Our Team

Kate List is IRAP’s Legal Services Director.  In this role Kate oversees IRAP’s worldwide Legal Services team, which represents refugees and other displaced people who seek protection and safety, whether through resettlement, family reunification or other humanitarian pathways.

Kate has been at IRAP since 2014, serving as Middle East Field Director based in Beirut, Lebanon prior to her current position.  Before joining IRAP, Kate worked in the Refugee Protection Department of Human Rights First in Washington, D.C., was a CASA (Center for Arabic Study Abroad) Fellow in Damascus, Syria and a Fulbright Scholar in Rabat, Morocco.

Kate graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law where she co-founded and directed Penn’s IRAP chapter, directed the Immigrant Rights Project, was Associate Editor of the Journal of Law and Social Change, and received a Master’s Degree in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.  Kate received her BA in Political Science, Comparative Literature, and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations from the University of Chicago, where she was a Student Marshall and member of Phi Beta Kappa, President of the Foundation for International Relations Education, and Captain of the Women’s Rowing Team.

Kate is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and co-author of Witnesses of the Unseen:  Seven Years in Guantanamo (Redwood Press 2017).  

Liliana Fajardo Cantero is the Assistant Legal Services Director for IRAP’s Global Legal Services. In this role, Liliana manages administrative and casework systems and procedures for IRAP’s global Legal Services team.

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.

Zaid is the Program Director for Global Screenings and Casework 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.

Ghadah Alsarhan is a Caseworker with the Global Screenings and Casework team at IRAP. In this role, Ghadah screens and responds to requests for assistance from individuals seeking refugee resettlement, family reunification, and other immigration queries.

Prior to joining IRAP, Ghadah worked as a caseworker providing direct services for recently resettled refugees in the U.S. with Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley and Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area. Before coming to the U.S. in 2015, she worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, providing development services in her native Iraq.

Ghadah holds an M.A. in International Studies from the University of San Francisco, a Masters in Engineering Management, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering. She speaks Arabic. 

Janna Aladdin is a Caseworker with the Global Screenings and Casework team at IRAP. In this role, Janna screens and responds to assistance requests for individuals seeking refugee resettlement and other immigration queries.

Prior to joining IRAP, Janna completed graduate training at Columbia University’s History department. Janna was also a Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) fellow in Amman, where she interned for IRAP’s Amman office.

Janna holds an M.A. in Near Eastern studies from New York University. She speaks Arabic, French, Turkish and is learning Persian. In her free time, Janna enjoys bouldering, Arabic to English literary translation, and learning new languages.

Manal El Khoury is a Caseworker with the Global Screenings and Casework team at IRAP. 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 the Global Screenings and Casework 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.

Miriam Aced is the Co-Director (Operations) for IRAP Europe. In this role, Miriam handles the operations, steering, and management of the Berlin office. She is the Geschäftsführerin of IRAP Berlin gGmbH.

Prior to joining IRAP, Miriam was the Assistant Director of the Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ), an independent nonprofit organization based in Berlin, Germany dedicated to advancing equality and justice for all by combating intersecting forms of structural inequality and discrimination in Europe. Before this, she worked in a variety of positions working to advance equitable access to education and work for marginalized communities. 

Miriam holds an LL.M. in International Law with International Relations from the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies and an M.A. in International Business with French from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Kristine Rembach is the Co-Director (Programs) for IRAP Europe. 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.

Lina Al-Samaraee is a Program Coordinator with IRAP Europe. In this role, Lina mainly focuses on coordinating the flow of the team’s casework through maintaining relevant databases, analyzing team caseloads, preparing manuals and workflow procedures, data analysis and reporting, and other support to the team’s staff members.

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.

Daniel Ayitey is the Senior Office and Accounts Manager with IRAP Europe. In this role, Daniel is in charge of all office purchases and bookkeeping. 

Prior to joining IRAP, he worked with CIEE, Berlin as a Global High school Coordinator responsible for running all high school programs in Berlin. He also has years of experience working with Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross) where he was instrumental in safeguarding the rights and welfare of migrant children. He has international experience working in diverse and multicultural settings.

Daniel holds a Masters degree in Development Studies from Friedensau Adventist University in Mockern, Germany and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Sociology from the University of Cape Coast in Cape Coast, Ghana. He has been residing in Germany for the last seven years with his family.

Elisa Costadura is a Staff Attorney with IRAP Europe based in the Berlin office. In her
position, Elisa is responsible for individual representation of refugees in their family
reunification processes to Germany, as well as for litigation and advocacy in family
reunification cases.

