Our Team

Kristine Rembach is the Director of Complementary Pathways at IRAP. In this role, Kristine leads IRAP’s development of legal assistance pilot programs focused on family reunification, humanitarian visas, and other complementary pathways to safety for refugees.

Prior to joining IRAP, Kristine was the Director of the Refugee Legal Aid Program (RLAP) at St. Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo, Egypt, where she supervised a team of 20 legal staff and volunteers representing refugees in resettlement, refugee status determination, and protection matters. Before joining RLAP, Kristine was a litigation partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Washington, DC.

Kristine graduated with highest honors from the George Washington University Law School and received a B.S. from Boston College.

Kristine is a member of the District of Columbia bar.

Charlotte Bertal Nasser is the Europe Legal Program Manager at IRAP. In this role, Charlotte is in charge of IRAP’s program for Europe, including the development of Complementary Pathways opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers to European countries. 

Charlotte previously held the position of Syria Case Manager at the IRAP Lebanon Office for three years. Prior to joining IRAP, Charlotte worked for the UNHCR Resettlement Unit in Lebanon and for the French Asylum Agency as a Protection Officer. She also held the position of Humanitarian Officer at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Charlotte co-founded the non-profit “Yalla! For Kids” aimed at providing free quality education and psychosocial support to Syrian refugee children.

Charlotte holds a Master’s Degree in International Public Law from the University of Paris 2 Assas and a Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid from the University of Aix-Marseille 3. She also graduated in Arabic Language and Oriental Studies at the University of Aix-Marseille 1.

Aicha El Sadda is the Complementary Pathways Caseworker at IRAP. Aicha’s role involves conducting interviews with vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers, and providing them with legal and administrative assistance in family reunification and other legal pathways to safety.

Prior to joining IRAP, Aicha worked as a Senior Legal Officer in the Unaccompanied Children and Youth Legal Aid Program (UCYLAP) at St. Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo, Egypt, where she worked to provide legal representation and support for unaccompanied children throughout their refugee status determination process with UNHCR. Before joining St. Andrew’s Refugee Services, Aicha completed an internship with the Mobile Info Team, an organization providing legal aid to refugees and asylum seekers in northern Greece.

Aicha holds a Master’s degree in Crisis Management from the Institute of Economic and Social Development Studies and a Master’s degree in International and European Business Law from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Aicha holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Law from Cairo University and from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Aicha further attended a training by Médecins du Monde on mental health identification, assessment and response.

Julia Kessler is the Project Manager with IRAP’s Complementary Pathways team. In this role, Julia assists the Legal Services Department in piloting and building sustainable legal assistance projects for refugees seeking relocation through family reunification and other complementary pathways.

Julia was previously a Program Coordinator with Facing the Nakba, a project of Jewish Voice for Peace, and an International Advocacy Officer with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association in Ramallah, Palestine.

Julia holds an M.A. in Global Affairs from New York University, specializing in human rights and international law. During this time, she was a Research Assistant focused on human rights and social services in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and an Advocacy Intern with the Center for Constitutional Rights’ Government Misconduct and Racial Justice program. She received her B.A. in Middle East and North African Studies from the University of Michigan.

Paula Pacheco Soto is a Legal Assistant at IRAP. In this role, Paula supports the casework and projects of the Complementary Pathways team. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Paula worked with Proyecto Dilley, a legal services project that provides representation to detained immigrant mothers and children seeking asylum in the United States. Paula has also volunteered with TRLA in several programs to provide access to counsel to those affected by the Migrant Protection Protocols. She brings her administrative and research experience having worked as a project consultant for the Women’s Environment & Development Organization’s feminist response to COVID initiative, as well as as a research assistant at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Paula holds a B.A. in International Relations and Middle East Studies from Brown University. She speaks English, Spanish, and intermediate Arabic.

Dr. Corinna Ujkašević is the Germany Family Reunification Expert at IRAP. In this role, Corinna is responsible for individual representation of refugees in the family reunification process to Germany, as well as for litigation and advocacy to challenge difficulties faced by refugees in this process.

Corinna previously worked as a migration lawyer in Germany. Prior to that, she worked in several different positions during her legal clerkship, e.g. as a legal trainee at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V.

Corinna co-founded the Refugee Law Clinic Cologne e.V., a non-profit organization that offers free legal advice to refugees by law students of the University of Cologne. She has been chairwoman of this organization and helped build a nationwide network of law clinics that eventually emerged to be an umbrella organization called the Refugee Law Clinics Deutschland e.V.

Betsy Fisher is the Director of Strategy, supervising IRAP’s Intake and Legal Information teams. In this role, she coordinates IRAP’s efforts to screen potential clients, represent refugees in UNHCR proceedings, and provide self-help materials to refugees and displaced people. She previously served as IRAP’s policy director, Jordan staff attorney and intake coordinator based in Amman, Jordan.

Prior to joining IRAP, she completed internships with UNHCR and IRAP in the United States, Jordan, and Iraqi Kurdistan. Betsy has published op-eds and academic articles about statelessness and refugee resettlement in publications like the New York Times and the Michigan Law Review.

Betsy received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School, an M.A. in Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School, and a B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and Arabic from Denison University.

Betsy is a member of the Michigan and Minnesota bars.

Manal El Khoury is an ILI caseworker. In this role she screens and responds to inquiries from individuals requesting assistance in refugee resettlement and other immigration processes, and conducts intake interviews with refugees and/or other vulnerable persons remotely or in-person.

