Staff
Brenda Alvarez
AmeriCorps VISTA fellow
Brenda is an AmeriCorps VISTA serving at UnLocal, where she supports the organization’s efforts through capacity-building work. Being interested in a legal profession and desire to make a difference, she traveled to New York to help UnLocal’s team fight for immigrant rights. Brenda graduated from the University of Idaho with a double major in Philosophy and Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology. During her undergrad, she was a member of the Society of Women in Philosophy (SWIP).
Jacqueline Campos
Immigrant Justice Corps Community Fellow
Jacqueline’s passion for social justice stems from the narratives of underserved immigrant communities like her own. Born and raised in Southeast Los Angeles to Mexican immigrant parents, her firsthand experiences have made her aware of the matters that affect immigrant communities. Jacqueline has participated in projects and volunteered for organizations that have allowed her to work with and for marginalized groups. These experiences remind her of the importance of having fearless advocates to ensure the needs of minority communities are being heard and met. This fight is personal for her and she hopes that at UnLocal she can mitigate the anxieties of those who come to the U.S. in hopes of achieving the American Dream. Jacqueline holds a B.A. in American Studies and Spanish from Wellesley College with concentrations in race, class, and gender.
Itzel Corona Aguilar
New York State Dream Act Fellow
Itzel is from D.F., Mexico, but grew up in San Anto, Tejas. They are a Ph.D. Candidate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Rutgers University. Their research interests focus on (im)migration and detention/incarceration. Itzel is also an instructor, teaching college-level courses introducing students to prison abolition studies, Chicanx feminist thought, and religious studies. They have worked with (im)migrant communities throughout various organizations in South-Texas, New Jersey, and New York. “Working with UnLocal has taught me so much already! I hope to help as many students as possible file for the NYSDA and secure their path towards pursuing higher education.
Elizabeth Fulton, Esq.
Immigration Attorney, U.S. Law, Immigrant Justice Corps and UnLocal Fellow
IMUMI, Mexico City
Lizzie Fulton is an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow with UnLocal, Inc. While in law school, Lizzie engaged in workers’ rights, anti-discrimination law, and international human rights law, all of which inspired her to pursue a career advocating for immigrants. She clerked at the East Bay Community Law Center’s Immigration Law Clinic, researched access to medical care in immigrant detention centers with Human Rights Watch, and interned with Legal Aid at Work on a federal national origin-based employment discrimination case. Lizzie previously taught at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and supported civil society groups while working at the Open Society Foundations. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Berkeley Law School. She speaks Spanish and Mandarin.
Dennise Hernandez
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Dennise Hernandez is passionate about social change and advocacy for immigrant communities. She holds a B. A. in Government from Dartmouth College where she directed the Coalition for Immigration Reform and Equality at Dartmouth, one of very few immigrant rights organizations in the Upper Valley. Within this role, she advocated directly for undocumented students and conducted outreach to local migrant farmworker communities. She believes in making education accessible to all, irrespective of immigration status, and she brings past experience in non profit development, grassroots organizing, and policy research to her role as UnLocal’s Education and Outreach Coordinator.
Michele Lampach, Esq.
Executive Director
Michele Lampach is the Founder and Executive Director of UnLocal, Inc., which was incubated by the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law’s Incubator Program, an incubating space for non-profits and individual law practices that address the legal needs of communities traditionally underserved by legal services. At UnLocal, Inc., her legal representation focuses on serving immigrant youth. Michele is interested in utilizing technology, art and other media to distribute accurate, reliable information to immigrant communities in non-traditional settings and locations.
Maria Marroquin, Esq.
Staff Attorney and Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow
Maria Marroquin is an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow and graduate of CUNY School of Law. In law school, Maria participated in the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic where she represented non-citizens in deportation proceedings, and worked with communities targeted by the government under the pretense of national security and counterterrorism with the CLEAR Project. Maria also interned with Brooklyn Defender Services where she advocated for detained immigrants and with The Bronx Defenders where she worked with individuals in criminal proceedings. Before law school, Maria coordinated campaigns to stop deportations and facilitated Know Your Rights trainings with community members. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Dominican University.
Tania Mattos
Education and Outreach Director
Tania Mattos is an immigrant and worker rights organizer who was born in La Paz, Bolivia and was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY. For over 7 years, she has worked with and for the rights of undocumented immigrants, restaurant workers, vendors, and most recently on displacement policies directly affecting the immigrant community. Prior to this, she worked on environmental rights and indigenous peoples rights within the United Nations. Tania holds a B.S. in Marketing, a M.A. in Political Science, and is an Office of Legal Access Programs (OLAP) Accredited Representative.
