Roster
Chair
Michael Santos, Associate Director of US Poverty Policy, RESULTS Educational Fund
Michael is the Associate Director of US Poverty Policy at RESULTS Educational Fund and the current chair of the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. He works with passionate grassroots advocates who use their voices to influence political decisions on critical federal housing policies that will bring an end to poverty. Prior to joining RESULTS, Michael was an eviction defense attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid. His work focused on advocating for homeless youth access to education through public education, impact litigation, and policy advocacy. Michael Santos has had a long history of working on the rights of low-income and underrepresented communities through the Department of Health and Human Services, the Clinton Foundation, and various non-profit organizations. He currently serves on the board of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth and has served as a Commissioner and a Liaison on the Commission on Homelessness & Poverty. Michael graduated from Brown University with a double concentration in Biomedical Engineering and Ethnic Studies. He received his JD from University of Southern California Gould School of Law. He is admitted to the California, New York, and District of Columbia state bars. He is based in Washington, DC.
Special Advisors
Steve Binder Homeless Court Founder
Steve is a Retired Deputy Public Defender with the San Diego Office of the Primary Public Defender. Steve co-founded the San Diego Homeless Court Program in 1989, which has since been replicated nationally. He also co-founded the Veterans Treatment Court in 2011.
Marilyn Harbur, Economic Justice Advocate
Marilyn recently retired from the Oregon Department of Justice where she had long served as a Senior Assistant Attorney General in primarily tax litigation. Prior to that she was the city attorney for three cities in Oregon and Kansas, a county attorney, and an associate with a Kansas City law firm.
Gabriella McDonald Texas Appleseed
Gabriella coordinates Texas Appleseed’s, a public interest justice center that works to change unjust laws and policies that prevent Texans from realizing their full potential, cross-programmatic work and connects private law firms, practitioners, and other interested community members to Texas Appleseed’s new and ongoing projects. Gabriella first joined Texas Appleseed in 2009 as a yearlong community service fellow focused on the issues of improving Texas’ foster care system and increasing access to fair financial services. She then spent four years in private practice as a litigator in Los Angeles, CA.
In 2014, Gabriella returned to Texas Appleseed, serving eight years as the Pro Bono & New Projects Director, where her substantive efforts included, among other things, working to create policies to end youth homelessness and reforming Texas’ civil asset forfeiture practices.
Josephine McNeil Affordable Housing Advocate
Josephine is the Executive Director of Citizens for Affordable Housing in Newton Development Organization (CAN-DO). CAN-DO is a community-based nonprofit housing development organization with a mission to create and manage affordable housing in the City of Newton. She was one of the organizing members in 1994 and served as its president until 1999 when she took on the role of executive director until her retirement in 2017. She recently resumed her role as President of the organization and Executive Director. Her community activities include serving as a member of the Community Benefits Committee and the Board of Advisors of Newton Wellesley Hospital. Josephine also serves on both the Newton Fair Housing Committee and the Newton Housing Partnership. She serves as one of the co-chairs of U-CHAN and is on the Mission and Social Commission of the Eliot Church of Newton. Josephine is a lawyer and serves as Vice-President of the Lawyers Committee and as co-treasurer of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association as well as the co-chairperson of the Massachusetts Bar Association Civil Rights and Social Justice Council.
Casey Trupin Director of Youth Homelessness Strategy, Raikes Foundation
Casey is the Director for the Raikes Foundation’s youth homelessness strategy. He has represented thousands of foster youth and homeless adults in litigation and worked on state and federal legislation designed to improve services to low-income children, youth, and adults. Previously, he served as the coordinating attorney for the Children and Youth Project at Columbia Legal Services in Seattle, advocating for at-risk, homeless, and foster children and youth. He has authored and edited numerous books and articles on at-risk, homeless, and foster children and has been awarded the ABA’s Child Advocacy Award—Distinguished Lawyer (2011), the National Network for Youth Advocacy Spirit Award (2010), and the Congressional Angel in Adoption Award (2005). From 2006-12, Casey served as the inaugural chair of the William H. Gates Public Service Law Program at the University of Washington School of Law, from which he graduated with honors in 1999.
Mary Vosburgh Staff Attorney, Charleston Legal Access
Mary joined Charleston Legal Access as a Senior Staff Attorney in May 2023. She worked as a staff attorney with One80 Place Legal Services from 2013 until May 2023, working exclusively with homeless veterans. She dedicated her time to assisting homeless and indigent veterans in removing civil legal barriers to ending their homelessness. The majority of her practice focused on Social Security Disability, Veteran’s Benefits, Child Support Issues, Consumer Law, Landlord/Tenant Law, Identification Issues, Driver’s License Reinstatements, and Expungements.
