YLC - Key Persons
A DAF is an investment account for philanthropic giving that offers an immediate tax benefit and a way to support charities like YLC right away or over time. Individuals may contribute cash, securities or other assets to a DAF at a sponsoring organization and immediately receive a tax deduction. These funds can be invested for tax-free growth and contributed as grants to IRS-qualified non-profit organizations.
Job Titles:
- Pathways Student Leadership Cohort Fellow
My name is Angel Luevano. I am majoring in philosophy, sociology, and psychology. I plan to attend law school and pursue a career in the legal field. Currently, I am a student at Mt. San Antonio College and serve as the president of the sociology club on campus. Additionally, I am a fellow for the legal advocacy group, CARECEN, on campus and a peer mentor for ACCESS, assisting students with special needs. I am excited to contribute my expertise, skills, and voice as a student leader in the first ever Youth Law Center and Rising Scholars' Statewide Youth Justice Leadership Cohort.
Job Titles:
- National Director for the Youth Law Center 's Quality Parenting Initiative
- QPI Consultant
Brandy Hudson works as the National Director for the Youth Law Center's Quality Parenting Initiative, Birth and Foster Parent Partnership, and the CHAMPS Campaign to transform foster care systems across the nation so every child and youth can thrive. Brandy previously worked as a technical assistance project manager for Casey Family Programs and spent five years at the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency serving in various roles, including program supervisor and special assistant. Brandy draws on her own experience as a former foster and probation youth, child welfare involved parent and licensed kinship provider, working to elevate and center the voice and expertise of those most impacted by child welfare and juvenile justice systems as leaders and designers of system transformation.
Job Titles:
- Formerly the Cabinet Secretary
- Senior Directing Attorney
Brian Blalock was formerly the Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department, where he oversaw the Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, and Children's Behavioral Health systems. During his tenure, CYFD underwent many reforms, including launching extended foster care in which 95% of all youth were stably housed and connected to therapeutic services, rebuilding the community based mental health services system for youth, creating an Office of Youth Homelessness, decreasing out of state placements by more than half, and increasing initial relative placements from 5% to 40% among others. More information about the Department under his tenure can be found in CYFD's Impact Report available here. Before going to New Mexico, Brian was the Law and Policy Director at Tipping Point Community, a non-profit in San Francisco, where he led research and development projects in collaboration with the public sector to foster workable solutions to complex problems related to poverty including a $125 million initiative tackling homelessness in the Bay Area. Prior to joining Tipping Point, Brian was a Skadden Fellow at Bay Area Legal Aid, where he founded and directed the Youth Justice Project (YJP). With a team of attorneys and social workers, YJP provided civil legal services and direct representation to youth involved in the delinquency, dependency, and homelessness systems under the age of 25. Brian has also worked as a religious affairs consultant, a fight trainer, a lecturer in law, and a public school teacher in the south Bronx. He has graduate degrees from Columbia and Harvard and a law degree from Stanford Law School. BAR ADMISSION: California
Carol Campbell Edwards, MSW, LCSW, joined the Youth Law Center as a consultant in 2016 after having been involved in Florida's Quality Parenting Initiative implementation. Her work with the Youth Law Center focuses on training and professional development. Carol is a licensed clinical social worker and approved supervisor in the State of Florida with 27 years of direct and administrative service in Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Marriage and Family Therapy and School Social Work. She is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Florida State University College of Social Work. Carol also works with the Florida Department of Children and Families as a member of the curriculum development team. Previously, she served as the Professional Development Director for Big Bend Community Based Care, Inc., and the statewide Training Manager for the Florida Professional Development Centers. Carol holds certifications from the Florida Certification Board, True Colors International, Langevin Learning Systems, and Florida's Adoptions Competent Therapist program. Carol currently serves as the National Association of Social Workers-Florida, President-Elect. At FSU, Carol is the Faculty Diversity Committee Chair, and member of the Student Affairs Committee and Academic Affairs Committee. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the FSU Power of We Campaign. In the Tallahassee Community, Carol volunteers with Leon County Schools, the Foster Adoptive Parent Association, and mentors youth with foster care experiences. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and the proud mother of two amazing daughters.
