Our Staff

Isabelle Valenzuela (she/her/hers) graduated from The School of Visual Arts with a Bachelor’s degree in Filmmaking. She is always eager to combat societal injustices, whether it be with her art, or by passionately working as an Investigator at The Bronx Defenders.

Katie DiPiero (she/her/hers) earned her Master’s in Social Work and Social Policy from the University of Chicago, where she concentrated in the Transforming Justice Program of Study. While earning her degree, she interned at the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission and the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. There, she worked with the Center on Wrongful Convictions, supporting clients through individual counseling and by writing clemency petitions and reentry plans. She also supported the work of the Final 5 Campaign, an effort to close the five remaining youth prisons in Illinois. Before graduate school, Katie worked for five years at a school in Englewood and another five years at Chicago Jesuit Academy, where she supported a caseload of alumni from 14-26 years old through academic transitions, court-based advocacy, career counseling, responses to community violence, and offered trauma-informed support. Katie co-leads the local chapter of Abolition Apostles and volunteers with the Envision Freedom Fund. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Psychology from Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, and currently holds her LMSW in the state of New York.

Sarah received her M.S.W. from the Columbia University School of Social Work in 2013, concentrating in social welfare policy.  While at Columbia, Sarah interned with the Correctional Association of New York, monitoring conditions of confinement in New York State prisons and advocating for progressive, systemic change. Sarah also interned with the Legal Aid Society Juvenile Rights Practice, collaborating with attorneys for children in child protective and delinquency cases, and at MFY Legal Services, which provides pro bono civil legal services to New York City residents. Sarah previously worked as a member of an ACT team at Pathways to Housing DC, providing outpatient mental health and housing services to people experiencing chronic homelessness in Washington, DC.  She was born and raised in Minnesota and is fluent in Spanish. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and holds a B.A. in Sociology.

Aurora Maoz (she/her/hers) graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a student attorney in the Michigan Innocence Clinic, a member of the editorial board of the Michigan Law Review, and a recipient of the Freeman Scholarship for demonstrated true excellence in criminal law and criminal procedure. Before joining The Bronx Defenders as Director of the Forensic Practice Group, she was a public defender in Manhattan, where she developed an expertise in, and passion for, challenging complex forensic technologies as a member of The Legal Aid Society’s DNA Unit. She lectures frequently at conferences and trainings, is on the faculty of the National Forensic College, and is an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law, where she has taught both criminal procedure and an evidence class focused on forensic DNA. After law school, she served as a judicial clerk for two years, first for the Honorable Gary Feinerman on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and then for the Honorable Julio Fuentes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She holds a B.A. with honors from Wesleyan University, where she majored in Women’s Studies and took many classes in advanced math and physics.

Stone MacBeth (he/him/his) received his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School. While at Colorado Law, Stone was a student attorney in the Criminal and Immigration Defense Clinic, worked as a team leader with the Korey Wise Innocence Project, competed in multiple national mock trial competitions, and was inducted into the National Order of Barristers. Throughout his time as a law student, Stone completed internships with the ACLU’s National Criminal Law Reform Project, the Colorado State Public Defender, the Colorado Supreme Court, and a boutique civil rights litigation firm. Prior to joining The Bronx Defenders, Stone worked as a Staff Attorney in the trial division at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS), where he represented children and adults charged with serious felonies in D.C. Superior Court. Stone received his Bachelor’s Degree from New York University and is a first-generation college and law school graduate.

Lisa (she/her/hers) received her law degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston. During her time at Suffolk, Lisa was the Editor-in-Chief of the Suffolk Transnational Law Review. During her third year of law school, she was a student attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Boston where she represented indigent clients from case inception to final disposition. Upon graduation, Lisa served as a judicial law clerk for the Maine District court in mid-coast Maine. For the past two years, Lisa represented indigent clients in Fairbanks, Alaska. Lisa is also a Returned Peace Corps volunteer, having served in the Kingdom of Thailand working with rural youth. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from The University of California, San Diego.

Samantha Espada (she/her) earned her J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law with a certificate in the rule of law and constitutional design. There, she was recognized by Indiana University with the Terry and Judy Albright Pro Bono and Public Interest Award and the John T. Edwards Fellowship for her public service, exemplary character, and academic ability that “promises dividends for society.” While at Maurer, she was the Student Director of the Incarcerated Individuals’ Legal Assistance Project, President of the Latinx Law Student Association, and Attorney General for the National Latina/o Law Student Association. She also participated in the New York Pro Bono Scholars Program, where she took and passed the New York Bar Examination prior to graduation and spent a semester working as a full-time extern with the Bronx Defenders. Samantha spent her summers interning with the Criminal Appeals Bureau at the Legal Aid Society of New York City and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). Prior to law school, Samantha worked in the U.S. Senate for Senators Warren and Gillibrand and served as a New York Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. She holds a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Weronika Bzura (she/her/hers) is Staff Attorney with The Bronx Defenders Criminal Defense Practice. She received her BA in Political Science and Sociology minor from SUNY Albany and her JD from New York Law School. During law school, Weronika focused on public interest law and graduated with a distinguished award for civil rights and social justice. She was a member of the Pro Bono Scholars Program, allowing her to take the bar exam early and work pro bono with her placement at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. Prior to joining The Bronx Defenders, Weronika was a Staff Attorney at Suffolk County Legal Aid Society.

Samantha received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice in 2016 where she concentrated in Macro Social Work with a specialization in Criminal Justice.  While in school, Samantha interned at the Pennsylvania Prison Society as well as the University of Pennsylvania’s Goldring Reentry Initiative.  She also assisted the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services in formalizing the Seriously Mentally Ill Benefit Pilot Program.  Before entering graduate school, she was a counseling intern at Community Education Center’s Tully House facility in New Jersey.  Samantha graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a Bachelors degree in Forensic Psychology with minors in Corrections and Criminology in 2014.

Kaitlin received her J.D. from Michigan Law. After graduation she worked as a public defender at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, where she represented clients in misdemeanor court, felony screening court, mental health court and human trafficking court. After leaving the Legal Aid Society, she spent two years as a Research Fellow for the National Registry of Exonerations, an organization that aims to provide accessible and comprehensive information about wrongful convictions. Her main research focus at the Registry was police & prosecutor misconduct. She presented her research findings at the Innocence Network Conference in both 2015 and 2016, and has contributed to numerous reports about wrongful convictions.

Prior to graduation, Kaitlin worked in the juvenile justice clinic at Michigan Law. She also interned at the Georgia Capital Defenders, the Federal Defenders of San Diego and the Washtenaw County Office of the Public Defender. She holds a B.A. in Communication from the University of Oklahoma.

Elizabeth earned her Masters in Social Work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at the Washington University in St. Louis. While at the Brown School, she established the first social work internship at the Missouri State Public Defender St. Louis City office. Additionally, as an intern, she created the first employment-readiness program at the St. Louis City Justice Center with the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative. Prior to joining The Bronx Defenders, Elizabeth served as a criminal justice social worker advocating for alternative sentencing options for youth at the Center for Court Innovation’s Midtown Community Court. She has experience researching, developing, implementing and evaluating reentry programs for criminal justice-involved adults. Originally from Los Angeles, California, Elizabeth earned her Bachelors of Arts degrees in Sociology and Africana Studies from Pitzer College.