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.

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.

Jakob Oxenius is Complementary Pathways Caseworker at IRAP. In this role, Jakob assists refugees, asylum-seekers and/or their family members to find legal pathways to Europe. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Jakob worked as a Program Officer at the German-American Fulbright Commission. In this capacity, Jakob administered various scholarship programs, and helped to expand the Commission’s network of partner universities in the U.S. Before joining IRAP, Jakob has been a volunteer at the Refugee Law Clinic Berlin, providing legal advice to refugees and migrants in a community center in Berlin-Kreuzberg.  

Jakob holds an M.A. in International Relations from FU Berlin, HU Berlin and Universität Potsdam and a B.A. in North American Studies from FU Berlin.

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.

Nasim Sharafi is the Complementary Pathways Caseworker at IRAP. Nasim’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, Nasim worked as a legal assistant at a law firm, where she worked to provide legal aid to asylum seekers in Germany. Before moving to Germany, she also assisted in the first phase of a Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) conflict prevention project in Amman, Jordan as well as the drafting of a working document on the United Nations Legislative Development in the Eradication of Violence Against Women from 1975 to 2015 at the Baha’i International Community Office in New York, U.S.

Nasim holds an LL.M. in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and has worked as a translator between English, German, Persian, and French. 

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.

Peter Varga is a Staff Attorney at IRAP’s office in Berlin, Germany. In this role, Peter is responsible for individual representation of beneficiaries of international protection in the family reunification process to Sweden, as well as for litigation and advocacy to challenge difficulties in this process.

Prior to joining IRAP, Peter held the position as Associate Legal Officer and Focal Point for Sweden at the UNHCR Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries. Before that, he worked as a lawyer at the Swedish Refugee Law Center, where he also served as representative to the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and Country Expert to the Asylum Information Database (AIDA). Peter has also worked for private law firms in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Peter holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Stockholm University and has studied political science at the University of Lund, Sweden and Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary. He has served on the board of the Swedish Section of the International Commission of Jurists. Peter speaks Swedish, English and Hungarian.

Zaid is the Interim Director of the Intake and Legal Information (ILI) Team at IRAP. In this role, he provides direct legal services and representation to clients around the world in different forms of international humanitarian protection and supervises other staff. 

Before joining IRAP, for many years, Zaid worked as an Immigration & Removal Defense Attorney at HIAS Pennsylvania, where he represented clients seeking different kinds of relief from deportation before Immigration Courts. He also represented torture survivors and refugees before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in various cases, such as asylum, green cards, citizenship, family-based and refugee/asylee petitions, consular processing, temporary protected status, and other humanitarian relief.  Zaid also led the Reception and Placement team, responsible for resettling refugees in the Philadelphia area. Previously, he worked at the International Organization for Migration in Damascus, Syria, preparing refugee cases for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. 

Zaid holds a Master of Laws from Temple University, Beasley School of Law. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Damascus University and studied international law for two years in a postgraduate program. In 2013, Zaid received the International Law Award for outstanding human rights achievement from the Philadelphia Bar Association. Zaid speaks Arabic, and he is learning French.

Zaid is a member of the New York bar.

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 Coordinator 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.

As an ILI Caseworker, Seema Kakar screens and responds to assistance requests from displaced individuals seeking relief through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for Afghans and UNHCR resettlement processes. With supervision from appropriately accredited IRAP staff, Kakar also provides legal counseling and information to refugees and SIV applicants. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Kakar helped refugees from Afghanistan and Pakistan with resettlement and Pashto, Dari, and Urdu translation at the International Institute of Saint Louis. She also assisted in campaigns regarding the COVID-19 vaccines.

Seema Kakar holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business and Marketing from Saint Louis University. She speaks Pashto, Dari, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and has worked as a translator between English, Pashto, Dari, and Urdu.

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.

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 Specialist 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. 