Prior to joining IRAP, Manal started working in the humanitarian field as a Community Nutrition Promoter with Relief International. She was part of a mobile medical team performing screenings of the nutritional status of children under five and pregnant/lactating women in their designated location (tents and informal settlements). In 2016, Manal started working as a caseworker/acting unit team leader at ICMC Resettlement Support Center Turkey and Middle East. She conducted interviews and prepared refugee files for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), following the guidelines set forth by USRAP.

Manal holds an M.A. Degree in Political and Administrative Sciences from the Lebanese University. She also holds a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics from the Holy Spirit University, Kaslik. Manal is fluent in Arabic, French and English.

Tania El Khoury is an ILI Caseworker at IRAP. In this role, Tania talks to refugees and displaced people from all over the world to screen requests for legal assistance, to interview potential clients, and to assist clients in their resettlement journey. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Tania was a caseworker at ICMC Resettlement Support Center Turkey and Middle East. She interviewed hundreds of refugees and prepared their files for resettlement to the U.S. She also managed the USRAP P3 program operations. Before switching to humanitarian work, Tania was a research intern at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, a think tank at the American University of Beirut.

Tania went to law school at the Saint Joseph University in Beirut and holds a Master 1 in Public Law. She has also completed MicroMasters in Project Management from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Tania is fluent in Arabic, French, and English.

Tiba Fatli is an ILI Caseworker at IRAP. In this role, Tiba supports the Intake and Legal Information team in screening and responding to inquiries from individuals requesting assistance in refugee resettlement and other migration processes, and facilitating legal counseling and information to refugees and asylum seekers.

Prior to joining IRAP, Tiba worked with research institutions and international organizations including the Danish Refugee Council in Duhok, Iraq and the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies in Cairo, Egypt. Most recently, Tiba worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cairo as a Liaison Associate, where she researched and drafted reports on statelessness in the Arab region and worked with the League of Arab States on drafting a regional agreement to eradicate and prevent statelessness.

Tiba holds a B.A. in International Relations from the State University of New York at Geneseo and an M.A. in Migration and Refugee Studies with a focus on international law from the American University in Cairo. Tiba has been awarded an Andrew Mellon research fellowship to conduct research on environmental change and forced movements in the Arab region. She speaks Arabic and English.

Brooke Sauro is the Intake and Legal Information (ILI) Coordinator. In this role, Brooke focuses on strategy and systems development for the ILI team. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Brooke worked at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), where she coordinated and conducted research on violations of medical neutrality in Syria and Yemen. As part of this work, she oversaw a project to rebuild PHR’s data visualization of attacks on medical facilities in the Syrian conflict, and she collaborated with partners on justice and accountability efforts.

Brooke holds a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She completed a CASA fellowship in Amman and is proficient in English, Arabic, and Python. 

Ra’ed Almasri is a Caseworker at IRAP Jordan. Ra’ed’s role focuses on interviewing, interpreting for and liaising with vulnerable refugee populations with the goal of providing them with resettlement-related legal services.

In addition to his role as Caseworker, Ra’ed leverages his background in IT and data management to support IRAP’s Jordan-based field office with continually adapting and improving its case management system, and measuring service delivery and impact. Before joining IRAP, Ra’ed worked briefly within a number of fields, including data retention and archiving assistant at a VPN and IT service provider, and as a fixer and interpreter for Swedish documentary project about the Middle East.

Ra’ed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Jordan, trained in Psycho-Social Case Management at the Jesuit Refugee Services, and earned a Social Work Diploma with a focus on refugees and migration from the German Jordanian University. Ra’ed also serves as a translator and interpreter in both English and Arabic.

Lina Al-Samaraee is a Caseworker at the IRAP Jordan office. In this role, Lina mainly focuses on interviewing and communicating with vulnerable refugee populations in order to provide them with legal services related to resettlement.

Prior to joining IRAP, Lina worked at a diplomatic mission where she mainly led research projects, created needs assessment reports, and contributed to the communications strategy. Prior to that, she worked as a freelance translator on specialized terminology handbooks in the field of social work, in administration at the German-Jordanian University, and interned as a social worker with the Caritas-Jordan Psychosocial Support Center.

Lina holds a B.A. degree in Translation and Interpretation in German, English, and Arabic from the German-Jordanian University, during which she also did an exchange semester at the University of Leipzig in Germany. She also holds a professional certificate in Social Work with a focus on refugees and migration, and hopes to continue to help vulnerable communities by pursuing a degree in Data Science.

Faten Khalil is the Program and Operations Assistant at IRAP Jordan. In this role, Faten assists the Jordan Program and Operations Director in the day to day Office Operations and Management.

Prior to joining IRAP, Faten performed the role of Office Manager at the Center for Victims of Torture CVT Jordan, CVT works with War and Torture Survivors by providing them with Psychosocial Counselling, Physiotherapy and Social Services. Prior to CVT, Faten worked in a number of companies in the Private Sector in Jordan as an HR Officer.

Faten holds a B.Sc in Hotels Management from Jordan Applied University for Hospitality and Tourism Education and a Diploma in Tourism Services from Al Arabia College.

Rana Mdanat is the Volunteer Program Coordinator for the Jordan office.

Rana comes to IRAP after 11 years of service with RSC-MENA, acting as the project administrator- coordinator for CIS missions in the MENA region. Rana had coordinated USCIS activities for Amman, Baghdad and other MENA locations. Rana’s work revolved around the preparation of the mission in terms of logistics, interpreters, and staff. Rana also has extensive experience in refugee interviews and in writing internal and external communication material, statistical reports and quality control check reports.

Rana holds a BA in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Jordan. Rana has acquired multiple training certificates from various NGOs that are all related to refugee work, management and project funding. 