Mary chaired the Charleston Homeless Court Implementation Committee, starting Charleston’s first Homeless Court and was an integral part of the startup of the first Housing Courts in South Carolina. She is currently a member of the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, James L. Petigru Inn of Court, and Past President of the Charleston County Bar Association in South Carolina. She has presented at the annual conferences of both The National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans to further tackle legal and social issues facing homeless veterans and the indigent. Mary also serves as an Associate Municipal Court Judge for the City of Hanahan, South Carolina.
Board of Governors Liaison
Anna Romanskaya
Anna M. Romanskaya is a Partner with Stark & D’Ambrosio, LLP in San Diego, CA, where she manages the firm’s Family Law Division. he is a past Commissioner with the Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence of the American Bar Association and is an advisor to the Family Law Executive Committee of the California Lawyers Association.
Members
Kirsten Anderson Southern Poverty Law Center
Kirsten is the Southern Poverty Law Center’s deputy legal director for Economic Justice. She manages a team of attorneys and other legal professionals and is responsible for the overall vision, strategic planning, and leadership of the SPLC’s economic justice work across the Deep South. Kirsten is an experienced civil rights litigator whose cases have set precedents advancing legal protections for people experiencing homelessness. In 2022, she received the Jane Shaeffer Outstanding Homeless Advocate Award. The honor from the Florida Bar Public Interest Law Section recognizes achievements advancing the rights of people experiencing homelessness. Anderson received her law degree from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, where she graduated with honors. She is a member of The Florida Bar.
Kendra Howard, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Kendra R. Howard works as an Administrative Judge for U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) where she hears and decides employment discrimination cases involving the federal government. Prior to her employment with EEOC, she was an associate at the law firm of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. Before joining Greensfelder, Kendra clerked for two years for Judge Carol E. Jackson, who was the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Memphis where she active in leadership of various student organizations, and received the President’s Scribes Award for outstanding writing. After graduation, Kendra moved to St. Louis where she attended Washington University School of Law earning both a J.D. and Intellectual Property LL.M.
Amadi Jordan-Walker, Evergreen Real Estate Group LLC
Amadi is the Vice President of Development and Closing Services for Evergreen Real Estate Group. Before joining Evergreen, Amadi worked for non-profit and governmental entities in Illinois and California. While in law school, Amadi served as a law clerk for the community development departments of two prominent public interest law firms, which involved working on cases defending the rights of low-income residents, training non-profit boards on affordable housing funding options, counseling non-profit and small business owners, and drafting a report to local officials on preserving affordable housing units in Los Angeles. In addition, she worked as an extern for the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Chicago Park District. She spent three years at LISC/Chicago, gaining valuable experience assisting community development organizations in their efforts to implement comprehensive development projects as part of the New Communities Program. Amadi has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree in English from Duke University.
Sherin Larijani, Office of the Orange County District Attorney
Sherin has served as a Deputy District Attorney in Orange County for over 11 years. She is part of the Mental Health Recidivism Reduction Unit (MH/RRU) and currently the Prosecutor for Homeless Outreach Court, Veterans Treatment Court, Central Drug Court, Central DUI Court, and Assisted Intervention Court. She has also been the prosecution team member for Military Diversion, Crossover Youth Court, and Juvenile Recovery Court. Prior to beginning her legal career Sherin worked in Public Health & Environmental Science. Her focus was on primary prevention, exploring the intersection between agriculture, chronic disease prevention and health equity. She received her B.S. in Conservation Resource Studies from U.C. Berkeley. Her J.D. is from Whittier Law School where she pursued public interest law and was a senior member of the Journal of Child & Family Advocacy.
Aimee Majoue, City Rescue Mission
Aimee is currently the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel for City Rescue Mission. Previously she worked as an associate at Steptoe & Johnson PLLC and interned for GAAP (General Assistance Advocacy Project) in San Francisco, CA. Prior to graduating in law school in 2018, Aimee worked with Dean Emeritus Valerie Couch at OCU Law to design and then secure grant funding to start HELP – Pro bono Housing Eviction Legal Assistance Program – which provides legal assistance to pro se tenants facing eviction to try to attack one of the many causes of family homelessness. Since the 2016 Commission on Homelessness and Poverty meeting hosted by the City Rescue Mission, Aimee has participated in creating and operating a Homeless Task Force that is working to address the gap between legal assistance and Oklahoma City’s homeless and low-income population. Aimee published an article, “A Practical Look at Ending Homelessness,” in the Seattle Journal for Social Justice (Volume 16, Issue 3), examining state approaches to homelessness.