Education:
M.S.W., Florida State University, 1985
B.S.W., Florida State University, 1984
Honors: Florida State University Social Work Professor of the Year 2017; Florida Department of Children and Families 20 Years of Inspiration Award 2017; National Association of Social Workers-Big Bend Unit, Social Worker of the Year 2010
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Quality Parenting Initiative
- Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives
Carole Shauffer became Youth Law Center's Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives in 2012 after serving as Executive Director since 1994, and before that, as a Staff Attorney since 1981. Carole's work has focused on improving outcomes for foster youth through developing better services for infants and young children in the child welfare system, working with faith communities to provide support and services for at-risk youth, and reducing the use of shelter care for foster youth, particularly for infants and toddlers. Carole co-created the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) project, which is focused on developing positive culture change within the child welfare system. She has also worked to improve access to community and family for youth in the juvenile justice system through introducing child welfare practices to probation departments in California. With Georgetown Professor Rachel Barr, Carole has developed a hands-on parenting project now being instituted in five facilities in California and one in Ohio. Often referred to as the Baby Elmo Project, it provides at risk youth with parenting tools to communicate a build relationships with their children, thus positively affecting the development of the baby and the father. Before joining the Youth Law Center, Carole worked at the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana.
Education:
J.D., Northeastern University School of Law, 1978
M.Ed., Northeastern University, 1974 B.A., Smith College, 1971
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Equal Justice Works Fellow
Chris Middleton is an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Baker McKenzie & Salesforce, Inc., based in Oakland, CA. Chris's fellowship project focuses on reducing homelessness among child welfare and juvenile justice-involved youth in California, New Mexico, and Washington through coalition building, community education, representation in administrative hearings, systemic advocacy, and litigation. Previously at the Youth Law Center, Chris completed a Stanford Law School Deane F. Johnson Public Interest Fellowship. His prior work focused on addressing the challenges of the school-to-prison pipeline in California; ensuring access to quality education for child welfare and juvenile justice-involved youth; limiting the use of congregate care settings in child welfare and juvenile justice, especially the disproportionate impact of institutional settings on LGBTQ+ youth; and addressing conditions issues in the juvenile justice system. Prior to joining YLC, Chris served as a law clerk to Judge Myron H. Thompson and Judge W. Keith Watkins in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
Education:
J.D., Stanford Law School, 2021
B.A., Stanford University, 2016
Darlene Bell joined the Quality Parenting Initiative team in September 2020 as a founding member of the Community Voice Advocacy Coordinator (CVAC) team. Driven by a desire to ‘stand in the gap' for children when their biological parents need support, Darlene and her husband Curtis have been fostering in Minnesota for 30 years. Darlene joined the QPI movement in 2017 when she served on the core planning team to launch QPI in Minnesota. She has worked in the nonprofit field for over 30 years, with particular expertise in engaging communities of color and valuing cultural influences in the Twin Cities area. In addition to the Youth Law Center, Darlene has also worked with the Children's Alliance Trust Fund, Casey Family Programs' 21 st Century Child Welfare System, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership (BFPP).
Darlene and her husband Curtis, high school sweethearts who have been married for 36 years, have fostered more than 30 children and adopted five children since they began fostering 30 years ago. They have six children and 18 grandchildren.
You can read more about Darlene's work with QPI Minnesota in the Minneapolis Star Tribune: All about family: Movement to reform foster care takes root in Minnesota
Job Titles:
- Group Leader
- QPI Champion Group Leader
Diane Stang joined the QPI team in 2021 as a Champion Group Leader after retiring from working over 23 years working in Child Protection for a metro county in Minnesota. Her experience includes serving as the Supervisor of the Child Foster Care and Adoption programs and as a member of the first QPI Champion cohort in MN. She also served on the MN Department of Human Services Advisory Committee on Child Foster Care Recruitment and Retention. Prior to her work in Child Protection, Diane worked for 10 years as a contract manager for vendors providing services to children and families. Diane's focus is on excellent parenting, supporting foster parents as equal and viable partners on the child's team, as well as encouraging foster parents to be in relationship with birth parents as role models and mentors.