Laurie Ball Cooper is the U.S. Legal Services Director at IRAP. In this role, Laurie leads IRAP’s U.S. Legal Services team, which represents refugees and other displaced people who seek protection and safety, whether through resettlement, family reunification, or other humanitarian pathways. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Laurie was the legal director at Ayuda, an organization providing immigration, family, and consumer legal services, as well as social and language access services, to low-income immigrants in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. Previously, Laurie was an attorney in the Human Rights Practice Group at Cohen, Milstein, Sellers and Toll and the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia and was a Skadden Fellow at the Tahirih Justice Center and a clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for the Hon. M. Margaret McKeown.

Laurie graduated with dual degrees from Yale Law School and Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. At Yale, Laurie served as student director of the Immigration Legal Services Clinic, receiving the Charles G. Albom prize for appellate advocacy. Laurie received her BA from Duke University in public policy studies. Laurie speaks fluent Spanish and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

Laurie is licensed in Maryland, D.C., Virginia, and California (inactive).

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 IRAP’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program Director, a part of the Legal Services Department. In this role she focuses on developing programming to facilitate the direct representation of asylum-seekers and other displaced people seeking admission into the U.S. along the U.S.-Mexico border. She also provides expertise and guidance to pro bono teams working on IRAP-referred cases and  supervises other staff in the Legal Services Department at IRAP. Jennifer was previously a supervising attorney 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.

Geroline Castillo is a Staff Attorney in the US Legal Services Department at IRAP. She previously served as the inaugural Nierenberg Fellow in IRAP’s Litigation Department, where she worked on several impact litigation cases in U.S. courts that advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation.  

Geroline graduated cum laude from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she received a Jacob Burns Medal for her work in the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic and the Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic. She was also an editor of the Cardozo Law Review. During law school, Geroline interned at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where she provided litigation support for cases that focused on racial injustice and abusive immigration practices. She also interned at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, where she provided direct legal services to individuals in removal proceedings detained in Folkston, Georgia.

Geroline earned a B.A. from Boston College in Sociology with a minor in International Studies, Ethics, and Social Justice. 

Geroline is a member of the New York bar.

Taqwa Elhindi is a Staff Attorney with the U.S. Legal Services Department at IRAP. In this role, Taqwa provides direct representation to refugees seeking protection and various forms of relief.  

Prior to joining IRAP, Taqwa served as an Immigrant Justice Corp Fellow at Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition in D.C., where she represented detained immigrants in removal proceedings before Immigration Judges. She also served as the Asylum Project Attorney for Justice for Our Neighbors in Houston. During law school, Taqwa interned at the Center for Constitutional Rights, East Bay Community Law Center, and Center for Justice and Accountability, while simultaneously volunteering for IRAP. Taqwa’s passion for refugee rights stems from her time as an undergrad, where she facilitated summer programs for children in refugee camps and conducted field research pertaining to the educational and social ramifications of incarceration on refugee youth. 

Taqwa holds a J.D. and B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. As an undergrad, she majored in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies. She is a native English and Arabic speaker. 

Taqwa is a member of the D.C. bar. 

Hannah Flamm is the Central American Minors (CAM) Program Manager at IRAP. In this role, Hannah leads IRAP’s work on the CAM Program, coordinating direct representation, policy, litigation, and other advocacy efforts.

Prior to joining IRAP, Hannah was an immigration attorney at Legal Aid Justice Center and a clinical instructor at George Mason University’s law school. Before that, she was the managing attorney at The Door’s Legal Services Center, where she established and managed the Detained Minors Project to provide holistic legal services to thousands of children and young adults in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody and in New York. In this capacity she represented clients before the Immigration Court, Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and state and federal court. She also led policy advocacy and impact litigation efforts on behalf of children subjected to the Migrant Protection Protocols, prolonged detention, and unlawful attempted removal, among other rights violations. Previously, she was the NYU School of Law Fellow at Human Rights Watch. 

Hannah holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and B.A. from Tufts University. She is fluent in Spanish and has spent extensive time in Central America, where she has researched the extractive industries and gang violence, among other topics. 

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

Stephanie Gee is the Deputy Director of IRAP’s U.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.

