The ABA is very pleased to announce the selection of Maricarmen Garza as the next Chief Counsel of the Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence (CDSV). We are thrilled to share this news with our members, partners, and supporters as we continue our efforts to mobilize the legal profession to increase access to justice through trauma-informed systems and services for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Since 2021, Maricarmen has served as Chief of Programs and now holds the position of Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement for the Tahirih Justice Center, the only national, multi-city organization providing 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 joining Tahirih, Maricarmen held a 21-year tenure 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. She initiated and managed one of TRLA’s most successful and longstanding projects of the organization, 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. Maricarmen began her legal career as a staff attorney for Catholic Charities in Houston, representing clients in removal proceedings, VAWA self-petitions, and political asylum cases.
Maricarmen has served as Chair of the ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence and currently serves on the board of the Texas Council on Family Violence, the statewide coalition for domestic violence. Maricarmen has a long history of serving as an expert on national and international trainings on issues impacting victims of gender-based violence, providing expert witness testimony, and serving on a state legislative taskforce to share her expertise in providing civil legal services to victims. Maricarmen was nominated as a leader of color for her expertise in working at the intersections of domestic violence, child welfare, and race equity to join the National Cohort Women Transforming Families: Rising to End Violence, Oppression, and the Legacy of Trauma, and is a part of the Texas Cohort as well. In 2018, she received the Champion for Social Change award from the Texas Association Against Sexual Violence.
Maricarmen will join our talented team of longtime senior attorneys and staff on October 14, 2024.