Meet our team
Leadership
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.
Lindsay Toczylowski
Executive Director and Co-Founder
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.
Susan Alva
Associate Director and Co-Founder
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
Directing Attorney
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Mickey Donovan-Kaloust
Directing Attorney
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Renee Garcia
Director of Communications and Development
Iliana Gomez
Managing Attorney
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Alvaro Huerta
Litigation and Advocacy Director
Jazmine Lahbabi
Program Coordinator
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Mary Mattingly
HR Supervisor
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Laura Olmos
Operations Manager
Natalie Sanchez
Finance Supervisor
Axel Sawczuk
Finance and Operations Director
Jennifer Toledo
Paralegal Coordinator
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Jonathan Barrales
Program Director
Hannah Comstock
Managing Attorney
Cynthia Felix
Managing Attorney
Anna Rae Goethe
Managing Attorney
Daniel Gonzalez
IT Manager
Yliana Johansen-Mendez
Legal Services Director
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Arlette Lozano
Paralegal Coordinator
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Lisa Okamoto
Directing Attorney
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Reashly Pineda Leon
Case Management Coordinator
Erica Santamaria
Paralegal Coordinator
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Amanda Schuft
Directing Attorney
Jacqueline Vargas
Administrative Coordinator
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Chelsea Bell
Managing Attorney
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Nicole Cortes
Director of Human Resources
Edgar Diaz Gonzalez
Paralegal Coordinator
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Carmen Godinez-Tapia
Program Coordinator
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Kimberly Harbin
Directing Attorney
Leah Jones-Swanson
Managing Attorney
Saira Murillo
Program Case Management Coordinator
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Carlos Olivares
Administrative and Data Manager
Karina Ramos
Managing Attorney
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Michelle Saucedo
Managing Attorney
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Katie Siler
Managing Attorney
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Eric Vera
Managing Attorney
ImmDef Team
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Paola Aguirre
Operations Associate
Caitlin Anderson
Staff Attorney
Carlos Avitia Torres
Paralegal
Brynna Bolt
Staff Attorney
Rosana Carretero
Paralegal
Bryan Chavez
Program Associate
Andrea Debroy
Program Associate
Daniela Diaz
Program Associate
Miriam Enriquez
Staff Attorney
Nicholas Garces
Staff Attorney
Stephanie Gomez
Paralegal
Dulce Gonzalez
Program Associate
Llaned Huerta
Staff Attorney
Juan Jacobo
IT Associate
Shoshana Kushner
Staff Attorney
Selene Lopez
Paralegal
Cecilia Martinez Ramirez
Legal Assistant
Daisy Mercado
Post-Bar Law Clerk
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Jennifer Norris
Staff Attorney
Johana Peña
Paralegal
Sarah Poblano
Paralegal
Paulina Reyes
Staff Attorney
Maria Rodriguez Witrago
Paralegal
Carson Scott
Staff Attorney
Ariana Tellez
Program Associate
Jacqueline Vargas
Administrative Coordinator
Alma Zazueta
Paralegal
Soledad Alejandre
Paralegal
Fernanda Antonello
Staff Attorney
Maricela Baltizar
Case Management Associate
Nicholas Borkowski
Staff Attorney
Cynthia Castro
Paralegal
Kely Cortes
Paralegal
Brianda Diaz
Administrative Assistant
Lucia Diaz
Staff Attorney
Jennifer Escobar
Receptionist
Oscar Garcia Mendoza
Case Management Associate
David Gonzalez
Data Entry Clerk
Alyssa Herrera
Case Management Associate
Kristen Hunsberger
Staff Attorney
Marc Jacome
Staff Attorney
Nancy Landaverde
Staff Attorney
Monica Magana
Program Associate
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Madeline McCormick
Case Management Associate
Camila Mojica
Staff Attorney
Sandra Patlan
Staff Attorney
Michelle Pereda
Paralegal
Martha Prado
Program Associate
Viviana Rios
Legal Assistant
Kevin Rivas
Post-Bar Law Clerk
Melissa Shepard
Staff Attorney
Alejandra Thorpe
Staff Attorney
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Edwin Vargas
Staff Attorney
Dorys Almeida
Staff Attorney
Erik Arellano
Data Entry & Quality Control Clerk
Brenda Becerra
Paralegal
Madeleine Carot
Staff Attorney
Viridiana Chabolla
Staff Attorney
Brenda De Leon
Paralegal
Diana Diaz
Paralegal
Natalie Dimas
Staff Attorney
Francynne Eve
Staff Attorney
Dani Gies
Staff Attorney
Maira Guadalupe
Program Associate
Mary Hill
Staff Attorney
Mona Iman
Staff Attorney
Amelia Kimbel
Staff Attorney
Amy Lopez
Paralegal
Juliana Maroja
Staff Attorney
Sofia Mendez
Data Entry & Quality Control Clerk
Juana Moran
Legal Assistant
Harlan Peebles
Operations Associate
Beatriz Pineda
Legal Assistant
Sandra Ramirez
Paralegal
April Rios
Paralegal
Nicholas Sakover
Post-Bar Law Clerk
Angie Sotelo
Staff Attorney
Maria Vallejo
Program Associate
Juana Warlick
Program Associate