Emily Satifka is a Project Lead at the Youth Law Center. Prior to joining the Youth Law Center, Emily worked as a staff attorney at Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE), as a public defender, and as a Zubrow Fellow at Juvenile Law Center (JLC). Before law school, Emily worked as an advocate for healthcare equity in Philadelphia, as an organizer on various political campaigns, and as an AmeriCorps City Year member in San Antonio. Her legal career focuses on dismantling oppressive and violent systems, and instead investing in young people and their communities.
Erin Palacios is a Senior Attorney at the Youth Law Center. Focused on the intersection points of multiple youth-serving agencies, her work seeks the critical reinvestment of resources required to replace punitive delinquency responses with community-based systems of care. In close partnership with the Young Women's Freedom Center, Erin works to support and build power for directly-impacted people advocating to create and re-imagine systems that primarily value children, families, and the communities to which they belong. Prior to joining YLC, she was the project coordinator for the Youth Justice Project (YJP) at Bay Area Legal Aid. At YJP she worked to provide comprehensive civil legal services to vulnerable and disconnected youth and address systemic barriers to long-term success. Before that, she was a staff attorney with The Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Practice in Brooklyn, NY where she represented children ages 0-21 in child welfare, status offender, and delinquency proceedings.
Education:
J.D. University of San Diego, 2007
B.A./ M.A. Boston University, 2004
Job Titles:
- Attorney at Law ( Retired ) Vice Chair
Job Titles:
- Pathways Student Leadership Cohort Fellow
My name is Jasmine Green (she/her). I was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in San Diego, California. With around eight-and-a-half years of lived experience in the juvenile justice system, child welfare system, and adult justice system, I am currently pursuing a degree in Social Work at San Diego City College. Once I complete my Associate's degree, I plan to then transfer to a university. My goal is to become what youth view as their go-to person when they find themselves facing a difficult challenge that requires assistance in navigating or an obstacle they've encountered that requires support while overcoming. I hope to make a long term impact by providing at risk youth with consistency, attention, and the support they deserve. I recently served as a LeX Leader (Lived Experience Leader) with FosterClub, traveling to Oregon and Arkansas to organize conferences for foster youth. This opportunity allowed me to gain hands-on experience, showing me what I have to look forward to in the future and throughout my career. I'm excited to have the chance to bring guidance, experience, and knowledge to this first ever Youth Law Center and Rising Scholars' Statewide Youth Justice Leadership Cohort.
Jasmine Ying Miller is a Staff Attorney at Youth Law Center, based in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Her work focuses on the intersection between juvenile justice, child welfare and education systems, including special education and transitions to postsecondary education for systems-impacted youth. She is interested in leveraging resources across systems to invest in youth and the communities that care for them. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Jasmine was a college counselor working in Metro Nashville Public Schools, where she primarily worked with immigrant and refugee students, first-gen students, and DACA/undocumented students.
Education:
J.D./M.Ed Stanford University, 2019
B.A. Harvard University, 2013
In 2007, Jennifer Rodriguez joined the Youth Law Center (YLC), a national public interest law firm that has worked for 4 decades to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems so every child and youth can thrive, and has served as Executive Director since 2012. Jennifer is the recipient of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Janet Reno Women's Leadership Award for her advocacy ensuring youth are included in foster care and juvenile justice policy development; the Juvenile Law Center's Leadership Prize for her advocacy fighting for rights and well-being of youth in foster care and juvenile justice; and was recognized in 2021 as a federal Children's Bureau Champion for her national impact in transforming foster care to a support for families. YLC's advocacy aims to ensure children and youth are not only protected from harm and dangerous conditions in systems, but also receive the support, opportunities and nurturing they need for healthy, productive adulthoods. At YLC, Jennifer worked to build and launch the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI), a national systems change strategy to strengthen foster care by focusing policy, practice and culture around relationships and excellent parenting for children. Jennifer's leadership at YLC has a special focus on advocacy to reduce the use of congregate care and build systems that ensure children receive the parenting necessary to heal and thrive and live in conditions that meet their developmental and emotional needs. As a former foster youth who spent her childhood in both foster care and juvenile justice institutions, Jennifer has spent most of her life advocating for systems to be responsive to the needs of youth. Jennifer's advocacy has resulted in significant national policy, practice and culture changes around the fundamental needs of youth and formally including system involved youth as part of all policy processes. Jennifer received her J.D. from University of California, Davis and is the proud mother of two beautiful children who teach her daily about the power of love, high expectations and opportunities.