Prior to joining IRAP, Elisa worked in a research project on the various legal problems
refugees face when obliged to provide passports and identity papers. In her clerkship
she worked inter alia with a defense attorney and in the NS-documentation center
Cologne. In her position as research fellow at the International Institute on Peace and
Security Law Cologne she gained expertise in the field of international law, especially in
international criminal law and transitional justice.

Elisa holds a Second State Law Exam from the Higher Regional Court of Cologne and a
First State Law Exam from the University of Cologne. She built and led for many years
the legal assistance team of the Refugee Law Clinic Cologne e.V.. She is also co-founder
and co-host of the Podcast “Mal nach den Rechten schauen” on continuities of the NS-
era in the german legal system. She is fluent in German, Italian, English, French and
Spanish.

Aicha El Sadda is a Caseworker with IRAP Europe. 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 IRAP Europe’s Senior Program Manager. 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 a Caseworker with IRAP Europe. 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.

Nadia Sebtaoui is a Staff Attorney with IRAP Europe. In this role, Nadia is responsible for
individual representation of beneficiaries of international protection in the family
reunification process to France, as well as for litigation and advocacy to challenge
difficulties faced by refugees in the process.

Prior to joining IRAP, Nadia worked as an independent consultant conducting global
research and evaluation on child migration and trafficking, protection needs of LGBTIQ+
migrants, and access to education for children affected by conflict for Save the Children,
IOM and NRC Mali. Before that, she worked in the French and international NGO sectors
with France terre d’asile, Médecins sans frontières, and Pacific links foundation, managing
programs related to legal aid in immigration detention centres, protection of asylum
seekers and unaccompanied minors, combating human trafficking and smuggling at the
French-UK border, and capacity-building on Vietnamese migration and trafficking in
Europe.

Nadia holds a Master of Law from the University of Grenoble Alpes and a Master of Political
Sciences from the Institute of Political Studies of Rennes. Nadia speaks French, English,
intermediate Spanish and has a basic knowledge in Arabic.

Nasim Sharafi is a Caseworker with IRAP Europe. 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. 

Mandy Taylor is a Staff Attorney with IRAP Europe. In this role, she is responsible for individual representation of beneficiaries of international protection in the family reunification and humanitarian visa processes to France and Belgium.

Prior to joining IRAP, Mandy worked for the Brussels-based NGO, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), for five years, working her way up from Legal Assistant to acting Head of Legal Support and Litigation. Before ECRE, she was a Legal Assistance at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut and a legal trainee at Europol in the Netherlands.

Mandy holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (LPC) with distinction from BPP University, London, an LL.M. in Public International Law and International Humanitarian Law from Leiden University, and an LL.B. in Law and French from Cardiff University. She is currently registered at Level 1 with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) in the UK and volunteers with the charity Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex & London (RAMFEL) on family reunion cases to the UK. Mandy speaks English and French.

Dr. Corinna Ujkašević is a Staff Attorney with IRAP Europe. 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 with IRAP Europe. 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.

Foto Ammari is a Caseworker at IRAP Jordan. Foto’s role involves conducting intakes and screenings 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.

Prior to joining IRAP, Foto worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers Jordan (PwC) as a legal translator associate, where she used to translate legal documents, financial statements and reports.

Foto has a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Jordan. Soon after she graduated in 2021, she volunteered with IRAP for almost a year and was rewarded with the “Excellent Volunteer of the Year” in the IRAP Pro Bono Appreciation Week 2022. Foto has also volunteered as a translator and researcher in Jordanian Legislation related to women rights as a part of an application-building process.

Nour Hammash is a Caseworker at IRAP Jordan. Nour’s role entails conducting interviews with vulnerable refugees, interpreting, following up, and providing them with resettlement-related legal services.

Prior to joining IRAP and as part of the Lazord fellowship program, Nour worked as a project assistant with Mercy Corps in Zaatari refugee camp where she oversaw the facilitation of transformational leadership training of youth, supported project implementation, and assisted the M&E and logistic team with various responsibilities.  

Nour has a bachelor’s degree in German and English as foreign languages, during which she also did an exchange semester at Philipps-University Marburg in Germany. She is currently in the thesis stage of finalizing her Social work/Migration and Refugees master’s at the German Jordanian University, her thesis focuses on “Syrian Refugees in Jordan: Conceptualizing Post Displacement Family Structure”. 

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.

Waqas Atique is a Staff Attorney with IRAP Jordan. In this role, Waqas provides direct legal services to refugees seeking resettlement and other forms of protection through complementary pathways.  

Prior to joining IRAP, Waqas worked at the German Embassy in Amman where he was responsible for processing family reunification applications and humanitarian visas for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. In his clerkship he worked inter alia with a defense attorney in Berlin and the European Commission in Brussels.

