Andre Pineda graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987 with a Liberal Arts Degree in Political Science and History. Thereafter, he went on to Southern Illinois University School of Law where he received his jurist doctorate in 1990.

Upon graduating, Andre went to work as a Legal Honors Intern with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Office of General Counsel working on fair housing matters and then served as a trial attorney. From 1994 through 2000, he worked as a staff attorney in the Public Financing, Ethics and Special Projects Division of the Office of General Counsel for the Federal Election Commission. He then went on to become a Special Assistant General Counsel working directly with the General Counsel on management issues.