Education:
J.D., University of California, Davis, 2004
B.A., University of California, Davis 2001
A.A., San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, 1999
Job Titles:
- Policy Director
- Senior Policy Director
Jenny Pokempner joined YLC in the spring of 2021 as the Policy Director, working on both child welfare and juvenile justice issues, with particular emphasis on the needs and entitlements of older foster youth. Prior to joining YLC, Jenny worked at the Juvenile Law Center as a senior attorney and has played a large role in state and national reform work related to older youth in foster care, with areas of focus on: older youth permanency, extended foster care, eliminating group care, and improving educational and employment outcomes and opportunities. Jenny values using legal strategies that are informed by and done in partnership with young people with experience in foster care. Jenny is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Education:
J.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2000
B.A., Johns Hopkins University, 1995
Joel Bauer joined Youth Law Center in 2022 as the QPI Data Analyst. Joel comes from St. David's Center for Child and Family Development where he works as a Database Administrator. With his 10 years at St. David's Center, he has managed multiple roles emphasizing data creation and management. Joel brings expertise in problem-solving through difficult solutions, a technical background, and previous experience working with QPI Minnesota.
Job Titles:
- Attorney at Law / Senior Vice Chair
Karissa Lemme joined the Youth Law Center as a Community Voice Advocacy Coordinator in September 2020 and she works to ensure that QPI sites are participating and are encouraged to engage in the work of coparenting. She has a background in teaching special education and offering behavioral therapy to children with special needs. She believes that the role of a resource (foster) parent encompasses caring and supporting the whole family, not just the child in care. As a member of the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership (BFPP), she networks with birth parents and caregivers to brainstorm ways to improve these coparenting relationships. Karissa also works as a foster parent mentor in her home state of California. As a current resource parent, Karissa is able to bring a unique perspective of real-life experience to the table. She works to bring the viewpoint of a caregiver while also encouraging the importance of fostering close relationships with birth parents. Karissa resides in Southern California with her husband and children. She and her family enjoy long days at the beach, bike rides, camping and hiking. Her dream is to one day be out of a job as a resource parent as the system transforms to understand the impact and importance of preventative measures and supporting family togetherness.
Education:
B.S. Brigham Young University, 2007
Job Titles:
- QPO Lead & Champion Group Leader
Kate Rickord, MA, LP, enjoys collaborating and creating partnerships to support the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Kate is a founding leader in the Quality Parenting Initiative-Minnesota efforts that began in 2017. She is co-owner of Resiliency and Health Institute, a small collaborative practice that seeks to build resilience and restore well-being through therapeutic services. Kate joined the Quality Parenting Initiative National team in 2022 as the Quality Parenting Outreach (QPO) Lead and a Champion Group Leader.
Katie Bliss is a Senior Advocate and oversees the California Higher Education Project at Youth Law Center (YLC), which advocates to implement programming and support policy across the state to ensure juvenile justice-involved youth have direct pathways to higher education. Katie is also the founder of Project Change at the San Mateo County Community College District, a state model program and the first comprehensive, institutionalized, community college-funded program in California to provide in-person college instruction inside juvenile youth facilities, wrap-around student support services on campus, and direct access to post-secondary education for juvenile justice-involved youth. Katie created Project Change while teaching English at the College of San Mateo and City College of San Francisco as an Associate Professor. Having dropped out of high school and been incarcerated for the majority of her adolescence in juvenile hall, her drive to create pathways to higher education for youth in the juvenile justice system comes from both personal and professional experience. She holds a master's degree in English literature, two certificates in post-secondary reading and composition, and a bachelor's degree in English composition from San Francisco State University and Notre Dame de Namur University.
