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Who We Are (Home) · · The Importance of
Holistic Advocacy. · A Winning
Approach. · A History of
The Bronx Defenders. · Staff Biographies. · A Letter from our Director.
Staff
Biographies
The
Bronx Defenders' staff is presented in detail on this page. To move
directly to specific persons, click on the alphabetized links directly
below.
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Management
Staff & Senior Attorneys
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Robin
G. Steinberg
Executive
Director
(RobinS@bronxdefenders.org)
A
public defender for 20 years, Robin began her career at The Legal Aid
Society of Nassau County and New York City. After leaving The Legal Aid
Society, Robin joined the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem where
she became the Deputy Director. She left Harlem in 1997 when she
founded The Bronx Defenders. Robin is an active member of the local and
national indigent defense communities. She was a participant in the
Executive Session on Public Defense, conducted by the Bureau of Justice
Assistance and Harvard University from 1999 through 2001. She serves on
the Board of Directors of the New York State Defender Association and
New York City Alternative to Incarceration and she is an advisory board
member of the National Defender Leadership Project. Robin advocates
locally and nationally for holistic representation and the community
defender movement. She is a 2002 Wasserstein Fellow of Harvard Law
School, she received the Kutak-Dodds Prize for the year 2000 for her
"exceptional vision, devotion and service in the quest for equal
justice", as well as the 2001 New York State Bar Association's
Criminal Justice Section Award for "outstanding contributions to
the delivery of defense services".
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Franklin
Cruz
Director
of Strategy and Evaluation
(FranklinC@bronxdefenders.org)
Franklin
joined The Bronx Defenders in June 2000, as its first Community
Development Coordinator. In that capacity, Franklin oversaw the youth
programs of The Bronx Defenders and was in charge of community
relations. Today, Franklin is the Director of Strategy and Evaluation,
overseeing finances, operations, and performance and program
evaluation. Before coming to The Bronx Defenders, Franklin worked
primarily in educational policy. In the past, Franklin had consulted
with organizations including the Berkeley Unified School District, the
New York Department of Education, and the New England Equity Assistance
Center. He holds a Masters of Public Policy from the Goldman School of
Public Policy, UC Berkeley.
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Amy
Gallicchio
Team
Leader
(AmyG@bronxdefenders.org)
Amy
graduated from Catholic University, Columbus School of Law in 1986.
After serving as a E.Barrett Prettyman/StuartStiller Fellow at
Georgetown University Law Center, where she worked as both an attorney
and a teaching fellow, she joined the Defender Association of
Philadelphia in 1989. In Philadelphia, Amy tried hundreds of
misdemeanor and felony matters, conducted countless suppression
hearings and has represented thousands of indigent clients in all
phases of criminal defense representation. She is bilingual and brings
to The Bronx Defenders experience with high profile and complex
criminal matters including homicides. Amy has been a Team Leader since
1999.
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Aaron
Mysliwiec
Team
Leader
(AaronM@bronxdefenders.org)
Aaron
Mysliwiec is a graduate of Carleton College and the Georgetown
University Law Center. Before joining The Bronx Defenders, Aaron worked
as an Associate at the Dorsey & Whitney law firm in Minneapolis and
as the Deputy Chief of Staff for City Year, Inc. While at Dorsey &
Whitney, Aaron's litigation practice included white collar crime,
insurance law, general commercial law, and employment law. At City Year
Inc., Aaron worked on issues involving public policy development,
nonprofit fundraising, and nonprofit management.
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Karen
Smolar
Team
Leader
(KarenS@bronxdefenders.org)
After
graduating from Brooklyn Law School in 1992, Karen worked at the Legal
Aid Society in Brooklyn for three years. She participated in Legal
Aid's training program and then tried numerous misdemeanor and felony
trials, and conducted countless pre-trial hearings. In 1996 Karen went
on to work in private practice, where she focused on criminal cases and
tried several serious felony jury trials. Since joining The Bronx
Defenders in January of 2000, Karen has conducted dozens of felony jury
trials.