Jillian Morgan is a Staff Attorney at IRAP’s Jordan Office. In this role, Jillian provides direct legal services to refugees seeking resettlement and other forms of protection. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Jillian was a Refugee Officer with the International and Refugee Affairs Division at USCIS. She also worked as an Asylum Officer at the New Orleans Asylum Office. Prior to her work with USCIS, Jillian worked with two immigration law firms in the DC area. She also co-founded Fair Game Foundation, a DC area non-profit that combined soccer, legal resources, and access to social services in the support and empowerment of immigrant youth and families. While in law school, Jillian was a student attorney in her school’s Immigrant Justice Clinic and a legal intern at the Refugee Law Project in Kampala, Uganda. She also interned with TASSC International (Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition) prior to law school.

Jillian received her J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law. Jillian holds a B.A. in International Affairs, with a concentration in Conflict and Security, from the George Washington University, where she also spent a semester studying International Relations at Sciences Po in Paris.

Jillian is a member of the Maryland bar.

Rawan Saleh is a Caseworker at IRAP Jordan. Rawan’s role involves conducting interviews with vulnerable refugees, interpreting and following up with these refugees with the purpose of providing them with legal services that can help them in the resettlement process.

Rawan comes to IRAP from RSC-MENA. Rawan began with IOM as a member of their communications department before shifting to the field team. As a member of the field team she conducted refugee interviews for the USRAP prescreening process and supported USCIS circuit rides. Prior to IOM, Rawan worked with a community center project, in partnership with UNHCR and Mercy Corps, that assisted Iraqi refugees and vulnerable Jordanians.

Rawan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Hashemite University. Rawan trained in Social and Psychological Counseling at Community Centers Association, participated in Focus Group research training (NGO Stakeholder Feedback Project) organized by The Academy for Educational Development/ Jordan Civil Society Program in conjunction with The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies in cooperation with the USAID, and has a certification in Simultaneous & Consecutive Interpretation from TAG Academy.

Peter Stavros is a Supervising Attorney at IRAP’s Jordan office.

Prior to joining IRAP, Peter was a fellow at UNICEF’s Jordan Country Office Child Protection Section. He has also interned at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, the U.S. Protection Unit at UNHCR in Washington, D.C., and the International Program at Earthjustice in San Francisco. Peter has previously taught Environmental Law and Policy at Boston College and currently teaches Forced Migration and Refugee Studies in Arabic at Middlebury College.

Peter received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was co-director of IRAP’s Harvard Chapter. He was also a student attorney at the International Human Rights Clinic and the Harvard Immigration Project. Peter studied at the Hague Academy of International Law, obtained a certificate in Transnational Law from the University of Geneva, and took classes at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Peter received his Honors B.A. from the University of Toronto.

Peter is a member of the New York bar.

Kate List is IRAP’s Middle East Field Director. In this role, Kate oversees the work of IRAP’s field offices in Amman and Beirut.

Prior to joining IRAP, Kate worked in the Refugee Protection Department of Human Rights First in Washington, D.C. and studied in Damascus, Syria as a CASA Fellow (Center for Arabic Study Abroad) and in Rabat, Morocco as a Fulbright Scholar.

Kate graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law where she co-founded Penn’s IRAP chapter and also received a Master’s Degree in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Political Science, Comparative Literature, and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.

Kate is a member of the Pennsylvania bar.

Yara Chehwane is the Lebanon Casework Coordinator at IRAP. In this role, Yara manages the post-submission client case load and regularly checks in with clients after the formal submission of their application to an adjudicator. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Yara has filled several positions in the field of legal assistance to refugees in Lebanon. She was legal associate of the legal aid unit at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and previously Legal Officer at INTERSOS, managing the legal response, including awareness, counseling, assistance, and legal representation on issues such as residency, civil registration, and family law. Before focusing on the humanitarian field, Yara took part in different research projects on issues related to public policy and corruption. 

Yara holds a B.A in Law with an M1 in Public Law and a B.A in Political and Administrative Sciences from Saint Joseph University in Beirut. Her article was featured in the Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration Journal, for her field work on confronting the rise of trafficking of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. She is fluent in Arabic, French and English. 

Firas Abi Ghanem is the Lebanon Programs and Operations Director at IRAP. In this role, Firas is responsible for ensuring smooth and effective operations in accordance with Lebanese laws, and maintaining and developing IRAP programs in Lebanon.

Prior to joining IRAP, Firas worked for six years with INTERSOS – an Italian humanitarian organization – managing the quality department, government relations, communications, complaint mechanism and investigations, in addition to contributing to donor relations and strategic programming. 

During the past 15 years, Firas has been active in Lebanese civil society, in the fields of environment, education, and human rights, with particular involvement in campaigning for the rights of female migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. 

In his spare time, Firas runs ‘Firas Yatbokh’, a cooking event that promotes cultural exchange through food and music. 

Firas holds an M.A. in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from the University of Bradford, U.K., and a B.A. in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut. In 2008, he was awarded the Chevening Fellowship from the British Council in Beirut. 

Sally Salem is the Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator at IRAP. In this role, Sally leads IRAP’s Humanitarian Assistance referral system and Outreach Program for local NGOs and service providers in IRAP’s Lebanon office.

Prior to joining IRAP, Sally has volunteered and worked in Lebanon with various international and local nonprofits, non-governmental organizations, and charitable associations providing humanitarian aid assistance to refugees in camps. Later, she established and managed a school for Syrian refugee children for the Jesuit Refugee Services and then for Jusoor, where the main goal was highlighting the importance of education for children between 5 to 15 years old.

