Simone Chriss is a civil rights attorney who began working for the non-profit public interest organization Southern Legal Counsel (SLC) after graduating from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she received her J.D. with honors. Chriss is the Director of the organizations’ Transgender Rights Initiative, developed by SLC to fill a gap […]

After three decades of working some of the toughest immigration law cases from Syria to Latin America, Indian-American attorney from Minnesota, charlene d’cruz (she/hers), was unprepared for the mayhem she arrived into as she came to help Rebecca give legal aid to the migrants in the caravan. The desperate scenario was the result of a […]

Zakaria (Zack) Mohamed is a Somali-born, Portland-bred, organizer, trainer, and movement strategist. At age five, Zack and his family fled their home country due to civil war, and arrived in the U.S. as refugees. Zack has been organizing with Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP), since September 2017. In Zack’s role as Deportation Defense Organizer he is […]

Héctor Ruiz (They/Them) – Héctor is an attorney specializing in immigration law, with a particular passion for representing LGBTQ+ asylum-seekers. They are currently the Legal Program Director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) offices in Texas (Dallas and Abilene). Prior to IRC, they were a staff attorney and legal director for the Santa Fe Dreamers […]

Rebecca H. Benavides is the Director of Legal Business & Strategy for Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs department. Her team leads development and oversight of the department’s strategies and programs for engaging with legal service providers including, but not limited to, strategic panel development and management; diversity and inclusion, value pricing and alternative fee […]

Before joining Lambda Legal, Kristine was Director of Policy for the Constitutional Accountability Center, where she helped make more real the promises of the Constitution. Before joining CAC, Kristine served as a federal policy counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She was responsible for advancing and protecting abortion health policy at the national level. […]

Julianna Gonen is NCLR’s Federal Policy Director, responsible for overseeing and advancing NCLR’s federal policy priorities with Congress and the executive branch. Her work focuses on reproductive health, rights and justice, federal nondiscrimination protections, access to health care, and a progressive and inclusive vision of religious liberty. Gonen has extensive federal policy experience, having served […]

Nesta joined NCLR in 2020, continuing a career focused upon advocating for the rights of children and families, particularly in the child welfare arena. Before joining NCLR, Nesta served as a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, and later with the Children’s Law Center, in Brooklyn, New York. Nesta graduated in 2008 with a […]

Mariano Reyna is an Assistant State’s Attorney at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago, Illinois, a position he has held for 16 years. Mr. Reyna is currently assigned to the Felony Trial Division and has been for the past 9.5 years, the last 3 years as a First Chair. Mr. Reyna was hired […]

Ames Simmons is a queer white transgender man who holds a senior lecturing fellowship at Duke University School of Law. His work is grounded in community-based anti-racism, anti-violence, and anti-poverty efforts to achieve justice for transgender people and collective liberation. His previous roles include policy director at National Center for Transgender Equality, policy director at […]