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Lisa
Hoyes
Team
Leader
(LisaH@bronxdefenders.org)
Lisa
joined The Bronx Defenders in October 2001. Prior to coming to us, Lisa
was a Soros Justice Postgraduate Fellow with The Door’s Legal Services
Center in 2000-2001 and with The Legal Aid Society in 1999-2000. Lisa
took a leave of absence in 2004-2005 to work at the Equal Justice
Initiative of Alabama. Lisa received her J.D from New York University
School of Law, and her undergraduate degree from the State University
of New York at Purchase in Language and Culture and Political Science.
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Justine
Olderman
Team
Leader
(JustineO@bronxdefenders.org)
Justine
graduated order of the coif from NYU law school in 1998. While in law
school Justine participated in both a criminal appeals clinic and a
criminal defense clinic in which she represented indigent clients in
misdemeanor and felony cases. After graduating, Justine spent two years
clerking for Judge Robert J. Ward in the Southern District of New York.
She joined The Bronx Defenders in 2000.
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Jacob
Louis Stevens
Senior
Trial Attorney
(JakeS@bronxdefenders.org)
Jake
Stevens, a graduate of Harvard University and NYU School of Law, has
been at The Bronx Defenders since the winter of 1998. He is now one of
four team leaders. Prior to coming to The Bronx Defenders, he was managing
attorney at the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, and staff
attorney at the Neighborhood Defenders Service of Harlem and the
Philadelphia Defender Association. He enjoys renovating old houses and
hiking through the hills of Vermont. He speaks both Portuguese and
Spanish.
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Maria
Tobia
Senior
Trial Attorney
(MariaT@bronxdefenders.org)
Maria
graduated from Northeastern Law School in 1987, after which she became
a staff lawyer with the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan. She
participated in Legal Aid's training program and during her three year
tenure there tried several misdemeanor and felony jury trials. In 1990
Maria went into private practice, where, for ten years, she continued
to handle criminal cases and tried many more felonies to verdict. Since
joining The Bronx Defenders in 2000, Maria has attended trials skills
training through NCDC and has conducted several felony jury trials, as
well as numerous misdemeanor cases.
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Staff Attorneys
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Daniel Anisfeld
Attorney
(DanielA@bronxdefenders.org)
Danny joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2004. Before coming to us, Danny was a law clerk to two federal judges in New York City. He received his J.D., Order of the Coif, from NYU Law School in 2005, as well as a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University in 2002. He received a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley.
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Brian Arthur
Attorney
(BrianArt@bronxdefenders.org)
Brian joined The Bronx Defenders in August 2003. Before coming to us, Brian was an attorney at the Defender Association of Philadelphia for three years. He received his J.D from the New York University School of Law in 2000. He received his undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, in 1990.
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Leana Amaez
Attorney
(LeanaA@bronxdefenders.org)
After serving as an intern in 2004, Leana returned to The Bronx Defenders in October 2005. Before coming to us, Leana interned at the Cardozo Criminal Defense Clinic as a student advocate. She received her J.D from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in June 2005. Her undergraduate degree is from Wesleyan University in Latin American Studies.
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Adrienne Austin
Attorney
(AdrienneA@bronxdefenders.org)
Adrienne joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2005. Before coming to us, Adrienne clerked at the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C. She received her J.D from New York University. Her undergraduate degree, in Political Science, is from the University of California.
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Josh Bowers
Attorney
(JoshB@bronxdefenders.org)
Josh received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1995. He then taught fifth grade for two years, before attending New York University School of Law. While at NYU, Josh spent summers working at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and the Federal Defender Division. Josh also organized the Prisoners Rights Education Project and was a member of the Juvenile Rights Clinic. After graduating Order of the Coif in 2001, Josh clerked for Judge Dennis Jacobs of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Josh next worked for one year at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason & Silberberg, P.C., before joining the Bronx Defenders in 2003.
