Our Staff
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Aurora Maoz (Forensic Practice Group Director, Criminal Defense Practice)
Aurora Maoz (Forensic Practice Group Director, Criminal Defense Practice)
contactAurora 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.
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Marterra Walker
Managing Director of AdministrationMarterra Walker
Managing Director of Administration contactMarterra Walker (she/her/hers) comes to The Bronx Defenders with an extensive administrative background and committed to furthering the Bronx Defender’s mission of providing high-quality indigent defense. She has always had an unwavering commitment to social justice and uplifting impoverished communities. During her free time, Marterra mentors college students in the foster care system through the non-profit Of Home, Family, and Future. She holds a degree in Criminal Justice with a Concentration in Law and Due Process from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
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Carolyn Strudwick (Managing Director, Social Work)
Carolyn Strudwick (Managing Director, Social Work)
contactCarolyn Strudwick (she/her/hers) is a social worker with over 27 years of experience working with homeless and at-risk youth. Her area of specialty is working with youth who have suffered traumatic experiences stemming from societal violence and victimization. She approaches the work within a social justice harm reduction framework utilizing a trauma informed and anti-oppression lens while addressing structural and institutional racism as it shows up in social work practice and with communities served.
Carolyn began her career in social services at Safe Horizon in 1993 as an Outreach Worker and Case Manager at Safe Horizon’s Youth Program, the Streetwork Project. Carolyn last role was that of Associate Vice-President for youth program where she also served on the organization’s Program and Senior Team. In this role, Carolyn’s development of youth programming utilizing an anti-oppression framework and a Transformative Justice approach with youth addressing violence and abuse, served as the model for the organization as it moved in its strategic plan towards anti-racism work. Carolyn served as a leader and mentor during this phase using the perspective and experience from her intersecting identities to center the voices of BIPOC young people and staff.
Through her commitment to anti-racism practice, she mentored many, sponsored the People of Color Having Courageous Conversations for Connections Affinity Group, and was a founding co-chair of the People of Color in Leadership Affinity Group. During this time, Carolyn collaborated with many Safe Horizon programs to implement Client-Centered Practice and tailor the trauma-informed practice model, ARC (Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency), with an anti-racism and anti-oppression framework with young people. Carolyn exemplified in the expansion of mental health services at Streetwork by becoming a satellite of the Counseling Center. This opportunity opened new possibilities of funding for the program which resulted in two consecutive awards from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide harm reduction services to vulnerable youth.
Carolyn has been a prominent voice and figure within the Runaway and Homeless youth committee serving on various advocacy groups such as Coalition for Homeless Youth providing testimony to City Council and addressing legislative advocacy and policies around the needs of youth. As a Harm Reductionist, she participates in championing the rights of drug users and sex workers to prevent marginalization and criminalization. Carolyn also participates in the Downstate Racial Justice Committee which reviews policies and legislation brought to the larger Downstate legislative body from Albany to ensure there are no potential racial impacts on communities of color.
Carolyn graduated from Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work 2006, where she earned a Masters in Social Work specializing in Community Organizing and Planning. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the social work department at Hunter College.