Meet our team
ImmDef has profound experience and a proven track record of serving clients from all over the world, with particular cultural competence serving Latin-American immigrants. Many of our staff members are immigrants themselves or the children or grandchildren of immigrants. As such, our team is able to draw upon our deep roots in the communities that we serve in order provide culturally
competent legal services. ImmDef regularly hosts trainings to assist our staff in providing trauma-informed services and we have held trainings to address culturally competent services for particular populations including LGBTQ clients. The majority of ImmDef's client-serving staff are bilingual in English and one or more additional languages. The vast majority of clients we serve are Spanish speaking, and as such, many of our staff have a high degree of Spanish language proficiency. Further, we have staff who speak the following languages: Farsi, French, Japanese, Punjabi, Hindi, Tagalog, and Amharic.
Leadership
Lindsay Toczylowski
Executive Director
Lindsay is a social entrepreneur whose work to increase access to justice for immigrants is at the forefront of the movement for universal representation. Lindsay also served as the Overseas Operations Director at Asylum Access, an international nonprofit that fights for the rights of refugees in the global South. She was recently named one of California’s Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers by the Daily Journal. Lindsay is the proud mother of two revolutionaries-in-training, and they are her inspiration to keep fighting for social justice every day.
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Susan Alva
Associate Director
Susan was born in New York City to Mexican and Dominican immigrant parents. She has held various leadership roles defending vulnerable communities and worked on several high-profile cases, including the El Monte Thai garment workers case. She is on the Boards of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Susan is a fierce defender of immigrant's rights and through her work, many lives have been positively impacted.
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Bhairavi Asher
Managing Attorney
Margaret Cargioli
Managing Attorney
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Mickey Donovan-Kaloust
Directing Attorney
Diana Gama Salmeron
Program Coordinator
Daniel Gonzalez
IT Supervisor
Leah A. Jones
Managing Attorney
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Joyce Noche
Legal Services Director
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Laura Olmos
Operations Manager
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Karina E. RamosM
Managing Attorney
Erica Santamaria
Paralegal Coordinator
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Katie Siler
Managing Attorney
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Eric Vera
Managing Attorney
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Jonathan Barrales
Programs Manager
Hannah Comstock
Managing Attorney
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Cathy Dreyfuss
Sr. Staff Attorney
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Renee Garcia
Development & Communications Manager
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Kimberly Harbin
Managing Attorney
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Eva Leiva Partnoy
Program Coordinator
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Lisa Okamoto
Directing Attorney
Jonathon Orta
Paralegal Coordinator
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Natalia Rodriguez
Paralegal Coordinator
Axel Sawczuk
Finance and Operations Director
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Munmeeth Soni
Litigation and Advocacy Director
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Sarena Bhatia
Managing Attorney
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Nicole Cortes
Human Resources Manager
Cynthia Felix
Managing Attorney
Iliana Gomez
Managing Attorney
Yliana Johansen-Mendez
Legal Services Director
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Arlette Lozano
Paralegal Coordinator
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Carlos Olivares
Administrative Coordinator
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Reashly Pineda Leon
Case Management Coordinator
Natalie Sanchez
Finance Supervisor
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Amanda Schuft
Directing Attorney
Jennifer Toledo
Paralegal Coordinator
ImmDef Team
Paola Aguirre
Operations Associate
Cesia Alvarez
Staff Attorney
Fernanda Antonello
Staff Attorney
Alejandra Becerra
Paralegal
Kelly Camacho
Program Associate
Bryan Chavez
Program Associate
Ismael De Anda
Legal Assistant
Edgar Diaz Gonzalez
Paralegal
Eduardo Doering
Staff Attorney
Nicholas Garces
Staff Attorney
Carmen Godinez-Tapia
Program Associate
Annabel Gonzalez
Paralegal
Kathleen Gutierrez
Legal Assistant
Llaned Huerta
Staff Attorney
Shoshana Kushner
Staff Attorney
Selene Lopez
Paralegal
Mary Mattingly
Human Resources Associate
Camila Mojica
Staff Attorney
Mayra Navarro
Staff Attorney
Alina Pastor-Chermak
Law Clerk
Andres Peña
Paralegal
Sandra Ramirez
Paralegal
Viviana Rios
Legal Assistant
Madeline Sachs
Paralegal
Carson Scott
Legal Fellow
Elaine Torres
Staff Attorney
Juana Warlick
Program Associate
Carmine Aiello
Staff Attorney
Rocio Ambrocio Quintana
Paralegal
Maricela Baltazar
Case Management Associate
Chelsea Bell
Staff Attorney
Rosana Carretero
Receptionist
Michael Citrin
Legal Fellow
Brenda De Leon
Paralegal
Daniela Diaz
Paralegal
Scarlett Duarte
Detained Youth Empowerment Project Program Associate
Oscar Garcia Mendoza
Case Management Associate
Anna Rae Goethe
Staff Attorney
David Gonzalez
Data Entry Clerk
Dulce Guzman
Program Associate
Mona Iman
Staff Attorney
Jazmine Lahbabi
Program Associate
Ana Karen Manjarrez
Case Management Associate
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Madeline McCormick
Case Management Associate
Muñoz Stefany
Paralegal
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Jennifer Norris
Staff Attorney
Sandra Patlan
Staff Attorney
Johana Peña
Paralegal
Paulina Reyes
Staff Attorney
Maria Rodriguez Witrago
Paralegal
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Michelle Saucedo
Equal Justice Works Fellow
Sarah Shlemon
Program Associate
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Edwin Vargas
Staff Attorney
Alma Zazueta
Paralegal
Soledad Alejandre
Paralegal
Caitlin Anderson
Staff Attorney
Anna Barie
Executive Assistant
Nicholas Borkowski
Staff Attorney
Marcos Cerna Gonzalez
Staff Attorney
Kely Cortes
Paralegal
Andrea Debroy
Legal Assistant
Lucia Diaz
Staff Attorney
Miriam Enriquez
Staff Attorney
Dani Gies
Staff Attorney
Stephanie Gomez
Paralegal
Maria Guadalupe
Program Associate
Alyssa Herrera
Program Associate
Marc Jacome
Staff Attorney
Amy Lopez
Paralegal
Cecilia Martinez Ramirez
Legal Assistant
Ethan Metcalfe
Executive Assistant
Neysa Nankervis
Staff Attorney
Marlene Olarra
Administrative Assistant
Harlan Peebles
Operations Associate
Sarah Poblano
Paralegal
April Rios
Paralegal
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Luis Rodriguez
Staff Attorney
Allyssa Scheyer
Law Clerk
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Meelissa Tapia Cortez
Program Associate
Jacqueline Vargas
Paralegal