Sally holds a B.A. in Translation and Interpretation from the University of Damascus, and is currently working toward a Masters in International Affairs & Public Policy at the American University of Beirut. During her career she has obtained many training accomplishment certificates in the fields of gender-based violence, narrative exposure therapy for survivors of trauma, and case management.

Alexandra Zetes is a Senior Staff Attorney at IRAP’s office in Lebanon. Prior to joining IRAP, Alexandra was the Global Advocacy & Policy Manager at the Refugee Solidarity Network, where she engaged in research, and developed and managed the organization’s advocacy strategy. Alexandra’s previous work includes fellowships at the Vance Center for International Justice and NYU School of Law’s Global Justice Clinic, and she has worked on refugee issues in South Africa, Turkey, Mexico and Bangladesh. Among other activities during law school, Alexandra led IRAP’s NYU student chapter.

Alexandra holds a J.D. for New York University School of Law, and a dual B.A. in Political Science and Psychology, magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Alexandra has published on the topics of transitional justice, extraordinary rendition, mental and emotional well-being among human rights professionals, and refugee protection. She speaks English, German, Spanish, and French. Outside of work, Alexandra is the co-founder of a social and professional development group for human rights professionals based in NYC. 

Alexandra is admitted to practice law in the state of New York. 

Wendy Fu is IRAP’s Director of Pro Bono. In this role, she builds pro bono capacity and support for IRAP’s work and develops new ways to organize and leverage the resources of the legal community. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Wendy was the Attorney & Pro Bono Programs Coordinator at If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, and an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. At Weil, Wendy was part of the antitrust practice group and also worked pro bono on behalf of asylum seekers and victims of trafficking.

Wendy received her B.A. with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and her J.D. from Cornell Law School. During law school, she interned with the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco and the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Honolulu. 

Wendy is a member of the New York bar. 

Charlotte Sall is IRAP’s Student Coordinator. In this role, she supports IRAP’s 30 law school chapters across the United States and Canada. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Charlotte interned in the case management department of a refugee resettlement agency in Chicago. She also worked on the program management team at Pratham Education Foundation, an education non-profit in New Delhi, India.

Charlotte graduated phi beta kappa and summa cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in Sociology. After college, Charlotte taught English in rural South Korea on a Fulbright grant. She also spent a year working with Roma youth in Serbia. Charlotte received her M.A. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago, where she earned a certificate in Global Social Development Practice focusing on forced migration. 

Carmen Maria Rey is the U.S. Legal Services Director at IRAP. In this role, Carmen leads a team of attorneys and caseworkers that provide individual legal assistance to refugees and oversees the organization’s national pro bono network.

Carmen started her legal career in 2006 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. Prior to joining IRAP, Carmen served as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Law at Brooklyn Law School, where she was the Co-Director of the Safe Harbor immigration clinic, and as the Director of the Immigration Intervention Project at Sanctuary for Families, where she led a legal unit specializing in representing survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and related forms of gender-based violence trying to obtain or defend their immigration status.

Carmen holds a B.A. in English from New York University and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. She is fluent in Spanish, French, and Gallego, and is a respected authority on U.S. immigration law. Carmen has authored several articles and reports on U.S. immigration and, as an immigrant herself, likes to spend her free time volunteering to help other immigrants in the United States apply to become United States Citizens.

Carmen is a member of the New York bar.

Lamya Agarwala is a Staff Attorney with the Legal Services Department at IRAP. In this role, Lamya provides direct legal assistance to refugees and displaced persons globally.

Prior to joining IRAP, she was a fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. In law school, Lamya served as the chapter director for the NYU Law IRAP chapter, was a student attorney with the Federal Defenders of New York, and externed with the Policing Project at NYU.  Lamya also interned with Kids in Need of Defense, where she served unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings. She additionally interned with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security program, conducting research for policy reports and litigation.

Lamya holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior, as well as in Criminology, Law, and Society, from the University of California, Irvine.

Lamya is a member of the New York bar.

Jennifer Babaie is a Supervising Attorney in IRAP’s Legal Services Department. In this role she focuses on representing refugees and other displaced people, and provides expertise and guidance to pro bono teams working on IRAP-referred cases. She also supervises other staff in the Legal Services Department at IRAP.

She previously worked for the Open Society Justice Initiative as a Litigation Fellow providing litigation support on cases before the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee Against Torture. She also served as a judicial clerk and attorney advisor for a U.S. immigration court in Washington State where she advised judges adjudicating asylum claims, claims under the Convention Against Torture, and on credibility issues. Before law school, she managed the volunteer program and resettlement case docket for the International Rescue Committee in San Jose, California.

During law school, Jennifer spent a year working with the U.N. International Law Commission developing research on states duties to prevent and prosecute crimes against humanity. She recently authored a chapter in A Practical Guide to Using International Human Rights and Criminal Law Procedures focused on how human rights defenders may engage with European human rights institutions. 

Jennifer received a J.D. and M.A. in International Law and Organizations from George Washington University and a B.S. from Santa Clara University magna cum laude. She speaks Greek and Assyrian, and is learning Spanish.

Jennifer is a member of the California bar.

Mary Dahdouh is a Staff Attorney in IRAP’s Legal Services Department. In this role, Mary provides direct legal representation to IRAP clients seeking resettlement through a number of U.S.-based and international immigration processes.

Prior to joining IRAP, Mary received her Juris Doctor from the University of California – Berkeley School of Law, where she focused on international human rights and refugee law. During law school, Mary served as the chapter director for the Berkeley Law IRAP chapter, interned with the Berkeley Law International Human Rights Law Clinic, and was a contributing writer for IntLawGrrls, an online platform that gives voice to women scholars, lawyers, and leaders on issues related to international law. She also worked with the Middle East & North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, the Center for Justice & Accountability, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

In addition to her J.D., Mary holds a B.A. in journalism, English literature, and political philosophy from the University of Houston.