Eva Mayhabal Davis
Intake Associate
Eva Mayhabal Davis was born in Mexico, raised in the United States, and studied art history at the University of Washington. She is UnLocal’s Intake Associate. Her personal immigrant narrative drives her personal work in immigration and advocacy as a cultural liaison in support for equity and social justice values in arts and culture. Her writing has been featured in Hemispheric Institute’s Cuadernos, Nueva Luz: Photographic Journal, CultureWork Magazine and the Guggenheim Museum Blog. In 2018, she participated in the Art & Law Program Fellowship, and in 2019 she was a Leadership Advocacy Fellow for the National Association for Latinos in Art and Culture. She is a founding member of El Salón, a meetup for cultural producers based in NYC.
Daniel Morote
Rapid Response Paralegal/Organizer
Daniel is the Paralegal/ Organizer for the Rapid Response Legal Collaborative. Daniel was born in Queens, NY and continues to be a proud Queens Native. He obtained his B.A from Baruch College in Political Science with a minor in Journalism but his advocacy began during his early undergraduate years. Daniel has worked previously in the New York City & State government, in non-profits around NYC, and lastly as an advocate for Baruch College and for the City University of New York network. His work has been centered around advocating for communities in need and assuring that resources are being delivered to our communities. “At Unlocal, I look forward to growing and working with our clients, our partners, our volunteers, and the rest of the UnLocal team to continue standing together with communities at risk of detention or deportation.”
Jake Newton
Development and Operations Manager
As UnLocal’s Development and Operations Associate, Jake oversees the organization’s fundraising and capacity-building efforts. He applies for grants, fosters relationships with prospective donors and develops strategies to improve the sustainability of UnLocal’s various immigrant-serving programs. Jake was born and raised in Redmond, Washington, and had originally relocated for a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service in 2016 at UnLocal to aid in New York City’s fight against immigrant poverty and the challenges that accompany undocumented legal status. After completing a successful year, he now works with UnLocal full-time. Jake graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in Political Science in the spring of 2016.
Jessica Olive, Law Graduate
Pro Bono Scholar
Jessica’s passion for immigration law stems from working alongside members of immigrant communities. During law school, she assisted survivors of domestic violence with their U-Visas applications, advocated for asylum seekers at the Safe Harbor Clinic, and fought for detained immigrants in their removal hearings with the The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. Jessica wanted to work with UnLocal after interning with the organization last spring. The unique working relationship between the attorneys, organizers, and support staff was unlike anything she had experienced before and she wanted to be a part of the community. Jessica first began working with UnLocal as a legal intern in the spring of 2019. She returned in 2020 as a Pro Bono Scholar, and will continue working at UnLocal as an Immigrant Justice Corp Fellow.
Lorena Pachon
Social Work Intern
Lorena Pachon Parrado was born in Bogota, Colombia, and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the National University of Colombia. After coming to New York City, her love for diversity and her own migration took her on the path of volunteering with immigrants from different backgrounds. She is currently a student in the Social Work Masters Program at Hunter College in the Clinical path. “As an immigrant myself, I know how hard it can be to migrate. My job at UnLocal and my passion is to provide extra support to the migrant community during their transition into this new country.”
Juliana Perez Calle, Esq.
Rapid Response Staff Attorney
Juliana Pérez Calle is 2017 graduate of American University Washington College of Law. In law school she focused on the intersection of immigrant civil rights, international human rights, and corporate accountability. She interned at several branches of government including the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Senate Judiciary Committee where she worked on various immigrant rights policy. Prior to law school Juliana worked as a paralegal doing Sandy disaster relief work, focusing on the needs of impacted immigrants. Juliana has a B.A from Stony Brook University where she was an undocumented student activist for undocumented student rights and immigration reform.
Rebecca Press, Esq.
Legal Director
Rebecca Press is UnLocal’s Legal Director leading the legal team to provide representation to New York’s immigrant communities, including those at imminent risk of deportation, those fleeing persecution, the long-time undocumented, and many others. Rebecca helps UnLocal attorneys and representatives provide fierce and cutting-edge representation to immigrant New York and to work tirelessly to ensure that our communities have access to the legal representation they deserve and need. Rebecca has 10 years of experience representing immigrants of all ages in removal proceedings, with a particular focus in Asylum and Protection under the Convention Against Torture. She practices regularly before the Immigration Court, Board of Immigration Appeals, and Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In addition, Rebecca clerked at the New York Immigration Court through the Attorney General’s Department of Justice Honors Program. She is a 2002 graduate of Oberlin College and a 2009 graduate of the New York University School of Law. Rebecca has two joyful and rambunctious little boys.
Michael Younker, Esq.
Supervising Attorney
Michael C. Younker utilizes his varied background in his role as Supervising Attorney to assist on a diversity of immigration advocacy. Throughout his career, Michael has worked in international affairs through the government of Japan with the JET Programme, as a human rights organizer and researcher in Mongolia, and as an advocate for children in general. He served in a judicial clerkship with the Superior Court of New Jersey and worked at a boutique family law firm getting exposure to a myriad of issues, especially custody and child welfare matters. Most recently, Michael worked at Catholic Charities of Newark handling many immigration cases for child migrants and asylum seekers from around the world. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas and Rutgers Law School and speaks Spanish and some Japanese.