Waqas holds a Second State Law Exam from the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main and a First State Law Exam from the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. He is fluent in German, English, and Urdu.

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 Supervising 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.

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.

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 Supervising 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 IRAP’s Senior Staff Attorney, Lead U.S. Pathways in Central America. In this role, Hannah leads IRAP’s work on the Central American Minors (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.

Mary Ghandour is a senior staff attorney in IRAP’s U.S. Legal Services Department. In this role, Mary provides direct legal representation to IRAP clients seeking resettlement and family reunification 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 licensed to practice law in the state of New York.

Valentina Hiegemann is IRAP’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program Manager, 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 Client & Legal Services Specialist 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 the U.S. Legal Services Coordinator at IRAP.  In this role, Effie supports casework as well as the post-submission client docket of the U.S. Legal Team. 

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 NY 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.

Paula Pacheco Soto is the U.S. Legal Services Manager. In this role, Paula supports the casework and projects of the US Legal 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.

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.

Trinh Tran is a Supervising 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.

Lara is the Director of Pro Bono at IRAP, where she provides training, mentorship, and project oversight on a wide range of cases to IRAP’s extensive pro bono network of attorneys and students. She returns to IRAP after having spent two years as the Public Interest Director at Michigan Law School, from 2019-2021. In her prior role at IRAP, she served as an Equal Justice Works Fellow from 2013-2015 and as the Deputy Legal Director from 2015-2019. She has appeared in media outlets such as This American Life, CNN, and the Associated Press. 

From 2016 to 2019, Lara was a Visiting Clinical Lecturer at Yale Law School. During law school, she worked as a UNHCR deployee conducting refugee status determinations in the Caribbean and served as a full time extern at the Refugee Rights Unit at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to law school, she spent a year in Ecuador researching Colombian refugees as a Fulbright scholar.

Lara received her B.A. in History with Honors from the University of Michigan in 2008, her M.Sc. in Forced Migration from the University of Oxford in 2010, and her J.D. cum laude from Michigan Law School in 2013.

Lara is a member of the New York bar and is pending bar admission in Michigan.

Leemah Nasrati (she/her) is IRAP’s Pro Bono Staff Attorney. In this role, Leemah mentors pro bono teams on casework and projects and adds capacity and support for IRAP’s legal priorities. 

During law school, Leemah served asylum seekers, refugees, and other migrants through Georgetown’s asylum clinic, Women and Immigration Practicum, and IRAP chapter. For her work in the asylum clinic, Leemah received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award. Leemah has also worked on policy advocacy with International Rescue Committee, impact litigation with Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, and refugee resettlement with Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska. 

Leemah received a J.D. cum laude and Certificate in Refugees & Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from the University of Nebraska. 

Leemah is a member of the New York bar.

Charlotte Sall is IRAP’s Pro Bono & Projects Manager. In this role, she helps build and oversee new pro bono projects and supports IRAP’s 29 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, she 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. 

Ama Francis is developing IRAP’s strategy, in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), on expanding legal protection for climate displaced people as the Climate Displacement Project Strategist. 

Ama is also a non-resident fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

Prior to joining IRAP, Ama was an Open Society Foundations consultant and the 2018-2021 Climate Law Fellow at the Sabin Center, where they developed legal solutions to climate displacement and served on the Advisory Board of the Platform on Disaster Displacement and the Steering Committee of the Climigration Network. Ama’s work at the Sabin Center also focused on developing countries, building on prior expertise as a legal consultant to Dominica’s Ministry of Health and Environment. Ama is the author of multiple academic and policy papers on climate displacement, and has presented their research at the World Bank, Clinton Global Initiative Action Network, United Nations Development Program, and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

Ama received their J.D. from Yale Law School, where they were a student director of Immigration Legal Services. A native Dominican, Ama received a B.A. (magna cum laude) from Harvard University, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. 

Ama is a member of the New York bar.

Mariko Hirose is the U.S. Litigation Director at IRAP. In this role, Mariko founded and manages IRAP’s litigation department. Mariko also coordinates IRAP’s U.S. cross-departmental program work as IRAP’s U.S. Strategic Impact Lead.

Prior to joining IRAP, Mariko worked at the New York Civil Liberties Union where she litigated a broad range of cases and coordinated integrated advocacy efforts. Her previous experiences also include litigating civil rights cases at Outten & Golden LLP and at the American Civil Liberties Union; teaching as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law and at the Fordham University School of Law; and clerking for the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mariko is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Yale University. She grew up primarily in Japan and spent time in China before law school as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow.

Mariko is a member of the New York bar.