Education:
M.A., Notre Dame de Namur University
B.A., Notre Dame de Namur University
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant of the Quality Parenting Initiative
- Manager, QPI Special Projects
Kirstie Jetland joined the Youth Law Center in 2020 as the Administrative Assistant of the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI). In 2021, she became the QPI National Coordinator and served as the hub for communication, scheduling, and event management for the QPI National Team. As the Manager of QPI Special Projects, Kirstie now supports the growth of QPI through administrative oversight of the QPI Champions Training program and various new initiatives. Prior to YLC, Kirstie spent three years with UnitedHealth Group's Payment Integrity division in both team management and project management roles. Kirstie brings these technical skills to the QPI team to support its mission of advocacy and change.
Kisha Queeley is from Orlando, Florida and has worked in a finance capacity for over 25 years. She spent the last 20 years with Central Florida YMCA and held various positions including business manager, executive director, controller and finance director. Kisha's years of experience includes all aspects of accounting, budgeting, financial analysis, forecasting, HR processes, and business leadership. In her most recent position, Kisha was fortunate to work and help lead the Youth and Development Department of CFYMCA in all fiscal areas to include grants for as many as 100 locations at one time. Having the opportunity to do such great work that impacts the community is a passion and what keeps her going. When not working, Kisha enjoys traveling and boating with her husband, spending time with her daughter and two wonderful grandchildren as well as watching her son play football at Syracuse University.
Job Titles:
- QPI Director of Business & Growth
Kristin Moore joined YLC in October of 2021 as the QPI Director of Business & Growth. Kristin has spent her career in the non-profit sector with over 25 years of experience in various leadership roles in the nonprofit organization, Road Scholar, and also serves as the Chair of the Board for The Wish Project, a nonprofit in Massachusetts that provides critical assistance to unhoused families.
Kristin is excited to bring her experience in operations, communications and fundraising to help further YLC's mission.
Education:
BA, Providence College, 1993
Lauren Brady is the Managing Director at the Youth Law Center, where she supports YLC's legal team to center the voices and experiences of young people in their efforts to fundamentally reimagine the systems that have impacted their lives. Her work utilizes movement-based lawyering strategies that focus on returning power, investment, and attention to communities and families so that youth can thrive. Prior to joining the Youth Law Center, Lauren supported a variety of youth-serving nonprofits in leadership capacities, including Bay Area Legal Aid's Youth Justice Project, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), Project Reconnect and the East Bay Agency for Children, among others. She served as the Directing Attorney of the Statewide Education Rights Project at Public Counsel, where she worked to develop and support community capacity across California to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Before working at Public Counsel, Lauren founded and directed the Legal Educational Advocacy Project at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office - a first-of-its-kind program providing special education and school discipline representation and other educational support to young people impacted by the juvenile justice system. At the beginning of her legal career, Lauren was a Skadden Fellow and then staff attorney at Legal Services for Children, where she provided direct representation to children and youth in education, dependency, guardianship, and immigration matters.
Education:
JD, Stanford Law School, 2006
BA, Princeton University, 2003
Job Titles:
- Manager at Homeboy Industries
- Pathways Student Leadership Cohort Fellow
Leah Pinedo (she/her) is a case manager at Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit organization that assists formerly-incarcerated and gang-involved individuals in re-entering society and redirecting their lives. Leah also works as a case manager for a community support program called California Care Coordinators within the Inland Empire area. As a case manager with CCC, Leah assists the most vulnerable by guiding them in successfully securing permanent housing. Leah was a student at UCLA where she graduated with her Bachelors in Sociology in December of 2021. Leah's passion is helping and serving as an advocate for formerly-incarcerated individuals to be experts in their own life and navigate their own journeys. Leah is a multifaceted leader in the first ever Youth Law Center and Rising Scholars' Statewide Youth Justice Leadership Cohort. She is also studying for the LSAT and plans to take the test in August. Leah enjoys taking a break from her busy and crazy life by spending time outdoors with her dog Chuko.
Madeleine is a California Registered Legal Aid Attorney at the Youth Law Center, where she focuses on YLC's homelessness prevention efforts among young people transitioning out of the juvenile justice and foster care systems. Madeleine spent time at the San Francisco Public Defender's Juvenile Division, Department of Justice, and East Bay Community Law Center during law school before graduating UC Berkeley with her JD in 2018. After graduation, Madeleine worked at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where her pro bono practice spanned representation of minors and families in both the Eastern District of New York and Brooklyn Family Court. She later served as a law clerk to the Hon. Joshua D. Wolson in EDPA. In her spare time, Madeleine continues to participate in tenant organizing efforts in NYC to protect rent-stabilized New Yorkers from unlawful evictions and overcharges.