Erica McWhorter Principal/Consultant, Excelevate PB LLC
Erica is the Principal Consultant at Excelevate where she works with social impact organizations and governments to equitably develop and sustain internal and systemwide capacity to reach their goals and stay on mission. For almost 15 years Erica has consulted independently as a legal and strategic adviser and served as a board member and executive leadership for a range of entities. She specializes in planning equitable systems improvement strategies and developing and implementing mission-oriented policies and programs. She believes in values-based decision-making and the power of collaborative community engagement to facilitate effective responses to social problems. Her experience also includes proud service as a Public Defender in Baltimore, Maryland, with the U.S. Army National Guard, and as Chief of the Contra Costa County Homeless Continuum of Care (CA-505).
Gilan Merwanji, Director of Holistic Defense, Office of Managed Assigned Counsel, Harris County, TX
Gilan brings years of experience in social services management and direct practice, advocating for clients navigating the complex intersection of homelessness, behavioral health, and the criminal legal systems. Currently, he is the Holistic Defense Director and Social Work Supervisor with the Harris County Office of Managed Assigned Counsel. Before joining Harris County, Gilan was the Social Work Supervisor at the Capital Area Private Defender Service in Austin, TX. Gilan also worked at the King County Public Defender’s Office, as a Mitigation Specialist II. In this role, he was an advocate in the Seattle Municipal Court and the Involuntary Treatment Act Court for alternatives to incarceration. In Atlanta, Gilan worked as a Forensic Social Worker for the City of Atlanta Public Defender Office. He also brings experience as a Policy Coordinator for the Vermont Network Against Domestic & Sexual Violence. Gilan has an M.S.S.A and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and a B.A in Economics and Government from University of Texas at Austin.
Sateesh Nori, Just-Tech, LLC
Sateesh (he/him) is an experienced tenant attorney and law professor. For the past twenty years, he represented tenants across New York City at various legal services organizations. Sateesh is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and New York University School of Law. Sateesh was named a “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal, one of “Queens’ Power 50,” and was featured as a “Legal Rebel” in the Spring 2021 ABA Journal. He is working on a book about his 20 years as a tenant attorney. Sateesh is the Senior Legal Innovation Strategist at Just-Tech, LLC.
Laura Riley, UC Berkeley School of Law
Laura Riley is the Director of the Clinical Program at Berkeley Law. Prior to joining the Clinical Program, she was associate professor of lawyering skills at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
Melissa Staas, Supervisory Attorney, Legal Aid Chicago
Melissa is a Supervisory Attorney with the Children & Families Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago, the largest provider of civil legal services in Illinois. She joined Legal Aid Chicago in 2018 after practicing public interest law for 10 years with the Family Defense Center, where she represented parents involved in the child welfare system through direct services during an investigation, representation in DCFS administrative proceedings and juvenile court proceedings, appellate advocacy, and affirmative class action and federal civil rights litigation. During law school at Loyola University Chicago, she focused on legal issues involving families and children, serving as Editor-in-Chief of her school’s Children’s Legal Rights Journal. She represents Legal Aid Chicago clients in a variety of matters impacting families, including child welfare and domestic violence-related family law litigation. On a daily basis, Melissa sees how the absence of affordable housing undermines the rights of families to live together safely.
Julie Strandlie Consultant, Strandlie Advocacy, LLC
Julie is an attorney, former local government official, and community leader. Strandlie served on the Fairfax County Planning Commission for eight years, from 2015-2022. Commissioner Strandlie was elected Parliamentarian and chaired the Housing and Schools Facilities Committees. One of her most challenging and rewarding land use projects was the relocation and establishment of the award-winning Bailey’s Crossroads Community Shelter and Restorative Housing. In 2015, the Governor of Virginia appointed Strandlie to the Governor’s Advisory Board on Service & Volunteerism. She continues to serve on this Board and chairs the affiliated Virginia Service Foundation. Professionally, Strandlie runs her own federal/state public affairs/government relations firm, Strandlie Advocacy, LLC. Over the course of her career, Strandlie has worked on Capitol Hill, for large law firms, small law firms with national practices, and a variety of professional associations. She also had her own law practice, during which time she served as the University of Florida’s Washington Representative.