Deepa Alagesan is a Senior Supervising Attorney in IRAP’s litigation department. In this role, she works on impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation. She also supervises the department’s fellows and staff members.

Before joining IRAP, Deepa was a litigation associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where her practice included representing noncitizens in removal proceedings or applying for T-visas pro bono.

Deepa is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School. She served as a law clerk for the Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Honorable Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Deepa is a member of the New York and Massachusetts bars. 

Linda Evarts is a Senior Supervising Attorney at IRAP.  In this role, she works on impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation.

Prior to joining IRAP, Linda was a staff attorney at The Bronx Defenders, where she represented hundreds of indigent clients, tried six felony and misdemeanor cases, and successfully litigated numerous motions to suppress and motions to dismiss charges.  After law school, Linda served as a law clerk to the Honorable Dolly M. Gee of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.  

Linda graduated from Yale Law School, where she received the C. Larue Munson Prize for her work in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic and the Criminal Justice Clinic.  Prior to law school, Linda was a U.S. Student Fulbright Scholar in Bogotá, Colombia. Linda earned a B.A. from Brown University with Honors in Latin American Studies. Linda speaks Spanish.

Linda  is a member of the New York bar.

Kimberly Grano is a Litigation Staff Attorney at IRAP. In this role, she works on impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation.

Prior to joining IRAP, Kimberly served as a law clerk for the Honorable Susan L. Carney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Honorable Gonzalo P. Curiel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Before her clerkships, she was a legal fellow at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, where she primarily worked on litigation challenging the immigration detention system.

Kimberly holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she participated in the International Human Rights Clinic and the Crimmigration Clinic. She holds a B.A. in Global Studies and Asian Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Kimberly is a member of the New York and California bars.

Melissa Keaney is a Senior Supervising Attorney in IRAP’s Litigation Department. In this role, she works on impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation.

Prior to joining IRAP, she was a staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center for nearly a decade. Her practice has focused on protecting and refugees through impact litigation and advocacy, with a particular focus on issues related to law enforcement abuses.

Melissa is a graduate of Loyola Law School Los Angeles, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review. She was awarded the Honorable Darlene R. Seligman Immigration Law Award for her work in the field of immigrant rights. Prior to law school Melissa worked for a Palestinian NGO, which brought her frequently to the Middle East where she developed a basic level of Arabic.

Melissa is a member of the California bar.

Serena Kumalmaz is a Paralegal in IRAP’s litigation department. In this role, she supports impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation.

Prior to working at IRAP, she interned with the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, where she worked on housing law, immigration issues, and rights to food and cash assistance in New York City.

Serena graduated from Columbia University with a B.S. in Environmental Engineering and a minor in Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies. During college, she participated in and led community organizing efforts around various issues, such as equitable mental healthcare access, mass incarceration, and advocacy for Palestine. She was a 2018 recipient of the OMA Graduation Cord for her efforts in promoting justice and exploring diversity issues. For her thesis, she designed a wastewater recycling and distribution system to provide affordable, clean water for the population of Puerto Rico internally displaced by Hurricane Maria, a major confluence of her engineering training and her passion for social justice. Serena speaks Arabic.

Kate Meyer is a Litigation Staff Attorney at IRAP. In this role, she works on impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation.

Prior to joining IRAP, Kate was a Legal Fellow at the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she brought impact litigation to advance the rights of pregnant and parenting workers and eliminate gender stereotypes in schools. During law school, Kate represented asylum seekers through the California Asylum Representation Clinic, counseled clients in the health practice of the East Bay Community Law Center, and was on the editorial board of the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. 

Kate holds a J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law and a B.A. cum laude in Government from Cornell University. Kate speaks Spanish.

Kate is a member of the New York bar.

Chris Opila is a Litigation Fellow from the Justice Catalyst Foundation. In this role, he works on
impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and
other people in need of humanitarian relocation. 

Chris is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Middlebury College, and the
Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA) Fellowship at the American University in Cairo. After
law school and before rejoining IRAP, he clerked for the Honorable Gregory B. Wormuth of the
U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. 

Before law school, Chris was a resettlement officer in the Africa Regional Deployment Unit at
the U.S. Resettlement Support Center for Sub-Saharan Africa and deployed to offices of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Nairobi, Kenya; Kampala, Uganda; and
refugee camps in Ethiopia and Rwanda. He also worked as a resettlement caseworker at the U.S.
Resettlement Support Center for Sub-Saharan Africa in Nairobi and refugee camps in Rwanda
and Zambia and as a legal advisor for IRAP and St. Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo, Egypt.
Chris speaks Arabic and some Spanish.