Marisa Lopez-Scott is a Senior Attorney at the Youth Law Center. Her work focuses on providing advocacy support for civil legal aid attorneys across California with an emphasis on transforming the lives of youth impacted by the dependency system. Before joining Youth Law Center, Marisa was a dependency attorney at Legal Advocates for Children and Youth (a component of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley) representing children ages 0-21 in their child welfare proceedings. Prior to LACY, she was a staff attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid's Youth Justice Project, representing youth impacted by the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and youth experiencing homelessness through the provision of comprehensive civil legal services.
Education:
J.D. U.C. Berkeley School of Law, 2013
B.S. Northwestern University, 2009
Job Titles:
- Pathways Student Leadership Cohort Fellow
I am a proud transfer student from Santa Monica College and earned my B.A. in Art History with a minor in African American Studies at UCLA. During my time at UCLA, I advocated and participated in two newly launched programs in the Fall of 2019; Bruin Underground Scholars and Bruin McKinney-Vento Initiative at UCLA. As an intern at BRC, I supported the programs that tackled barriers for students who experienced homelessness, incarceration, and food insecurity in higher education. I am now the Director of the Bruin Underground Scholars where it is an honor to support our FI/SI students. I became involved with this line of work due to having loved ones, friends, and family members with a history of incarceration. Being system-impacted motivated me to assist community members such as being a Community Health Worker and the Re-Entry Workforce Navigator in the RISE (Re-Entry Program) Department at St. John's Community Health Clinic in South LA. In my free time, I enjoy visiting museums. I volunteer at St. Francis Center providing College & Career Readiness programs to the Pico Union neighborhood youth. I participate with the Youth Law Center Rising Scholars' Statewide Youth Justice Leadership Cohort advocating for incarcerated youth in juvenile hall facilities for college dual enrollment programs. Lastly, I love to cook!
Job Titles:
- Pathways Student Leadership Cohort Fellow
Hello Everyone! My name is Matthew Pratap (he/him), but I prefer you refer to me as "Matt" since "Matthew" makes me feel like I'm in trouble. I want to help people. I feel like through years of trial and error working jobs ranging from fast food, security, and predominantly finance, one thing that always stuck with me was being able to be a support for someone who needed it. I lived a sheltered life, but when my mom passed away in 2012 I happened to, unfortunately, turn to a life of drug dealing, incarceration, and to be blunt just straight-up hard times, since I lost the rock/foundation of my life. This period of my life was dark/heavy, but I didn't have anyone I could truly confide in! That feeling broke me down. It took a full decade of being incarcerated and feeling like a map without direction, up until I got the opportunity to be the missing thing that I didn't have in my own life when I was walking through those tough times! Yes, I have financial advice and guidance, but beyond that, I just want the best for those entrusted to me! I might not have the answers you need immediately, but best believe I will work and find someone who can answer them no matter what. I'm not the "cookie cutter '' good guy that I feel you'd expect from these positions, but I keep it as honest as I can be without crossing professional boundaries. I promise you I will keep it 100% even if it might not be what you wanna hear sometimes. I am excited to lead, grow, learn, and leverage my lived experience in the first ever Youth Law Center and Rising Scholars' Statewide Youth Justice Leadership Cohort.
Job Titles:
- Interim Director of External Affairs
Mecca Billings is the Interim Director of External Affairs at the Youth Law Center. She has worked at the highest levels of fundraising strategy and management for nearly 30 years. She began her fundraising career at her alma mater, Harvard, where she worked in the Harvard College Fund during its $2.1 billion university-wide campaign. Within the first two years of joining the Harvard College Fund team, she was promoted from an assistant, to a junior class officer and finally to a specially created frontline fundraising position to manage a $25 million capital campaign project that included a Kresge Foundation challenge grant, and identify new major donor alumni prospects living on the West Coast. Her extensive work for Harvard on the West Coast, coupled with a relentless Boston winter that included a snowstorm in April 1997, inspired her to relocate to sunny California. In 2011 she founded Billings Consulting Group, a full-service fundraising consulting firm that provided fundraising counsel to wildlife and animal welfare, environmental education, performing arts, youth empowerment, education, and documentary film nonprofit organizations. A lifelong devotee of the performing arts, she has been an avid student of Spanish flamenco dance and music for nearly two decades.