She is a member of the New York bar.

Liliana Fajardo Cantero is the Legal Support Manager in the Legal Services Department. In this role, Liliana provides case management support and oversees legal support staff based in the U.S.

Before joining IRAP, Liliana worked for the Protection and Legal Affairs Department of the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia, where she managed immigration and criminal cases, assisting unaccompanied children and incarcerated Mexican nationals in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Southern New Jersey. Liliana’s previous experiences include being a Youth Delegate for the Mexican Delegation at the United Nations and a research assistant at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in Washington D.C.

Liliana holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne in Australia, with a focus on International Law and Human Rights, and a Bachelor of Laws from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Stephanie Gee is a Supervising Attorney in IRAP’s Legal Services Department. She previously served as IRAP’s Jordan Office Director, managing the team based in our Amman office.

Prior to joining IRAP, she was a Robert L. Bernstein Fellow at Human Rights Watch. Her research and advocacy focused on refugees’ right to education, access to asylum, and the importance of global responsibility-sharing amidst unprecedented levels of displacement.

Stephanie holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was a student director of the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic and an editor of the Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal. She was also a member of Yale’s IRAP chapter and the Legal Services for Immigrant Communities Clinic. She interned with IRAP in Amman, the Mental Disability Advocacy Center in Budapest, and the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition in Washington, D.C. She received her B.A. in English from Williams College, where she also completed a Jewish Studies concentration and studied advanced Arabic.

Stephanie is a member of the Maryland bar.

Sara Gomez is the Legal Assistant at IRAP. In this position, she works closely with both the legal and litigation departments.

Prior to joining IRAP, Sara worked as a legal assistant at Badilla Quinteros, P.C., a boutique immigration law firm, where she worked closely with asylum seekers from Central America. As an undergraduate student, Sara interned with the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project, where she provided free legal assistance to individuals seeking shelter and facing imminent eviction in New York City.

Sara graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in Media Studies and a minor in Politics. During her time at Pomona, she served as the co-president of IDEAS, a student-run outreach and advocacy group for undocumented students. In this capacity, she spearheaded various fundraising initiatives, including an annual 5K run to raise scholarship funds for graduating undocumented high school students. Sara’s senior thesis focused on the social performativity of undocumentedness and the legal precarity of naturalized citizenship. Sara is an alumnus of the UCLA Law Fellows program, a pre-law preparatory program for populations currently underrepresented in law schools. She hopes to use her voice to advocate for immigrant and refugee rights in law school and beyond. 

Julie Kornfeld is a Staff Attorney at IRAP in the Legal Services Department. In this role, Julie directly represents refugees and other persecuted individuals to help them navigate their legal pathways to safety. Julie also trains and mentors IRAP’s law firm and student attorneys to represent and advocate on behalf of refugees.

Before joining IRAP, Julie was a Program and Refugee Asylum Law Fellow at the Human Rights Watch, an extern at Lawyers for Human Rights in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a Dean’s Public Interest Fellow at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Caribbean Protection Unit. Julie has also represented human trafficking survivors through the University of Michigan Human Trafficking Clinic. Prior to her legal career, Julie worked for a development NGO in Kampala, addressing the needs of refugees and internally displaced persons throughout Uganda.

Julie holds a B.S. in Social Policy, Political Science, and Global Health from Northwestern University and received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She is currently a visiting clinical lecturer in law at Yale Law School.

Julie is a member of the District of Columbia bar.

Alaa Majeed is a Casework Coordinator in the Legal Services Department. With extensive experience working with refugees and the displaced since 2004, she has volunteered and worked with various international non-profit and non-governmental organizations, as well as news outlets as a reporter, translator, cultural consultant and researcher. Among the non-profit and NGOs is the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Arab-American Family Support Center, International Rescue Committee, Global Exchange, People in Need, Voices in The Wilderness, and Nature Iraq. She reported on human rights, women and children, and refugee issues in war-torn Iraq for various international media outlets, such as The Christian Science Monitor, Al-Jazeera English, National Public Radio, The New Yorker, United Press International, The Independent, The Sunday Times,CBS 60 Minutes, The Nation, and Free Speech Radio News. She was featured in many American newspapers and magazines, as well as radio stations. 

Majeed is the winner of the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award, winner of grants from the Pulitzer Center for International Crisis Reporting, and CUNY’s International Journalist-in Residence Fellowship. 

Megan McDonough is a Supervising Attorney at IRAP. In this role, Megan supervises Staff Attorneys in IRAP’s Legal Services Department and provides legal representation to refugees and humanitarian migrants.

Prior to joining IRAP, Megan provided direct legal services to refugees and displaced people in various jurisdictions globally. Most recently, she was based in Southeast Asia with Asylum Access, leading legal teams in advocating for increased refugee rights and protections. She also worked at St. Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo, Egypt, where she represented clients in UNHCR refugee status determination procedures. Megan began her legal career as a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, assisting elderly and disabled refugees in obtaining U.S. citizenship, as well as representing immigrant survivors of domestic violence under the Violence Against Woman Act (VAWA). 

Megan received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, where she graduated with Pro Bono Honors. Megan attended university at Emmanual College where she majored in Political Science and Global Studies. 

Megan is a member of the Massachusetts bar.

Jennifer Patota is a Senior Supervising Attorney in the Legal Services Department at IRAP. In this role, Jennifer represents individual clients from around the world, provides expertise and guidance to pro bono legal teams working on IRAP-referred cases, and supervises other staff in the Legal Services Department at IRAP.