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Scott Constantine
Attorney
(ScottC@bronxdefenders.org)
Scott came to The Bronx Defenders in November 2002. Before coming to us, Scott was a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society in Manhattan for three years. Scott received his J.D. from Northeastern University and his undergraduate degree, in History, from City University of New York. Scott is a member of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and is active with The Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York (LeGaL) Foundation. In a former life, Scott was an actor and appeared on film, television, radio, and Off-Broadway.
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Amy Crawford
Attorney
(AmyC@bronxdefenders.org)
Amy joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2002 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. Before coming to us, Amy was a Litigation Associate with O'Melveny & Myers LLP and a pro se clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania as a Public Interest Scholar and her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, majoring in African-American Studies and Sociology. Prior to law school, Amy spent three years working for the Legal Aid Society's Civil Appeals and Law Reform Unit.
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Ezekiel Edwards
Attorney
(EzekielE@bronxdefenders.org)
Zeke received his B.A. in History from Vassar College in 1995 and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2002, where he was a Public Interest Scholar. While in law school, Zeke assisted in the representation of clients at the Defender Association of Philadelphia, the Habeas Corpus Unit of the Federal Defenders, and the Greater Cambodian Association of Philadelphia. During his summers away from law school, Zeke worked in Phnom Penh at the Cambodian Defenders Project and with the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in its Workers' Rights Program. Prior to law school, Zeke spent three years as an investigator for the Capital Defender Office in New York.
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Alice Fontier
Attorney
(AliceF@bronxdefenders.org)
Alice joined the Bronx Defenders in October, 2005. Before coming to us, Alice was a staff attorney with the Federal Defenders in San Diego. She received her J.D. from NYU and her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida.
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David Jaros
Legal Director
(DavidJ@bronxdefenders.org)
Dave received his B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1994. Spurning the NBA, Dave went to graduate school at the Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a Masters in Public Policy. In 1995, while working with "at-risk" youth in Taos, New Mexico, Dave was sensitized to the disturbing role that the criminal justice system plays in the lives of young people charged with a crime. After working two years as a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Dave enrolled at Yale Law School with the intention of becoming a public defender. He spent his first summer of law school working for the Public Defender Service in DC, and his second summer working for the King County Defender in Seattle WA. After graduating from law school, Dave clerked for the Hon. Allyne Ross in the Eastern District of New York. Since joining the Bronx Defenders in September of 2002, he has represented numerous clients in criminal court, successfully defended a client in a rare misdemeanor jury trial, and stolen snacks from a number of his fellow attorneys.
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Matthew Kadushin
Attorney
(MatthewK@bronxdefenders.org)
Matthew joined The Bronx Defenders in August 2004. Prior to joining us, he was a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service in Washington D.C for nearly four years. Matthew graduated from New York University School of Law in May 2000. He received his undergraduate degree, in Political Economy and History, from Muhlenberg College.
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Marika Meis
Attorney
(MarikaM@bronxdefenders.org)
Marika joined The Bronx Defenders in July 2004. Before coming to us, Marika worked as an attorney at The Legal Aid Society in the Bronx for two years. Prior to that, she worked as an attorney at the Appellate Advocates in Manhattan. She received her J.D from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1999 and her undergraduate degree in English Literature.
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Amanda Nadel
Attorney
(AmandaN@bronxdefenders.org)
Amanda joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2004. Prior to joining us, Amanda worked as a Student Attorney for the Federal Defender Clinic. She received her J.D from the New York University School of Law in 2004. Her degree in Public Policy and American Institutions is from Brown University.
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Archana Prakash
Attorney
(ArchanaP@bronxdefenders.org)
Archana joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2005. Before coming to us, Archana was the civil rights fellow at Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck for two years. Prior to that she clerked for the Honorable Myron Thompson in Montgomery, Alabama. She received her J.D. from Columbia University Law School and her undergraduate degree, in Human Service Studies, from Cornell University.
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Seann Patrick Riley
Attorney
(SeannR@bronxdefenders.org)
Seann joined The Bronx Defenders in August 2004. Before coming to us, Seann served as an E. Barret Prettyman Fellow at the Georgetown Law Center. Prior to that, Seann served as a law clerk with the Louisiana Appellate project in New Orleans as well as for the Public Defender Service in the District of Columbia. Seann received his J.D from the Tulane University Law School and his M.S.W from the University of Michigan. His B.A, in Government, is from Georgetown University.