Education:
BA, Harvard University, 1992
Meredith Desautels is a Directing Attorney at the Youth Law Center. Her work focuses on ending the criminalization of childhood and replacing youth incarceration with positive, developmentally-appropriate supports that are rooted in family and community. In partnership with the Young Women's Freedom Center, Meredith's work is grounded in movement-based legal strategies that seek to build power within directly impacted families and communities. Prior to joining the Youth Law Center, Meredith was a Leading Edge Fellow funded by the Rosenberg Foundation. As a Leading Edge Fellow, she worked at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office and Bay Area Legal Aid, representing young people impacted by the juvenile delinquency system. Prior to that, she was a Skadden Foundation fellow and then staff attorney at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, and she served as a law clerk to the Honorable John T. Noonan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Education:
J.D. U.C. Berkeley School of Law, 2008
B.A. Princeton University, 2004
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator, Pathways to Higher Education
MJ Hart is the Pathways to Higher Education Project Coordinator at the Youth Law Center (YLC), where they play a pivotal role in developing and implementing programming, and supporting statewide policy that facilitates access to higher education for juvenile justice-involved youth.
Born and raised in North Fair Oaks, Redwood City, CA. MJ's early life was overshadowed by the superpredator myth, leading to extensive time in juvenile and adult correctional facilities. Breaking free from these confines, MJ harnessed the power of education for personal liberation and communal upliftment--becoming the first in their family to earn a high school diploma and venture into higher education, paving the way for their loved ones and community. During their undergrad, MJ's advocacy shone through as they co-founded the Guardian Scholars Program at Foothill College and the Underground Scholars Program at UC Santa Cruz; both geared towards supporting marginalized students, especially those emerging from incarceration and the foster care system. MJ's deep understanding of the challenges faced by scholars from similar backgrounds fuels their dedication to creating educational pathways that not only provide access but also empower juvenile justice-involved youth to reclaim their narratives, awaken their critical consciousness, and boldly step into a future they shape.
MJ's advocacy extends beyond academia into youth organizing, community outreach, re-entry navigation, and artistic expression. Through their art, MJ advocates for a societal shift towards empathy and solidarity, underscoring the transformative power of education and advocacy. MJ's life and work stand as a vivid reminder that from adversity can spring hope, leadership, and transformative change.
Natalie was born in King City, CA and raised in the Bay Area after being adopted from foster care by a wonderful couple unable to have children. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Justice Studies from San Jose State University and was introduced to the nonprofit sector by working at a local non-profit, Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) as a youth practitioner and later an executive administrator.
From FLY, Natalie began a new journey and helped launch a start-up in 2015 called Venture Leadership Consulting, where she supported the company's daily operations, executive team, and consultants. Natalie has supported many nonprofits in the Bay Area, including CURYJ, where she provided executive support to the executive director and development team.
Natalie has been supporting non-profit work for the past 18 years and prides herself on her ability to manage multiple demands efficiently. Natalie resides in Hollister, CA with her husband, two sons and twin adopted daughters.
Job Titles:
- QPI Administrative Coordinator
Nathan Brown joined the Youth Law Center as the QPI Administrative Coordinator in 2023. Nathan has several years of experience working in non-profits and providing administrative support and research for advocacy projects. He graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Bloomsburg University. After graduating, he dedicated a year of service to mentoring and tutoring high school students in Philadelphia for City Year. Through City Year, he connected with the non-profit Justice at Work, a pro-bono legal aid organization that assists workers in PA. Nathan worked as an Office and Program Assistant before coming to YLC. Nathan is excited to bring his passion for change and advocacy to the QPI team.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Merck & Co
Nicole Holt joined the Quality Parenting Initiative team in 2021 after working alongside the QPI efforts in Riverside County, California since 2018. Nicole and her husband, Skyler, have fostered children since 2016 and have mentored biological families, youth, and resource families alike. Nicole plays an active role within her community as an advocate for at-risk youth and in 2018 founded EmpowerED, a nonprofit focused on bridging the gap in child welfare by empowering and educating community partners to best support, encourage and advocate for the wellbeing of all families. Prior to her work with QPI, Nicole owned and operated a stress management and wellness business that served her community through educational workshops and conferences.
