumer protection cases during Sykes' tenure. Ms. Sykes was employed at Oregon Law Center and Legal Aid Services of Oregon from 1999-2009, specializing in the representation of immigrant populations in consumer, housing, employment and domestic violence matters. In her first year out of law school, Ms. Sykes practiced criminal defense, with a focus on representing Latinos though her employment at Squires and Lopez. Sykes obtained her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley and her J.D. at University of Oregon School of Law.