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Jenny Semmel
Attorney
(JennyS@bronxdefenders.org)
Ms. Semmel is a graduate of Harvard Law School. There she was a both member of the Harvard Defenders and a participant in a criminal defense clinic. In addition, Ms. Semmel spent both her summers in criminal defense organizations. Upon her graduation in 1996, Ms. Semmel joined the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, where she conducted two felony jury trials. After a brief tenure at New York County Defender Services, Ms. Semmel came to The Bronx Defenders in 1999. Here she has tried several felony trials, as well as some misdemeanor bench trials.
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Lily Shapiro
Attorney
(LilyS@bronxdefenders.org)
Lily graduated from Harvard College in 1993. Between college and law school, she worked as an investigator on death penalty cases in San Francisco. She returned to her hometown to attend New York University Law School, graduating in 2001. While in law school, she represented youth in juvenile delinquency proceedings in Family Court in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx, interned at the King County Defender in Seattle, WA, and conducted research for the first appeal of a capital case in New York. For two years following graduation, she was a Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown law school, where she represented adults in misdemeanor and felony cases and youth in delinquency proceedings, and also supervised third-year law students in the Juvenile Justice Clinic. She joined The Bronx Defenders in September of 2003.
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Nicole Smith
Attorney
(NicoleS@bronxdefenders.org)
Nicole joined the Bronx Defenders in September 2004. Before attending law school, Nicole traveled abroad to Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, where she interned at the Centre for Criminal Justice and advocated for reform in South Africa’s criminal justice system. While at Georgetown University, Nicole worked as an instructor in the Street Law Clinic, teaching basic criminal and civil law concepts to students at Washington DC’s Anacostia High School. She also participated in the Georgetown Criminal Justice Clinic where she represented individuals in misdemeanor cases and parole violation hearings. Nicole is a graduate of Rutgers University and Georgetown University Law Center.
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Johanna Steinberg
Attorney
(JohannaS@bronxdefenders.org)
Johanna joined The Bronx Defenders in October 2005. Prior to joining the Bronx Defenders, Johanna was a Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, where she worked as both an attorney and a teaching fellow. Prior to that, she clerked with the Honorable Virginia A. Phillips in the Central District of California. Johanna received her LL.M. from Georgetown, her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and her undergraduate degree from Brown University. Prior to law school, Johanna spent three years working for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
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Sejal Zota
Attorney
(SejalZ@bronxdefenders.org)
Sejal joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2004. Before coming to us, Sejal worked as a Teaching Fellow with the NYU School of Law in the Immigration Rights Clinic. Prior to that, Sejal was a Kirkland & Ellis New York City Public Service Fellow with the Immigrant Defense Project in New York. She received her J.D from New York University. She graduated with a B.A, in Economics, from Duke University.
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Client Advocates
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Jenny Crawford
Client Advocate Supervisor
(JennyC@bronxdefenders.org)
Jenny Crawford is a graduate of James Madison University and Columbia University School of Social Work. Before joining The Bronx Defenders, Jenny worked as Program Director for Hamilton Family Center, a homeless shelter for families in San Francisco. While working in San Francisco, Jenny oversaw all shelter provided services as well as worked with the Mayor's Office on Homelessness to ensure on-going city funding. After four years in the Bay area, Jenny gained further clinical skills interning at Boys and Girls Harbor in East Harlem where she facilitated individual and family counseling. She also interned at Manhattan Family Treatment Court where she helped place substance-abusing parents into appropriate treatment. Jenny is bilingual in Spanish and English.