Prior to joining IRAP, Jennifer was an associate at Latham & Watkins LLP and Pryor Cashman LLP, where her pro bono work included representation of immigrant women in abusive relationships in their self-petitions for lawful permanent residency pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act and assisting Holocaust survivors with applications for reparations from the German government.

Jennifer holds a B.A. in Linguistics from Brown University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. Additionally at Fordham University School of Law, Jennifer was selected to Order of the Coif and served as a Senior Notes & Articles Editor on the Fordham Urban Law Journal.

Jennifer is a member of the New York bar.

Aditya Singh is a Legal Assistant at IRAP. In this role, Aditya supports the Legal Services department.

Prior to joining IRAP, Aditya worked as a legal assistant at two immigration law firms in New York and New Jersey. She filed for employment, family-based, and asylum visas for clients. Aditya also worked as a legal assistant at a legal services agency in Northwest New Jersey, where she provided free legal assistance to low-income and elderly clients struggling with eviction, denied access to healthcare benefits, changing their legal name to match their gender identity, and other legal matters.

Aditya holds a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University. As a student, Aditya was a research assistant at the Aresty Research Center, where she catalogued the deaths of hundreds of journalists internationally. Aditya was also a legal assistant intern at Casa de Esperanza, a law firm which serves immigrants and refugees, where she drafted pleadings for Special Immigrant Juveniles. While Aditya studied abroad in Belgium, she interned at the European Network of Human Rights Institutions, where she assisted with the strategic plan of the secretariat in order to aid humanitarian causes by following principles set by the United Nations.

Trinh Tran is a Senior Staff Attorney in IRAP’s Legal Services Department.

She was previously based in our Amman office where she represented refugees and asylum seekers in UNHCR resettlement referrals and US Refugee Admissions Program processing. Prior to joining IRAP, Trinh managed the legal services program at Sauti Yetu Center for African Women and Families, a New York non-profit providing holistic services to African immigrants. Her work included representing survivors of violence and sexual assault in family, matrimonial, and immigration matters. Trinh’s work is rooted in her own refugee and first-generation American experience and led by the stories of impacted community members. Trinh is an alumnus of the Coro New York Immigrant Civic Leadership Program and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

Trinh received her J.D. from Hofstra Law School where she was awarded the Distinguished Service to the School Award. She was a student attorney in the Political Asylum Clinic, president of the Asian American Law Students Association and managing editor of the Family Court Review law journal. Trinh received her B.A. in International Affairs and Anthropology from The George Washington University.

Trinh is a member of the New York bar.

Taryn Higashi is the Executive Director of Unbound Philanthropy, which she joined as the first staff member in 2008. The Foundation has co-founded several vibrant institutions, such as the US-based Pop Culture Collaborative, and was one of the first supporters of the United We Dream Network, which in 2020 awarded Taryn their first ever Believer Award. In 2019, Unbound was awarded the Mover and Shaker Award for Bold Peer Organizing from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Prior to Unbound, Taryn managed the migrant and refugee rights portfolio and was Deputy Director of the Human Rights Unit at the Ford Foundation, where in 2003 she co-founded the Four Freedoms Fund (FFF), a collaborative that has re-granted more than $150 million to state and local immigrant organizations. For her work conceiving and building the FFF Taryn, along with Geri Mannion of the Carnegie Corporation, was given the 2008 Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking from the Council on Foundations. Taryn is a Board member of the International Refugee Assistance Project  (IRAP) and a former Chair of the Advisory Board of the International Migration Initiative at the Open Society Foundations (OSF), and former Co-Chair of the Board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR.)  She lives in New York City with her husband and son. 

Robert J. Abernethy is President of American Standard Development Company and Self Storage Management Company and Managing Director of Metropolitan Investments, LLC. For well over two decades, Robert served as a director of Public Storage, where he served as Chairman of the Audit Committee and has been a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties since 1988. He is a member of the Self Storage Association’s Hall of Fame and was Director of the Self Service Storage Association where he served as Past National Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, and Past Regional President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. He is a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Lambda Alpha International. He has been licensed as a California General Building Contractor since 1975. 

Robert is a trustee emeritus of Johns Hopkins University, a trustee of Davidson College, and a trustee of Loyola Marymount University. He is a member of the U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, a member of the Advisory Board of the Truman National Security Project, a member of the Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Advisory Council for the Center for Synergy, Innovation, and Bioengineering, and the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows. He is a member of the Harriman Society, Harvard Partners, Human Rights Watch, the UCLA Chancellor’s Cabinet and UCLA Arts Board of Visitors and on the Advisory Council of the School of Advanced International Studies Washington and Bologna. He serves on the executive committee and as Vice Chairman of the Atlantic Council and the Pacific Council on International Policy as well as a member of the chairman’s forum of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a board member of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, the Brookings Institution, the RAND Center for Global Risk and Security, the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, the Music Center of Los Angeles County, the Hollywood Bowl and the Peabody Conservatory.

Robert received a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, certificates in Real Estate and Construction Management from UCLA and was formerly employed by Hughes Aircraft Company as Controller of its Technology Division.

Miriam Buhl is Pro Bono Counsel at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP and has coordinated the Firm’s award-winning worldwide pro bono program since 2005. Weil’s pro bono work covers a wide range of issues including human rights, economic development, corporate governance, political asylum and environmental protection. Miriam co-teaches the Externship on Pro Bono Program and Design at Columbia University Law School. In addition to the IRAP board, she is a member of the board of the Scherman Foundation. Miriam is a member of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel and serves on the Innocence Project’s Development Committee, the Federal Bar Council Public Service Committee, the PILnet Pro Bono Council, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Public Service Council, and the New York City Bar Association Pro Bono & Legal Services Committee.