Chris is a member of the New Mexico bar.

Marina Salguero is the 2022 Nierenberg Fellow with IRAP’s Litigation Department. In this role, she works on impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation. 

Marina graduated from the City University of New York (CUNY) Law school, the nation’s leading public interest and social justice law school. As a student, she was a senior editor of CUNY’s Law Review and Co-President of the student organization ‘Foundation for Immigration and Refugee Empowerment’ (FIRE).  Marina was also a member of CUNY’s Immigration and Non-Citizen Rights Clinic where she gained experience as a student attorney working on the clinic’s defense docket. She previously interned at Legal Aid in their Civil Law Reform Unit as well as Catholic Charities in their Unaccompanied Minors Program. Prior to law school she worked at Human Rights Watch as a Public Advocacy Associate.

Marina holds a B.A. in Global Studies and History from the New School.

Alexandra Zaretsky is an Equal Justice Works Fellow with IRAP’s Litigation Department. In this role, she works on impact litigation in U.S. courts to advance and defend the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and other people in need of humanitarian relocation.

Alexandra graduated Order of the Coif from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where she received a Certificate of Specialization in International Law. She was an Associate Editor on the California Law Review and External Supervising Editor on the Berkeley Journal of International Law. During law school, Alexandra worked on impact litigation as a participant in Berkeley’s International Human Rights Law Clinic and as an extern at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. She previously interned with IRAP’s U.S. Legal Services team and worked as a summer associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where she helped prepare a Supreme Court amicus brief in support of transgender rights. 

Alexandra holds a B.A. in English and History from Northwestern University.

Sunil Varghese is the Policy Director, supervising IRAP’s policy team. In this role, he facilitates the advancement of IRAP’s systemic advocacy positions to ensure and improve pathways to safety, with dignity and due process, for refugees and highly vulnerable individuals.

He previously served as Counsel to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein where he focused on immigration matters for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also spent over seven years in various management, training, policy, and adjudication positions with the Refugee, Asylum and International Operations Directorate of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including as the Deputy Director of the Newark Asylum Office.  He was also the Asylum Program Attorney at the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas and an Associate at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.

Sunil received his J.D. and Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sunil is a member of the New York bar, the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s national asylum and refugee committee, and on the Board of Directors for Resettlement Action DC (REACT DC).

Adam Bates is a Supervisory Policy Counsel at IRAP. Based in Washington, D.C., Adam advocates for IRAP’s clients and mission in the nation’s capital.

Before coming to IRAP, Adam spent three years working on criminal justice and civil liberties issues at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. His work there focused on police surveillance, police militarization, the War on Drugs, and the War on Terror.

Adam received a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and an M.A. in Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School. Prior to law school, Adam earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Miami, where he also walked on to the Hurricanes football team.

Adam is a member of the Oklahoma bar.

Lacy Broemel is a Policy Analyst at IRAP. In this role, she works to advance IRAP’s systemic advocacy to improve policies related to refugee resettlement and family reunification.  

Prior to joining IRAP, Lacy was the Refugee and Immigration Policy Advisor for The Episcopal Church. In that role, she advocated for the Church’s immigration positions and its resettlement agency, Episcopal Migration Ministries, to members of Congress and other government agencies. She was also responsible for training and engaging grassroots networks to advocate on refugee and immigration issues. 

Lacy holds a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) with a focus on policy from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. During graduate school, she worked with the WashU Immigration Law Clinic to start its first social services program for clinic clients seeking food, medical, or other support outside of their legal case. She holds a BA in History and Gender Studies from Sewanee. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, she now lives in Washington, DC. 

Nastaran Far is a Policy Assistant at IRAP. In this role, she supports IRAP’s policy team in their systemic advocacy work on immigration policy.

Prior to joining IRAP, Nastaran was the policy/advocacy fellow at Win Without War, an anti-war foreign policy organization based in Washington, D.C. There, she focused on storytelling work and opening further space for impacted community participation in foreign policy advocacy. Before this, she interned at the ACLU’s National Security project, and she was a fellow at Senator Harris’s Los Angeles office.

Nastaran holds a B.A. in International Relations and Law, History, and Culture from the University of Southern California.

Elizabeth Foydel is the Private Sponsorship Program Director at IRAP. In this role, Elizabeth works on IRAP’s systemic advocacy to improve humanitarian immigration for refugees and other displaced persons, with particular focuses on U.S. administrative policy and on resettlement policies and complementary pathways abroad.

Prior to joining IRAP, Elizabeth was a Presidential Fellow at the Open Society Foundations in New York, where she worked on a variety of projects related to human rights, rule of law, and organizational governance.