Valentina Hiegemann is IRAP’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program Coordinator, a part of the Legal Services Department. In this role, she coordinates programming and collaboration with local partners in northern Mexico to facilitate remote legal advice, community education, and direct legal representation to asylum-seekers and other displaced people seeking admission into the U.S. along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Valentina was the Emergency Assistance Director at Manos por Venezuela, an organization that provides emergency shelter and assistance to in-transit Venezuelan migrants and asylum seekers in Ecuador. Before that, she worked as a Program Officer with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants overseeing post-release services for unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S.

Valentina holds a M.A. in Migration and Refugee Studies from the American University in Cairo and a B.A in International Relations. She speaks Spanish and Italian. 

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. 

Effie Mangllara is a Legal Assistant at IRAP.  In this role, Effie supports the Legal Services Department. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Effie worked as a project assistant on the Courtroom Advocates Project at Sanctuary for Families, where she worked closely with attorneys, law students and law firms to coordinate legal aid to survivors of domestic and gender-based violence filing pro se for relief in Family Court. Previously, Effie interned with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and Freedom House, where she worked on projects pertaining to human rights, international law and democratic transitions. Effie has strong interests in refugee law, transitional justice and strengthening psychosocial support mechanisms for survivors of conflict-related gender-based violence.  

Effie holds a Master of Science in Global Affairs, with a focus on International Law and Human Rights, from New York University and a B.A. in International Studies from Central Connecticut State University. Effie is fluent in Greek and Albanian.

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.

José G. Miranda is a Staff Attorney in the US Legal Services Department at IRAP.

Prior to joining IRAP, José was a Staff Attorney and Immigrant Justice Corps fellow in the Removal Defense Project at Catholic Migration Services (“CMS”), a non-profit legal services provider based in Brooklyn, NY. At CMS, José provided free legal representation to detained and non-detained immigrants seeking relief from deportation. José has advised clients in cases involving asylum, human trafficking, interpersonal physical and sexual violence, contact with the criminal legal system, and unlawful imprisonment. He has also presented know-your-rights trainings to immigrant communities throughout New York City.

José earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he completed the Pro Bono Scholars Program. During law school, José was an intern at the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Bronx Legal Services. He was also an extern at Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation and the Center for Popular Democracy. José earned a B.A. in Media Studies at Hunter College of the City University of New York, where he was a Macaulay Honors University Scholar. He is a native Spanish speaker.

José is a member of the New York 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.

Ahilan T. Arulanantham is Professor from Practice and Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law.  He has successfully litigated a number of cases involving immigrants’ rights, including Franco-Gonzalez v. Holder, the first case to establish a federal right to appointed counsel for any group of immigrants; Jennings v. Rodriguez, which asserts the due process right to a bond hearing for immigrants jailed for years while litigating their deportation cases; and Ramos v. Wolf, a challenge to the Trump Administration’s plan to end the TPS program for immigrants who have lived here lawfully for decades. Ahilan has argued twice before the United States Supreme Court. He has also testified before the United States Congress on three occasions, and served as a Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and at the University of Irvine School of Law, where he taught on Preventive Detention. 

Ahilan’s parents are Sri Lankan Tamil immigrants who left Sri Lanka to escape race discrimination and sporadic violence. Several years after they came to this country, the Sri Lankan civil war began, causing much of his extended family to flee Sri Lanka. Ahilan has remained interested in promoting human rights in Sri Lanka, and also represented several Sri Lankan Tamil refugees during the course of his work with the ACLU. 

Prior to joining UCLA, Ahilan was Senior Counsel at the ACLU in Los Angeles, where he worked for nearly twenty years. Ahilan has also worked as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in El Paso, Texas, and as a law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2007 and 2013 he was named one of California Lawyer Magazine’s Lawyers of the Year for immigrants’ rights, and has repeatedly been named one of the Daily Journal’s Top 100 Lawyers in California over the last decade. In 2010 he received the Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award from the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, and in 2014 received the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for litigation to protect the rights of vulnerable immigrants, also from the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. 

In 2016 Ahilan was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

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.  