Prior to joining Weil in 2005, Miriam was State Director for the Greater New York Chapter of the March of Dimes, one of the largest nonprofits in the U.S. Between 1999 and 2004, she was Executive Director of The New York Women’s Foundation. From 1997 to 1999, she was Founding Director of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s Public Service Network, a program to link volunteer attorneys with public service organizations. She also served as Executive Director of the fair housing agency Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. from 1993 to 1997 and was Staff Attorney for The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Division, Brooklyn Neighborhood Office.

Miriam is a graduate of Brown University and Fordham University School of Law and lives in Manhattan. She is a jazz buff and plays Irish traditional fiddle.  

Mike Jacobellis is the Co-Chief Investment Officer for New Holland Capital, a firm that manages roughly $20 billion in absolute return strategies for a handful of institutional clients. Mike is responsible for investment research, portfolio management and portfolio risk activities. Additionally, Mike oversees NHC’s Environmental, Social and Governance activities to ensure that NHC’s investments are consistent with the desires of our pension stakeholders.

Mike graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Applied Economics and Management and is a CFA charterholder. He lives in New York City with his wife and two young children. The Jacobellis family is passionate about motocross.

Amed Khan is a human rights advocate, political activist, and philanthropist. Amed has a vast range of experience working in conflict zones and humanitarian assistance. He is the founder of Elpida Home, an innovative non-profit in Thessaloniki, Greece, which has helped thousands of Syrian, Iraqi, and Afghan refugees access the humane international protection and dignified essential services they deserve. As the Founder and President of the Zaka Khan Foundation, he supports reconstruction projects in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.

Amed also seeks to raise awareness about complex emergencies and human rights violations through international campaigns, media appearances, and creative projects. He has collaborated with leading musicians and artists on efforts to bring attention to the world’s most vulnerable people. 

Amed held several positions in the United States Government. He served as Deputy Director of Administration for the 1992 Presidential transition team. As Special Assistant to the U.S. Peace Corps Director, he oversaw policy and administrative matters. In 1997, he was Director of Operations for the G-7 Summit of Industrialized Nations.

Shortly after the Rwandan Genocide, Amed went to work for the International Rescue Committee as Chief Administrative Officer at the Ngara Refugee Camps in Tanzania. Amed also worked at the Baghdad Zoo just after the tragic 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

His political experience includes Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Clinton/Gore 1996 Presidential Campaign; Chief Operating Officer and Director of Administration, 1997 Presidential Inaugural Committee; and several leadership positions in the 1992 Clinton Presidential campaign.

Amed is a member of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the Board of Visitors of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Political Science Department. Previously, Amed was Senior Advisor to the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership and also a member of the International Advisory Council for the International Crisis Group. Amed received a B.A. in American Foreign Policy and American History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Subhi Khudairi is a native of Baghdad, Iraq and currently lives in Dubai where he serves as a Founding Managing Partner and President of Khudairi Group. As President, Subhi is responsible for the development of the company’s strategy and corporate governance. This includes oversight over offices in Houston, Dubai, Amman, Baghdad, Basrah, Erbil, and Sullaymania. His P&L oversight covers the FMCG and the Machinery Business Units. Furthermore Mr. Khudairi proudly supports philanthropic causes in each territory of operation for Khudairi Group.

In 2012, Subhi successfully established the regional office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to strengthen Khudairi Group’s global network of suppliers and partners. Prior to starting the family business in 2003 with his father and brother, Subhi was an Associate Equity Trader at AIM Investments.

In 2000, Subhi received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2005, Subhi received his Master’s in Business Administration from the Jesses H. Jones School of Management at Rice University and was awarded the Jones Citizenship Award. At Rice University, Subhi was the President of the International Management Club at the Jones School and was a member of the Student Forum at the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Subhi is married and has two daughters and one son.

Michael Madnick leads all program, partnerships, and operations of Mountain Philanthropies, in direct collaboration with its funders, referred to as Partners. For many years, Michael advised a range of donors, foundations, companies, nonprofits and governments in support of various social impact outcomes.

Previously, he served as deputy executive director for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, deputy director for global health policy and advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and senior vice president of the United Nations Foundation. Michael also serves on a number of boards and committees.

David Nierenberg is Founder and President of Nierenberg Investment Management Company (NIMCO) of Camas, Washington, which manages The D3 Family Funds.  The funds seek long term capital gain, principally through investment in a concentrated portfolio of undervalued micro-cap public equities.

Before founding NIMCO in 1996, David was a General Partner at Trinity Ventures for a decade, where he invested in turnarounds, financial services, and healthcare, and usually served as a corporate director. In 1987 he led an investor group which contracted with the U.S. government to recapitalize a bankrupt S&L named Far West Federal Bank. After the FDIC broke the contract, David as Board Chair led litigation which won the investors six court victories, culminating in a 7-2 win at the Supreme Court.

From 1978–1985 David worked at Bain & Company in San Francisco, Boston, and London. He led strategy, acquisition, and cost reduction consulting projects for CEO clients.  His internal Bain responsibilities included recruiting and personnel. He led Bain’s Western U.S. healthcare and banking practices. He was a Bain partner from 1982 –1985.

