Maricarmen Garza is the Chief Counsel of the Commission, responsible for policy, program, and financial management. In that role, she serves as an expert resource on gender-based violence and the law to ABA leadership and staff, attorneys, judges, legislators, the media, and others; manages program activities and budgets; serves as liaison and staff to Commission members; and coordinates national policy initiatives.
Prior to joining the ABA CDSV as Chief Counsel, Maricarmen served as Chief of Programs for the Tahirih Justice Center, the only national, multi-city organizationproviding a broad range of direct legal services, policy advocacy, and training and education to protect immigrant women and girls fleeing gender-based violence.
Prior to Tahirih, Maricarmen worked with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA). As a TRLA attorney Maricarmen, focused her legal practice on assisting survivors of gender-based violence with complex family law and victim privacy matters. Maricarmen initiated and managed one of TRLA’s most successful and longstanding projects, the Legal Alliance for Survivors of Abuse (LASA), a unique collaboration between TRLA and domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers in the 68 Texas counties served by TRLA. Through the LASA Project partnership, Maricarmen ensured that victims received holistic, trauma-informed, and victim centered legal and social services critical to breaking the cycle of violence. Maricarmen also managed TRLA’s Victim Rights Group, which included the Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault team and the Survivor Centered Economic Advocacy team, providing direction, mentorship, and supervision.