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Maria Azuri
Client Advocate
(mariaa@bronxdefenders.org)
Maria joined The Bronx Defenders in June of 2004. Before coming to us, Maria was a child and family advocate at an outpatient mental health center. As a family advocate, Maria worked as part of a multi-disciplinary treatment team with children with serious mental illness and their families providing crisis intervention, short-term counseling and stabilization and advocacy with outside agencies. She has also worked as a generalist social worker at an inner-city health center where she established a social work department and at a youth shelter in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her Master’s of Science in Social Work degree from Columbia University in 2004 and shortly thereafter obtained her license to practice social work in the State of New York. She received her undergraduate degree, also in Social Work, from Georgia State University.
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Jesse Lainer-Vos
Client Advocate
(JesseL@bronxdefenders.org)
Jesse came to The Bronx Defenders in 2004. Before joining The Bronx Defenders, Jesse lived for two years in Israel and worked for a Bedouin women’s weaving cooperative, helping to develop their marketing and sales resources. As a graduate student, she worked at a continuous day treatment center for individuals who suffer from chronic and persistent mental illnesses and at a domestic violence agency. In addition to her client advocate responsibilities, Jesse developed and facilitated a life skills group for young people in our PRYDE Project that focuses on building self-esteem and providing adolescents with communication and decision-making skills required to behave responsibly and care for themselves and others. She received her M.S.S.W from Columbia University School of Social Work in May 2004 and a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University in 1999.
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Asiya Razvi
Client Advocate/Project Director, Community Arts Exchange
(AsiyaR@bronxdefenders.org)
Asiya joined The Bronx Defenders in November 2003. Before joining the Bronx Defenders, Asiya interned at Project HEAVY West in Los Angeles working with court-involved teens and their families. Additionally, she worked at Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in Los Angeles with mentally ill clients and facilitated Alzheimer’s day treatment. Asiya furthered her clinical skills while interning with Jewish Family Services in West Hollywood where she worked with program development in local public housing, long-term treatment planning with mentally ill adults, and presenting important local policy and health concerns to groups of older adults. She graduated from UCLA with a Masters in Social Work in 2003 and a B.A. in English with a focus on African-American Studies in 2001. Since joining the Bronx Defenders as a Client Advocate in 2003, Asiya has also worked as Program Coordinator of the Community Arts Exchange.
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Porsha Shaf'on Venable
Client Advocate
(PorshaV@bronxdefenders.org)
Porsha-Shaf’on joined The Bronx Defenders in July 2005. Before coming to us, Porsha-Shaf’on was a Social Work intern at Passages Academy and Jacobi Medical Center. She received her Master’s in Social Work Degree from New York University in 2005. She received her undergrad degree from State University of New York College at Buffalo.
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Investigators
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Elaina Camacho
Investigator
(ElainaC@bronxdefenders.org)
Elaina joined The Bronx Defenders in August 2004. Before coming to us, Elaina interned at the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. She received her B.S., in Criminal Justice, from Mercy College.
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Elizabeth Ghormley
Investigator
(ElizabethG@bronxdefenders.org)
Elizabeth or ‘Biz’ joined The Bronx Defenders in August 2004. Before coming to us, Biz was a student at Wesleyan University where she received her B.A in Sociology and in Latin American studies.
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Waleska Mendoza
Investigator
(WaleskaM@bronxdefenders.org)
Waleska, known to us a Walli, joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2005. Before coming to us, Walli worked as an investigator for the Public Defender’s Office in Florida. She is also an undergraduate student at Warner Southern College.
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Andrew Repanich
Investigator
(AndrewR@bronxdefenders.org)
Andrew joined The Bronx Defenders in October 2004. Before coming to us, Andrew spent his time roaming the streets of the Emerald City, and the greater King County area, of Washington State as a defense investigator for Society of Counsel Representing Accused Persons (SCRAP), where he worked in the Juvenile Unit. Prior to becoming an investigator he was a bike messenger, client interviewer, writer and grocery store manager. He received his degree in Political Science in Theory, Economics and Public Administration From Western Washington University, a quaint state school in Bellingham, WA.