Elizabeth graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Columbia University (Columbia College) with a B.A. in Political Science and French. She is also a graduate of Stanford Law School, where she participated in Stanford’s IRAP chapter, Rwanda Legal Development Project, Journal of International Law, Human Rights Pro Bono Project, International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, and Sciences Po exchange program. During law school she interned with the Human Rights Institute and with Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. She is fluent in French.

Elizabeth is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars.

Balqees Mihirig is a Senior Policy Counsel at IRAP. In this role, Balqees works on IRAP’s systemic advocacy to improve humanitarian immigration for refugees and other displaced persons, with a particular focus on issues relating to refugee resettlement and support at the state and local level. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Balqees was a Senior Legislative Counsel to the Committee on Civil and Human Rights and the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing at the New York City Council. Balqees worked on legislation strengthening the City’s anti-discrimination and consumer rights laws, including improving language access and worker protections for immigrant and underserved New Yorkers. Prior to that, she was Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice Canada, representing the Ministers of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

Balqees obtained her law degree in 2009 from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, where she was an editor of the Alberta Law Review and the Review of Constitutional Studies. After law school, she clerked for the Hon. Justice Dolores Hansen at the Federal Court of Canada. She also obtained an LL.M. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and received a Certificate of Achievement from the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law. She is fluent in Arabic.

Balqees is a member of the New York bar. 

Ameerah Siddiqi is a Policy Assistant at IRAP. In this role, she provides programmatic support to IRAP’s policy work by helping facilitate and further the organization’s systemic advocacy to improve immigration programs in the United States and abroad.

Prior to joining IRAP, Ameerah was working with the International Rescue Committee to help with the processing and resettlement of Afghan evacuees in Virginia. Before that, she was a Research Analyst at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy where worked to enhance awareness of critical displacement and forced migration issues, specifically related to the Uyghur and Rohingya crises. She has also worked at the Council on Foreign Relations and charity: water in New York. 

Ameerah holds an M.A. in Human Security and Migration Policy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a B.A. in Journalism and International Relations from Indiana University. 

Henrike Dessaules is the Communications Director at IRAP. In this role, Henrike leads IRAP’s communications strategy and media relations.

Prior to joining IRAP, Henrike managed programs and communications at the Council for European Studies, a research institute at Columbia University promoting research on European policy and social affairs through international conferences, digital publications, and research grants. Before moving to New York, she also managed communications for the European Network for Women in Leadership in Paris, France.

Henrike holds an M.A. in North American Studies, History, and Literature from Freie Universität Berlin and has worked as a translator between English, German, and French. She has written numerous articles on the intersection of gender and migration and volunteered with New Women New Yorkers and Women’s Information Network.

Boris Alvarado-Gonzalez is the Digital Communications Coordinator at IRAP. In this role, he is in charge of IRAP’s digital and social media operations.

Prior to joining IRAP, Boris was the Development and Communications Coordinator at Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal services nonprofit in Oakland, CA that provides access to legal representation to low-income, immigrant, and Latino communities in Northern California. After graduating from college, he completed a marketing internship with NPR’s sponsorship division, National Public Media. 

Boris received his B.A. in Political Science and Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Balqis Azizi is the Communications Assistant at IRAP, where she plays a crucial role in
supporting the organization’s social media, email marketing, and media relations efforts.
She liaises with external partners and IRAP staff across programs and offices to identify
opportunities for effective advocacy.

Having worked with both private and nonprofit organizations in the United States and
Afghanistan, her previous roles prior to joining IRAP include communications positions with
Turquoise Mountain in Kabul, Feminist Majority Foundation, and Harvard Immigration and
Refugee Clinical Program at Harvard Law School. She has also provided translation and
interpreting services to organizations such as the International Medical Corps in Kabul and
the Refugee Welcome Center in Albany, New York.

In addition to her professional experience, Balqis holds a B.A. in Sociology and Business
Administration and an MBA from Russell Sage College. She is fluent in written and oral
Pashto, Dari, English, and Urdu and has received recognition for her language skills and
volunteer work.

Mackenzie Sheldon is the Digital Campaigns Manager at IRAP. In this role, Mackenzie helps IRAP supporters mobilize to advance refugee rights through advocacy, fundraising, and community-building.

Prior to joining IRAP, Mackenzie coordinated communications and community partnerships at Americans for Immigrant Justice, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting immigrants’ rights through direct legal aid, litigation, advocacy, and outreach. Before her tenure at Americans for Immigrant Justice, Mackenzie helped raise funds and awareness for the Miami Film Festival as part of the Brand & Sponsorships team.