During her tenure as the American Bar Association’s grassroots director and legislative counsel for civil legal services, she successfully led national efforts to increase bipartisan support for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and to fully insure Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOTLA) during the 2008 banking collapse. She also built the grassroots program and established the highly regarded ABA Day in Washington program. Subsequently, Strandlie also served as Legislative & Public Policy Director for the National Employment Lawyers Association. Strandlie is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Florida. She is also a graduate of the University of Virginia Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership Program.
Brooke Weitzman CEO, Elder Law and Disability Rights Center
Brooke is the Executive Director of The Elder Law and Disability Rights Center (ELDR Center). As a civil rights attorney, she represents communities that would not otherwise have access to a lawyer. Brooke helped to reduce the criminalization of poverty through litigation and advocacy—including a landmark 2018 federal civil rights case. Since founding ELDR Center she works to fill the justice gap with a unique approach to legal services. Committed to ending barriers to housing her work forced local governments to rethink their approach to the housing crisis and prioritize evidence-based solutions. Brooke’s litigation has saved lives by directly increasing services and housing while promoting access for residents.
Brooke sits on the American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty working to bring national best practices to Homeless Outreach Court. In 2018 the OC Register co-named her the most influential person in Orange County and by 2022 she was featured in “Orange Coast” magazine’s cover story, “Kickass Women.” Her work has been recognized by organizations from shelters and housing developers to local and national bar associations. Brooke assisted the Orange County Bar Association to distribute thousands of meals to those in need during the pandemic. Between legal work and community collaborations, Brooke regularly invests time to speak at events to help people participate in evidence-based solutions to the housing crisis.
Liaisons
Kristen Adams, Professor of Law and Director of the Dispute Resolution Board, Stetson University College of Law
Kristen is a Professor of Law and Director of the Dispute Resolution Board at Stetson University College of Law. Prior to Stetson, Kristen practiced with Alston & Bird LLC and Altman, Kritzer & Levick PC in Atlanta.
Bob Alexander, Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Bob, a Veteran of the United States Air Force, is an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Greenberg Traurig LLC, at Swords to Plowshares, where he operates LGBTQ Veteran legal outreach. Prior, he worked at Special Counsel and as a judicial law clerk.
Jennifer Jimenez, Young Lawyer's Division
Craig Baab, Uniform Law Commission
Craig is the Secretary on the Board of Directors of Rebuilding Together Central Alabama. Previously, Craig was a Senior Fellow at Alabama Appleseed. He has also worked for the American Bar Association. Craig is the Immediate Past Chair of the Commission.
Darla Bardine, National Network for Youth
Darla is the Executive Director of the National Network for Youth. Previously, she created and launched the Fight Child Exploitation in Tourism Initiative in South Africa and worked to reform foster care in Washington, DC.
Tom Bolt, Law Practice Division
Tom is the Founding Partner of Bolt Nagi, PC. Prior, Tom served as Executive Director and Legal Counsel for the Virgin Islands Law Revision Commission, Counsel to the President/Majority Leader of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, and Assistant Legislative Counsel to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands.
Donna Boyce, Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence/Committee on Gun Violence
Josh Cogan, A Way Home America
Josh is the Public Policy Director of A Way Home America, and has a long professional career of outreach and advocacy.
Antonia Fasanelli, Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Antonia is the Director of the National Homeless Law Center (formerly the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty). Previously she served as Executive Director of the Homeless Persons Representation Project. Antonia also worked for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless in the Affordable Housing Initiative, an expansion of her Equal Justice Works Fellowship, as an advisor to the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development on affordable housing preservation, and served as a judicial law clerk in Texas.
Sofie Fashana, Next100
Sofie Fashana is a policy entrepreneur at Next100 where she is focused on researching and creating policy solutions to create more dignified experiences for youth in foster care including direct cash transfers, dignity in moving foster placements, and policy research on effective economic mobility solutions to prevent youth homelessness and break the cycle of poverty. She is also part of the Black Youth Suicide Policy Coalition, working to raise awareness about the growing crisis of Black mental health and reduce the suicide rate within Black communities.
Marianne Rebel Brown, Solo, Small Firm, and General Practice Division
Paul Freese
Paul, a Veteran of the United States Army, is a Board Member of the Human Trafficking Legal Network. Previously, Paul served as Vice President of Public Counsel.
John Kimble Senior Advisor, NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness
James Heaton, United Way of Broward County
James is the Senior Director of MISSION UNITED. He serves on the Board of the Broward County Bar Association Young Lawyers Section and is the project leader for the FLAdvocate’s Veteran’s Practice Section.