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Tiffany Simmons
Investigator
(TiffanyS@bronxdefenders.org)
Before joining The Bronx Defenders office in June 2005, Tiffany worked as a Mediator with the NYS Attorney General in the Harlem Regional Office. While at the AG's office, Tiffany focused on educating consumers on consumer fraud issues such as identity theft, credit card debt, and pyramid schemes, all while mediating consumer complaints against businesses. Today, Tiffany continues to be passionate and dedicated to helping members of the community. Tiffany is a graduate of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice where she received her B.A in Criminology and M.A. in Criminal Justice. |
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Administrative and Support Staff
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Pedrina Ayala
Custodian
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Shereefat Balogun
Arraignment Clerk
(ShereefatB@bronxdefenders.org)
Shereefat joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2005. Before coming to us, Shereefat worked as a legal assistant at Gildin, Zelenitz, and Shapiro, P.C in Queens, New York. Prior to that, she interned at the Office of Senator Hillary R. Clinton in Washington, D.C in the press office. In her free time, Shereefat enjoys African dancing, reading autobiographies, and watching documentaries. She received her B.A., in Political Science and African- American studies, from the S.U.N.Y Center at Buffalo. Shereefat plans on furthering her educational career in law school.
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Yessica Caceres
Team Administrator
(YessicaC@bronxdefenders.org)
Yessica joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2004. Prior to joining us, Yessica worked as an Immigration Assistant at The New York Association for New Americans. Yessica received her A.A.S in Paralegal studies from Hostos Community College. She is currently pursuing her B.A in criminal justice from the John Jay College in New York City.
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Ana Cordero
Custodian
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Yolanda Cruz
Fiscal Officer
(YolandaC@bronxdefenders.org)
Yolanda joined The Bronx Defenders in November 2003. Before coming to us, Yolanda was the Payroll Manager at the Saint Agnes Hospital in White Plains, New York. Prior to that she was the Accounts Payable Clerk at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center. She received her Associate Degree in Accounting from Manhattan Community College.
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Tenisha Cummings
Administrative Clerk
(TenishaC@bronxdefenders.org)
Tenisha joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2005. Before coming to us, Tenisha worked as a Course Administrator with The Princeton Review. Prior to that she served as Summer in the City intern teaching special education classes. She received her B.A, in English, from the State University of New York at Albany. While there, she minored in History and Africana Studies. Her paralegal certificate is from Hunter College.
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Vichal Kumar
Team Administrator
(VichalK@bronxdefenders.org)
Vichal joined The Bronx Defenders in July 2005. He is currently working on his JD from Hofstra University School of Law. Vichal received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College.
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Lorraine Landrau
Receptionist
(LorraineL@bronxdefenders.org)
Lorraine is the receptionist at the Bronx Defenders. She has been with the organization since 2001 and enjoys being able to serve the community and those involved with the criminal justice system. She works hard to assist clients and their families in any way she can. Pursuing a degree in social work, she is an undergraduate student at Lehman College. Lorraine is also bilingual (Spanish/English).
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Jesus Powell
Team Administrator
(JesusP@bronxdefenders.org)
Jesus joined The Bronx Defenders in 2006. Before coming to us, Jesus was a teacher in the Arlington Public School system. He continues to work with partners to start his own nonprofit dedicated to educating African American youth. Jesus received his BA from the University of Virginia.
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Agnes Rodriguez
Arraignment Clerk
(AgnesR@bronxdefenders.org)
Agnes joined The Bronx Defenders in August 2002. Before coming to us, Agnes worked as an Accounting Supervisor and Legal Secretary at Rogers, Wughalter & Kaufman. Agnes is currently working toward her degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology from St. John’s University.
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Lourdes Santiago
Office Manager
(LourdesS@bronxdefenders.org)
Lourdes joined The Bronx Defenders in October 2003. Before she joined us, she worked as an Office Manager at The Law Office of Christopher L. Esposito in Bronx, NY. Prior to that, she worked as a Legal Assistant for James Kousouros, Esq. in Queens, NY. She received her A.S., in Biology, from the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA. She is currently pursuing her degree in Business Management from Lehman College.