Mackenzie holds a B.A. and M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Miami. She speaks English and Spanish and has volunteered as a translator and interpreter for immigrants navigating the U.S. legal system.

Spencer Tilger is the Media Relations Manager at IRAP. In this role, Spencer leads IRAP’s media strategy and press relations.

Prior to joining IRAP, Spencer led the communications program at Justice in Motion, a transnational migrant rights organization connecting advocates across the United States, Mexico, and Central America. Previously, Spencer worked at Immigration Equality, where he managed press and public relations focused on highlighting the voices of LGBTQ and HIV-positive asylum seekers.

Spencer holds a B.A. in Geography from Vassar College and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He speaks Spanish and French.

Christine Coakley is the Manager of Monitoring and Evaluation at IRAP. In this role, Christine leads IRAP’s efforts to implement strategies to measure the impact of our work including developing systems to improve data tracking and monitoring, using findings to support internal strategy and decision making, and communicating impact. 

Prior to joining IRAP, Christine worked as the Impact Assessment Director for Start Small Think Big, a nonprofit supporting women- and immigrant-owned small businesses. In this role she built and led the organization’s impact measurement and strategy, focused on developing data systems and evaluation processes to build more effective and client-responsive programming. Christine spent time working and volunteering supporting research, data, and programming with a number of nonprofits in Latin America including Al Otro Lado in Tijuana, and the ‘Oficina de Las Mujeres’ in Las cruces, Guatemala. She also previously worked in market research in Ireland. 

Christine holds an MSc. in Social Entrepreneurship and a B.A. in Economics and Social Studies from Trinity College, Dublin. She is currently pursuing her M.S.W. at Temple University. Christine speaks Spanish and volunteers teaching trauma-informed yoga classes for survivors of gender-based violence.

Brooke Sauro is the Evaluation and Data Coordinator at IRAP. In this role, Brooke focuses on projects related to client feedback, data systems and quality, and building evaluation frameworks and reporting processes.

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. 

Stephen Poellot is the Legal Knowledge & Training Director at IRAP. In this role, Stephen leads IRAP’s commitment to developing new and innovative areas of practice, expertise, and legal strategy in refugee law.

Stephen was a founding director of IRAP during his first year at Yale Law School. Prior to law school, Stephen was an investigator at the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board and worked at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University of Cairo. During law school, he received the Charles G. Albom Prize for excellence in the area of judicial and administrative appellate advocacy in connection with a Law School clinical program. After law school, he was a Kirby Simon Summer Fellow at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva and a Robert L. Bernstein International Human Rights Fellow at the Refugee Legal Aid Project in Egypt. He is currently a visiting clinical lecturer in law at Yale Law School and has taught refugee law at Fordham University School of Law.

Stephen holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Columbia College. He 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.

Nadia Allaudin is a Managing Director and Wealth Management Advisor with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Century City. She earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst® designation. As of January 2022, The Allaudin/Brahos Group is entrusted with over $865 million in assets and liabilities.

Nadia has been the recipient of the following distinguished awards:

• Forbes “America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State” list in 2022.
• Forbes “America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors” list in 2020, 2021.
• Working Mother/SHOOK Research’s “Top Wealth Advisor Moms” list in 2019, 2020, 2021.
• Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” list in 2020, 2021.
• InvestmentNews recognition as a 2018 Women to Watch Honoree. As one of the 20 prestigious winners, Nadia was chosen from more than several hundred nominations for her leadership, contributions, and impact in the financial advice industry.
• The GirlPower! Women’s Empowerment Award from A Place Called Home.

With more than 22 years of in-depth experience in the financial services industry, Nadia and her partner, Bill, focus on empowering women and the LBGTQI+ community to better understand their wealth management needs. They enjoy exploring their clients’ relationship to money and assisting them with their financial concerns.

Having founded the annual Women, Wealth & Wisdom Conference in Los Angeles that brings together hundreds of professional women, Nadia works to foster deeper relationships and participate in discussions with renowned speakers on health/wellness, leadership, and spiritual best practices. In appreciation of her efforts, she was awarded the prestigious Bank of America Diversity & Inclusion Recognition award.

Nadia plays an active role in the community through her involvement as a Board Member of IRAP, Vital Impacts, and MADRE, and serves as Board Chair for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She completed her yoga teacher training program at Yogaworks and is a certified yoga instructor.

Nadia earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a dual emphasis in Finance and Business Communication from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Nadia’s Industry Credentials: Series 3 National Commodity Futures, 7 General Securities Representative, 8 General Securities Supervisor, 66, 31 Futures Managed Funds, FINRA Registrations; Insurance License; Certified Investment Management Analyst®.

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.