Board of Directors
Raoul Anchondo
Raoul Anchondo is an artist living in New York City. In October, 2017 he helped to organize an art auction to benefit UnLocal. Since receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2011 from The Cooper Union, Raoul has worked as an arts administrator, artist assistant and freelance arts educator. He is currently an art installer for the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and a seasonal news assistant for The New York Times.
Christhian Diaz
Board Chair
Christhian Diaz grew up in Colombia and then in Florida where as undocumented immigrants he and his mother cleaned offices, did housekeeping, and worked in chain restaurants. He then attended art school in New York City where he began making art across multiple material disciplines. Christhian currently works as Immigration Paralegal with the Queens Legal Services Immigrant Advocacy Project. He holds an MFA from Rutgers University and a BFA from The Cooper Union. Christhian was a fellow of the 2018 Art & Law Program, a 2013 MacDowell fellow, and for over 5 years, he has organized a series of open performance nights out of his living room called Fifteen Minutes of Doing Something Now.
Raymi Echavarria
Raymi Echavarria is the Human Rights Program Associate at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College and a consultant for the College Bridge for All Program, a CUNY and Department of Education Initiative to help New York City’s high school students with the college matriculation process. In both roles, she has been committed to social justice education and increasing access to higher education for underrepresented communities. Additionally, she has worked on advocacy projects and the development of support systems and professional trainings to help support undocumented youth. Supporting immigrants is important to her in part because of her personal experiences since her arrival in the United States from the Dominican Republic. Raymi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Sociology from Hunter College.
Emily Farrell
Board Secretary
As an educator and Australian migrant to the US, Emily Farrell was drawn to UnLocal’s mission to provide both legal services and educational outreach to communities in need. As a researcher, Emily worked in the field of sociolinguistics, examining intersections of language and migration. She received her PhD in Linguistics from Macquarie University in 2009 and has taught at the University of Sydney and the Free University, Berlin. She currently works for the academic publisher, De Gruyter.
Alexandra Goncalves-Pena, Esq.
Alexandra Goncalves-Pena is the Managing Attorney with Catholic Migration Services in Brooklyn, New York. Specializing in removal defense and asylum law, Alexandra has practiced immigration law since 2006 following her graduation from Vermont Law School. During her career Alexandra has represented hundreds of individuals before the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service and has worked on numerous appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals and Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Max Hadler
Board Vice Chair
Max Hadler is the Health Advocacy Specialist at the New York Immigration Coalition. He works on a range of issues and campaigns at the city and state levels to improve health access, coverage, and delivery for immigrant communities. Prior to joining the NYIC he worked in many capacities related to access to care for immigrants, including project director and research associate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, researcher at the UCLA North American Integration and Development Center, and Spanish-English medical interpreter at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Max received an MPH from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and an MA in Latin American Studies from the UCLA International Institute. He also holds a BA in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Wesleyan University.
Kate Holzman
Kate Holzman works at Echoing Green, running board leadership training programs and supporting the social entrepreneurship ecosystem. Before this, she worked in the areas of corporate partnerships, nonprofit program management, literacy, diversity & inclusion, facilitation, and sustainable textiles. She has previously supported immigrant families as a legal clinic translator and ESL teacher. She earned a Master’s Degree in Community Development, and Bachelor’s degrees in International Development and Spanish, all from Clark University.
Michele Lampach, Esq.
Michele Lampach is the Founder and Executive Director of UnLocal, Inc., which was incubated by the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law’s Incubator Program, an incubating space for non-profits and individual law practices that address the legal needs of communities traditionally underserved by legal services. At UnLocal, Inc., her legal representation focuses on serving immigrant youth. Michele is interested in utilizing technology, art and other media to distribute accurate, reliable information to immigrant communities in non-traditional settings and locations. Michele is an Adjunct Professor at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law.
Laura Stein
Board Treasurer
Laura Stein is one of the co-founders of UnLocal. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Dancing Grounds in New Orleans, LA. Prior to moving to New Orleans, Laura lived in New York City, working in education policy and management. She was Director of Education & Production at Dancewave (2010-2011), NYC Executive Director of RISE (2007-2009), Education Pioneers Fellow (2007), Policy Associate at New Visions for Public Schools (2005-2007) and Program Assistant at the Social Science Research Council (2003-2005). In 2010, she lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she helped create a girls’ Hip Hop program for Tiny Toones. She received her Masters in Public Administration (M.P.A.) from NYU‘s Wagner School of Public Service in 2008. She received her B.A. in the College of Social Studies from Wesleyan University in 2003.