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Mohamed Sheriff
Team Administrator
(MohamedS@bronxdefenders.org)
Mohamed joined The Bronx Defenders in July 2003. Mohamed received his A.A.S in paralegal studies from Hostos Community College. He is currently pursuing his B.A in Political Science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
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Amalea Smirniotopoulos
Executive Assistant
(AmaleaS@bronxdefenders.org)
Amalea joined The Bronx Defenders in February 2006. Previous to joining The Bronx Defenders, Amalea worked for organizations including Earthwatch in Chile, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the United Service Organizations. She graduated with BA in English and American Literature from New York University. Amalea is also fluent in Spanish. |
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Civil Action Project
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J. McGregor Smyth
Project Director, Civil Action Project
(McGregorS@bronxdefenders.org)
McGregor joined The Bronx Defenders in October 2000. He is the Project Director and Supervising Attorney of The Bronx Defenders' Civil Action Project. McGregor also directs Reentry Net (www.reentry.net). McGregor established the Civil Action Project in 2000 and has extensive practical experience helping clients cope with the consequences of criminal proceedings and facilitating civil-defender collaborations. On behalf of his clients, he has advocated or litigated in nearly every venue in New York City - administrative, state, and federal. Prior to joining The Bronx Defenders, he graduated from Yale Law School, where he represented clients for two years as a student director of the Community Legal Services clinic. He then served as a law clerk for the Hon. Charles P. Sifton, then-Chief Judge of the Eastern District of New York. He received his undergraduate degree, in History, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a recipient of the Arthur Liman Public Interest Law Fellowship, the Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Publico Award, and the Skadden Fellowship. He also serves on the New York State Bar Association Special Committee on Collateral Consequences of Criminal Proceedings, the New York County Lawyers' Association Task Force on Criminal Courts, the Social Welfare Committee of the New York City Bar, and on the Advisory Board of the New York City Policing Roundtable.
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Kate Rubin
Coordinator, Reentry Net
(KateR@bronxdefenders.org)
Kate joined the Bronx Defenders in May of 2005. Kate brings extensiveexperience working with grassroots communities around criminal justiceissues, including teaching at the Fortune Society, organizing with CriticalResistance NYC and running programs with incarcerated youth in upstate NewYork. Before coming to us, Kate worked as a Research Associate for theEconomic Justice Project at the Brennan Center for Justice. She receivedher B.A., in history, from Cornell University in 2001.
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Isaac Wheeler
Immigration Attorney
(IsaacW@bronxdefenders.org)
Isaac joined The Bronx Defenders in September 2005. Before coming to us, Isaac clerked with Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Second Circuit Court ofAppeals and with Judge Allyne R. Ross of the Eastern District of New York.Isaac received his J.D from New York University in 2003, where he was aSinsheimer Service Scholar. Prior to law school, he worked for the Immigrantand Refugee Rights Program of the American Friends Service Committee and atthe Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. During law school, hepursued his interest in immigrants' rights with the NYU Immigrant RightsClinic, the Legal Aid Society Immigration Unit, and the National EmploymentLaw Project. Isaac's work is supported by a grant from the Fund for NewCitizens at the New York Community Trust.
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Andy Williams
Attorney
(AndyW@bronxdefenders.org)
Andy Williams is a full-time civil attorney with The Bronx Defenders and a former Skadden Fellow and a Civil Action Project Fellow at The Bronx Defenders. He graduated with honors from NYU Law in 2002, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern scholar. During law school, Andy worked on both civil and criminal issues. He has completed internships at Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma, the ACLU, and The Bronx Defenders, and he was also a participant in New York University's Community Defender clinic. |
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Family Defense Project
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Kara Finck
Project Director, Family Defense Project
(KaraF@bronxdefenders.org)
Kara represents parents in child protection proceedings in Bronx Family Court as part of the Family Defense Project. As a graduate of Columbia College and recipient of a national Truman Scholarship, Kara worked as an Associate Planner at the Vera Institute of Justice developing programs aimed at reforming the child welfare system, and at The Bronx Defenders as a Planner overseeing community outreach and youth programs. At Columbia Law School, she served as the Executive Articles Editor of the Columbia Law Review, participated in the Child Advocacy Clinic and was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Reginald Lindsay in the federal district court of Massachusetts. As a Skadden Fellow, she worked at The Door’s Legal Services Center representing young people in foster care before returning as an attorney to The Bronx Defenders in January 2004.