Leon Peace, Jr.
Leon graduated from North Carolina Central University School of Law and has an LLM in taxation for Georgetown University Law Center. Currently, Leon is the President of Contract Government Affairs Representation, where he represents clients before the United States Congress and Executive Branch departments on federal, state and local tax legislative, regulatory and policy issues, such as: international tax reform, business tax credits, Subchapter S financial institutions, and real estate.
Renato Izquieta
Renato works for the Orange County Department of Child Support Services; prior, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service, Orange County Superior Court, and as the Directing Attorney of the Santa Ana Office of the Legal Aid Society of Orange County.
Erin Lapeyrolerie, Goldfarb Lipman Attorneys; Real Property and Trust Section
Erin Lapeyrolerie is an attorney in California, where her practice emphasizes real estate transactions for the development and preservation of affordable housing, land use law, cooperative corporation governance and formation, and fair housing law. She is the ABA Real Property and Trust Section liaison for the Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and the co-vice chair of the ABA Real Property and Trust Section Affordable Housing committee.
Hon. Michael Malamut, Business Law Section
Hon. Malamut is a judge with the Eastern Division Housing Court Department of the Massachusetts Trial Court. Prior, he served as Senior Counsel to the Division of Housing Stabilization and Administrator of the Affordable Housing Preservation Program in Boston. Before this, he was Senior Attorney and counsel at various firms. Judge Malamut has also served as a judicial law clerk.
Madelyn McArthur, Law Student Division
Monica Reid, National Fair Housing Alliance
Monica is a skilled director of policy and advocacy with over 18 years of professional experience providing public affairs coordination, advocacy, and consulting focused on social justice issues. Monica currently serves as the Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA)
Cathleen Rhodes, Salvation Army
Cathleen is General Counsel at the Salvation Army National Headquarters. Previously she was a staff attorney at the Salvation Army, and she has also worked for the American Bar Association.
Jeremy Rosen, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Jeremy is the Director of Economic Justice at the Shriver Center. Previously, he served as Director of the ALU of Iowa, spent time doing legal and lobbying work in D.C., and worked as a benefits attorney with Legal Services of Greater Miami.
Robin Runge, Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Robin is the Senior Gender Specialist in the Equality and Inclusion Department at the Solidarity Center and a professorial lecturer in law at The George Washington University Law School. Prior, Robin worked for the U.S. Department of Labor, the University of North Dakota School of Law, as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in Beijing, China, as well as for the D.C. Employment Justice Center and as an Equal Justice Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco.
Dina Schlossberg, Forum on Affordable Housing
Dina is the Deputy Director/Senior Attorney for Multi-Family Housing at RHLA. She is a former Associate Practice Law Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Visiting Professor of Law at Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law.
Eric Tars, National Homelessness Law Center
Eric is the Legal Director for the National Homelessness Law Center (formerly the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty). Prior, Eric was a Fellow with Global Rights’ U.S. Racial Discrimination Program and consulted with Columbia University Law School’s Human Rights Institute and the US Human Rights Network, where he currently serves as vice-chair. Eric is also an adjunct professor at Drexel University School of Law.
Matthew Wechter, San Diego Office of the Public Defender
Matt is a Deputy Public Defender with the San Diego Office of the Public Defender, and acts as a liaison between the Superior Court, District Attorney, City Attorney, and Homeless Court Providers. In this capacity, he represents San Diego's homeless population during monthly homeless court sessions and orchestrates and executes the annual Homeless Court @ Stand Down, San Diego's annual 3-day homeless veteran event.
Angela Vigil, Baker McKenzie
Angela is Baker McKenzie’s Partner and Executive Director of the Pro Bono Practice. Prior, Angela worked for the Children and Family Justice Center, Bluhm Legal Clinic of the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law as the Director of Children’s Law Pro Bono Projects. She also worked as an attorney, director and clinical teacher at Northwestern Law School Legal Clinic.
Jeff Yungman, South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense
Jeff is an assistant public defender for the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. Jeff is also an adjunct professor at the Charleston School of Law. Before attending law school, he began at One80 Place as clinical director. Prior to this Jeff worked for the New Orleans Police Department.
Rich Hooks Wayman, Volunteers of America Northern New England
Rich is the President and CEO of Volunteers of America Northern New England. Rich has a long and distinguished career in combatting homelessness, having previously served as the National Executive Director for the Children’s Defense Fund; CEO of LUK, Inc.; Executive Director of a statewide supportive housing in Minnesota; and the Senior Youth Policy Analyst for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.