A Syrian lawyer and human rights defender, Mazen Darwish graduated from the law faculty at the University of Damascus-Syria.

He is the founder and General Director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) and the Violations Documentation Center in Syria (VDC), and a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists. Darwish was awarded over twelve international awards, including the “Roland Berger Human Dignity Award”, the “UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize”, and the “Four Freedoms Award”, and he was named in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2022.

Darwish was arrested several times in Syria due to his activism on defending human rights, the last time he was held for more than three years (until 2015). He was an advisory member in the Myanmar Expert Committee, a member of the Constitutional Experts Committee formed by the UN Special Envoy to Syria, a member of “Geneva talks”, a member of the national working group reviewing Syrian media legislation, the Deputy of the Institute for International Assistance and Solidarity, and the leader of the observation team in the Moroccan and Jordanian Parliamentary Elections 2007.

Betsy Doyle is a partner at The Bridgespan Group’s San Francisco office and head of Bridgespan’s philanthropy practice. Since joining Bridgespan in 2001, Betsy has worked extensively with both nonprofits and philanthropists, with a focus on increasing the flow of funds toward breakthrough social change. She has supported many high performing nonprofits with strategic and scale planning and organizational effectiveness. She has also advised institutional and individual donors on their outcome-driven grantmaking.

Betsy’s philanthropic advising engagements include work with both institutions and individual philanthropists on program-level strategy, portfolio support, and special projects. In recent years, she has led Bridgespan’s work with TED and The Audacious Project, an innovative funding platform to put bold ideas for social change into action. She has also supported several donor families with sourcing and diligence, in service of funding high performing, US-based organizations focused on social and economic mobility.

Until recently, Betsy led Bridgespan’s Education Practice. In this role, she worked with organizations and public agencies pursuing large-scale initiatives focused on increasing college and career readiness among low income youth. She has supported place-based education reform, efforts to strengthen talent and leadership pipelines (at the teacher, school leader, and system level), and on scaling high performing charter and school turnaround models. Based on these experiences, she has co-authored a number of pieces, including “Transforming Schools” (Bain.com, January 2016), “Starting Over After Starting Up,” (SSIR.org, September 2015), “Local Philanthropists Work Together to Transform Public Education” (Bridgespan.org, September 2014), and “Rethinking High School Turnarounds” (Bridgespan.org, January 2013). Betsy has also supported planning initiatives with a number of youth-serving networks and multi-service child welfare organizations, including Youth Villages and The Children’s Institute in Los Angeles. She is also co-author of one of Bridgespan’s most popular management publications, “Business Planning for Nonprofits” (Bridgespan.org, February 2006).

Prior to joining Bridgespan, Betsy worked at The Family Academy (now the Urban Education Exchange), a nonprofit in New York City focused on developing and scaling effective literacy curricula and teacher training. She also worked at Scholastic, Inc., the global publishing, education and media company, in the strategic marketing group. Betsy is a graduate of Princeton University, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She received her MBA and MEd, both from Stanford University. She currently lives outside of San Francisco with her spouse, three young children, and dog.

Neema Singh Guliani is the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Services. In this role, she directs the U.S. Department of Commerce’s efforts to create the policy conditions for U.S. digital, financial, supply chain and other services industries to compete around the world.

Guliani is a lawyer and policy expert who has worked on issues at the intersection of national security, economics, and civil rights. Before joining ITA, she served at Twitter as Head of National Security, Democracy, and Civil Rights Public Policy for the Americas, where she led development of policy and strategy in the U.S. for surveillance, the open internet, and civil rights. In 2022, Guliani also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she designed and taught a course titled “Technology and Civil Rights.”

Prior to her time at Twitter, Guliani served as Senior Legislative Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, where she led several initiatives related to surveillance and technology issues. She also served as a political appointee in the Chief of Staff’s Office at the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Secretary, an adjudicator at the USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, and a Counsel for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Guliani is a 2018 Truman National Security Fellow and a member of the Florida Bar. She has a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in international relations with a focus on global security from Brown University.

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).

Negar is a passionate philanthropic advocate supporting the global refugee response driven by her professional and personal experience with forced displacement. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Global Whole Being Fund (GWBF), a global philanthropic fund supporting more than 4 million refugees across 23 countries.

From 2009 to 2015, prior to her philanthropic engagement, Negar worked on 20 international development projects in nine countries with UN agencies, governments, bilateral donors, and NGOs. Negar also runs her executive and leadership coaching practice ‘Resonance Coaching,’ supporting individuals and teams. As part of her passion for accompanying people on their journey towards empowerment, Negar teaches women on the frontlines Empowerment and Self Defense (ESD).

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.