David was a director of Peace Health Southwest Washington Medical Center from 1997–2009, Vice Chair from 2002–2008, and co-chaired its $50 million capital campaign. David now serves as a director of Rosetta Stone (RST) and Riverview Bancorp (RVSB).  Previous public boards include Natus Medical (BABY) and Electro Scientific Industries (ESIO). He was a Trustee of Whitman College from 2009– 2016 and oversaw investment of its $500M endowment. David chaired the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington from 2009–2012. He serves on the Washington State Investment Board, which oversees $120 billion of public employee retirement and other funds. David chairs The Ira Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School, a world leader in corporate governance. Previously he was Vice Chair of the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance at Yale. David chairs the Research Advisory Committee for Glass-Lewis, the second largest global proxy advisor.  He is a director of The National World War II Museum and STAND for Children. From 2006-12 he was one of eight original national finance chairs of Romney for President.

Locally, David chaired the Evergreen School District Foundation, led and raised funds for Evergreen bond and levy campaigns, and was a director of the Confluence Project (the Lewis & Clark bicentennial commemoration, which featured landscape architecture by Maya Lin). David and his wife Patricia were designated Philanthropists of the Year in Southwest Washington.

David earned a B.A. with Distinction in History, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Yale College in 1975 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1978. He is a retired member of the Massachusetts Bar. He has served on dozens of not for profit, public, and private for profit boards since 1985.

Carl Reisner has a diverse mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance practice and provides counsel to a varied and long-standing client base, helping companies through all stages of the corporate life cycle. He has represented start-up companies seeking venture capital, growing companies in a wide variety of acquisitions and financings, and restructurings of financially troubled enterprises. Carl is recognized as a leading Private Equity Buyouts lawyer by Chambers USA and by Legal 500. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and is admitted to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia. Carl serves as IRAP’s corporate counsel and as Vice Chair of the Board, and has served as a supervising attorney representing IRAP clients.

Zainab Salbi has frequently been named as one of the women changing the world by leading publications ranging from Newsweek to People Magazine. Most recently, Foreign Policy Magazine named her as one of “100 Leading Global Thinkers”.

At the age of twenty-three, Zainab founded Women for Women International, a humanitarian organization dedicated to women survivors of wars. Under her leadership (1993–2011), Women for Women International grew from helping 30 women upon its inception to helping more than 420,000 women and distributing more than 100 million dollars in aid.

Zainab is the author of several books, including the bestseller Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny; Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam (with Laurie Buckland); The Other Side of War: Women’s Stories of Survival and Hope; If You Knew Me You Would Care (with photographs by Rennio Maifredi); and Freedom Is an Inside Job: Owning Our Darkness and Our Light to Heal Ourselves and the World.

She is also the Executive Editor and Host of the #MeToo, Now What? series on PBS, The Zainab Salbi Project with Huffington Post and AOL, and The Nida’a Show with TLC Arabia. She is currently the Editor-at-Large for Tina Brown’s Women in the World.

Edward Shapiro is the Managing Trustee for The Shapiro Foundation and President of Shapiro Investment Company, LLC.

From 1997-2016, Edward Shapiro was a Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager at PAR Capital Management, Inc., a Boston-based investment management firm. 

Mr. Shapiro has served on the board of United Airlines since April 2016. He previously served on the boards of Global Eagle Entertainment (2013-2019), US Airways (2005-2008), Web.com (formerly Interland, 2001-2005), Suddenlink Communications (2003-2012), and Lodgenet Interactive (2009-2013).

At the end of 2016, Mr. Shapiro retired from PAR Capital Management in order to devote his attention to his family’s charitable foundation (The Shapiro Foundation, www.theshapirofoundation.org) and philanthropic activities, with an emphasis on refugee relief and resettlement. 

Prior to joining PAR Capital, Mr. Shapiro was a Vice President at Wellington Management Company (1990-1997), an analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York and Los Angeles (1986-1988) and Kayne Anderson Investment Management in Los Angeles (1989-1990).

He also serves on the nonprofit boards of RefugePoint and Social Finance and previously served on the boards of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, The Rashi School, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Wharton Undergraduate board. He co-chairs the Combined Jewish Philanthropies Mergers & Acquisitions Talk Force and serves on the Budget & Finance committees of The Rashi School and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Ed is actively involved with nonprofits including: UNICEF, The International Rescue Committee, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), The Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative, Choose Love, Southern New Hampshire University, Duet, WUSC, HIAS, The HOME Project (Greece), Unitaf (Israel), Jewish Family Service of Metrowest, MOAS, The Karam Foundation, Jewish Vocational Services, Temple Beth Elohim, YearUp, and IsraAID.

Mr. Shapiro earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1986 and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management in 1990. 

He lives in Needham, MA with his wife Barbara, son Joshua (20) and daughter Samantha (19).

Tali Farhadian Weinstein is a prosecutor, professor, and a proven criminal justice reformer. She is also an immigrant, a daughter, a wife, and the mother of three girls. Tali came to America as a child on Christmas Eve 1979, having fled the violence and anti-Semitism of revolutionary Iran. Tali, in turn, has dedicated her career to standing up for those who face vulnerability and violence in their lives, and to fighting for safety, fairness, and justice for all.

After earning degrees from Yale College, Oxford University where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School, Tali was a Law Clerk for Judge Merrick B. Garland at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and at the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Throughout Barack Obama’s presidency, Tali worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, first as Counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder, and then as a federal prosecutor. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Tali investigated and prosecuted cases ranging from gun violence and murders to public corruption, tax and other frauds, and national security matters. And most recently, Tali served as the General Counsel of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, which, under the leadership of Eric Gonzalez, is regarded as a national model of progressive prosecution, and which has kept crime – especially violent crime – at record lows for the borough.

She has taught immigration law and policy at Columbia Law School, and is currently Adjunct Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at NYU Law School. Tali is a national expert on the transformation of local prosecution happening around the country today.