Joe Cerrell, managing director for Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia (EMEEA), is based in the Gates Foundation’s London office, which he opened in 2010. In this role, Joe oversees the foundation’s government relations, policy, communications, and partnerships with 16 countries across the EMEEA region. His team seeks to increase engagement in the foundation’s global health and development priorities, and drive progress on global health issues through partnerships with governments, corporations, foundations and other non-governmental organizations. Since joining the foundation in 2001, Joe has held a number of roles, including director for donor government relations and director of Global Health Policy and Advocacy. In 2017, Joe helped to found Goalkeepers, an initiative that brings together leaders from around the world to accelerate progress toward the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. 

Prior to his time at the foundation, he served in a variety of senior roles in government and strategy consulting practices, including positions in the Clinton White House under former Vice President Al Gore and at APCO Worldwide. Joe currently serves on the board of directors for the ONE Campaign and Global Citizen in Europe, and the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE). He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern California.

Neema Singh Guliani is the Head of National Security, Democracy, and Civil Rights Public Policy, Americas at Twitter, where she works strategically to advance core company policies. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Carolina Law School, where she teaches a course on technology and civil rights. 

Prior to Twitter, Neema served in a range of government and advocacy roles. She was a senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union from 2013-2020, focusing on surveillance, privacy, and national security issues. In this role, she helped design and lead federal advocacy related to a range of issues including NSA surveillance, ECPA reform, face recognition, and consumer privacy. In addition, from 2011-2013, she was a political appointee in the  Chief of Staff’s Office at DHS, concentrating on national security and civil rights issues. She was also an adjudicator in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Agriculture and was an investigative counsel with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. As part of her work with the Committee, she conducted investigations related to the BP oil spill, contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Recovery Act. Neema is a graduate of Brown University where she earned a BA in International Relations with a focus on global security and received her JD from Harvard Law School in 2008.

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.

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.

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 is a celebrated humanitarian, author and journalist. Oprah Winfrey identified her as one of the 25 women changing the world to People Magazine, President Clinton nominated her as a “21st Century Heroine” for Harper’s Bazaar; Foreign Policy Magazine called Zainab one of “100 Top Global Thinkers”, and Fast Company identified her as “One of the 100 Most Creative People in Business”. Similar designations also include Newsweek, Fortune, and The Guardian.

She is the founder and former CEO of Women for Women International, a humanitarian organization supporting women survivors of conflicts rebuilding their lives. Under her leadership, the organization mobilized nearly half a million women in 69 countries, raised $120 million in aid and micro-loans, directly supported 420,000 women, and impacted more than 1.7 family members in 8 countries.  

Zainab authored four books, including the national bestseller Between Two Worlds and her latest Freedom Is an Inside Job. She is also the creator and host of several shows, including #MeToo, Now What? on PBS, The Zainab Salbi Project on Huff Post, The Nida’a Show on TLC Arabia, and Through Her Eyes at Yahoo News.   

In 2021 Zainab co-founded Daughters for Earth, a $100 Million Fund that aims to mobilize women to actively engage in climate change solutions and launch her new podcast about redefining life in July 2021.

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, a former federal and state prosecutor, has spent nearly two decades working across a range of American legal institutions. Tali and her family came to America on Christmas Eve 1979 as refugees fleeing the violence and antisemitism of revolutionary Iran. Her parents brought her to the United States so she could grow up experiencing safety, fairness and justice, and she in turn has dedicated her career to fighting for those principles.

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. From 2018-2020, Tali served as the General Counsel of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, one of the largest prosecutors’ offices in the county. In this role, Tali was part of the leadership team charged with implementing the office’s criminal justice reform agenda, and created the nation’s first Post-Conviction Justice Bureau. 

Tali is currently a Legal Analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at NYU Law School. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the New York Daily News, and other publications. She is a Trustee of the New York Public Library, where she chairs the Audit Committee, a Trustee of the Vera Institute for Justice, and serves on the Board of Directors of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). Tali lives in New York City with her husband and three daughters.