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Emma Ketteringham
Family Law Attorney
(EmmaK@bronxdefenders.org)
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Helen Montalvan
Parent Liaison
(HelenM@bronxdefenders.org)
Helen joined The Bronx Defenders in July 2004. Before coming to us, Helen worked as a receptionist at Aquarius INC. She received her A.A.S, in Public Administration, from Hostos Community College in the Bronx.
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Aaron Scherzer
Program Planner
(AaronS@bronxdefenders.org)
Aaron joined The Bronx Defenders in July 2005. Before coming to us, Aaron interned at the George Wiley Center, the Communications Consortium Media Center, and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. He received his B.A, in Public Policy and American Institutions, from Brown University. While at Brown, Aaron was director of the Brown Student Radio Sports Department and he co-hosted a weekly sports talk show. |
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PRYDE Project (Promoting Revolutionary Youth Development and Education)
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Molaundo Jones
Project Director, PRYDE Project
(MolaundoJ@bronxdefenders.org)
Molaundo became Project Director of the Bronx Pryde Project of The Bronx Defenders in January 2006. He worked for three years at the National Council of Teachers of English promoting the organization’s nationwide professional development conferences. Following that he worked in VIBE Magazine’s art department. Molaundo promoted an educational video series for award-winning documentarian William Greaves. He also developed the brand and website of the Sister-to-Sister Mentoring Program, a non-profit for at-risk girls in Atlanta. Before coming to Bronx Pryde, Molaundo worked as Project Coordinator for New York Times Best-Selling Author Dr. Benjamin Barber and the Democracy Collaborative’s CivWorld Project. While there, he helped promote and coordinate the third annual Interdependence Day event in Paris, France, as well as the development of a global civics curriculum currently piloting at Brooklyn’s Williamsburg Prep, a New Visions school. A class of 1999 graduate of Morehouse College, Molaundo majored in Business Administration. Molaundo, who is bilingual, studied Spanish in the Dominican Republic at the Colonial Zone’s Hispaniola School.
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Gregory "Griz" Blackmon
Coordinator
(GregoryB@bronxdefenders.org)
Gregory, known to us as 'Griz', came to The Bronx Defenders in October of 2003 as a member of the PrYde project. His work as the PrYde Outreach Coordinator is funded through the Public Allies' 10-month apprenticeship program. Gregory creates curriculum to train Pryde youths in workshop creation and group facilitation. The Pryde youth leaders take these workshops to various schools and other non-profit agencies. He is also responsible for scheduling workshops, identifying prospective workshop locations and doing general outreach for Pryde. He plans to attend college in the fall.
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Tanesha "Spunky" Ingram
Coordinator
(Spunky@bronxdefenders.org)
Tanesha, known to us as 'Spunky', came to The Bronx Defenders in September 2003. Spunky is one of the youth co-founders of Bronx Pryde. She is now the Program Coordinator and responsible for facilitating workshops, designing curriculum and training young people in popular education. Currently, she is a freshman at The College Of New Rochelle in New York. After college, she plans to obtain a Masters in Social Work. |
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Voter Enfranchisement Project
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Maggie Williams
Project Director, Voter Enfranchisement Project
(MaggieW@bronxdefenders.org)
Maggie Williams is the founder and Project Director of The Bronx Defenders' Voter Enfranchisement Project, which is piloting a nonpartisan role for holistic public defender offices to play in the civic engagement of their clients and communities. This project is made possible through the generous support of the Open Society Institute's Community Fellowship Program. Maggie graduated from Columbia Law School in 2005, where she co-founded Impact, a national nonpartisan network of law students organized to ensure the integrity of the voting process. Prior to law school, Maggie worked in the field of public health, providing HIV and sex education to community groups and students in Kenya and San Francisco. She graduated from Yale University in 2000 with a B.A. in History. |
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