Job Titles:
- QPI Lived Experience Advocate
Palmira Ramirez joined YLC as the QPI Lived Experience Advocate in February of 2023. In this position, Palm uses her lived experience and advocacy skills to support QPI sites on the best practices in engaging and utilizing lived experience in systems change as well as the implementation of QPI. As a young adult advocate, she has helped push for both laws and bills at a state and national level meant to improve systematic outcomes for young people involved in the child welfare system. As a young adult in care, she was part of new Mexico's youth advocacy boards, LUVYA NM (Leaders Uniting Voices - Youth Advocates of New Mexico) and New Mexico Child Advocacy Networks where for just over ten years she advocated for the rights of her peers as well as herself and helped create systems change in New Mexico's foster care system. She looks forward to working with all of QPI's sites and building relationships as she continues to push for better outcomes for people with lived experience as well as create spaces for them to feel loved, appreciated and heard.
Phyllis Stevens joined the Youth Law Center in 2016 to serve as a Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) Coordinator and in 2020 moved into the role of Community Voice Advocacy Coordinator. In this role, she travels throughout the country to various sites and works with each site's foster care program to develop a cohesive, collaborative system. Phyllis supports sites at various stages of development and works closely with the foster families at each site. Phyllis is an adoptive mom and former foster mom. She is founder and Executive Director of Together as Adoptive Parents Inc, an organization that provides support, resources and advocacy for adoptive, foster and kinship families, as well as the President of the Philadelphia Resource Parents Association Inc., an advocacy Association for foster parents. Phyllis is also on staff with North American Council on Adoption Children (NACAC) and travels throughout the state doing various trainings for them. Phyllis has won many awards locally and nationally for her work with children.
Rachel Murphy is a Senior Attorney at the Youth Law Center. Her work focuses on ending the use of shelters to care for young children and ensuring young people have access to community-based services and activities. Rachel previously worked as a staff attorney at the ACLU of Illinois, where she advocated for police accountability, transparency, and reform in close partnership with community members. Prior to law school, Rachel served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for a child in the foster care system.
Education:
J.D. Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, 2016
B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 2008
Job Titles:
- Development & Communications Coordinator
Selina Weiss joined the Youth Law Center in June of 2017. In her role at YLC, Selina focuses on internal and external communications, development and fundraising, and day-to-day operations. Selina was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She left high school at 15 and attended City College of San Francisco and graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor's degree in Urban Studies and Planning. Before joining YLC, Selina spent five years working in communications and development at ScholarMatch, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that aims to make college possible for low-income first generation students. Prior to that, Selina worked for the Mayor of San Francisco in the office of Neighborhood Services, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for Supervisor John Avalos, District 11, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Arts Commission. When not working, Selina is a dedicated volunteer in the Bay Area arts community. She has spent over 5 years volunteering as a mentor and Board member at First Exposures, an organization that aims to empower Bay Area youth through photography, and over 2 years serving on the San Francisco Symphony's All San Francisco Committee. Selina can often be found running around her hometown with a camera in hand, doing embroidery, learning to garden, and spending time with family and friends.
Tamar Anna Alexanian is a staff attorney at the Youth Law Center. Prior to joining the Youth Law Center, Tamar was a Skadden Fellow at the Children's Law Center of California (CLC). Tamar's fellowship project involved enforcing the rights of CLC's LGBTQ+ clients, securing gender-affirming care for transgender and gender diverse youth and appropriate foster placements for all LGBTQ+ youth. While in law school at the University of Michigan, Tamar was a graduate student instructor in the Women's & Gender Studies Department; she also participated in the Child Welfare Appellate Clinic and Child Advocacy Law Clinic, where she focused on representing children and parents in dependency proceedings at the trial and appellate levels. Prior to law school, Tamar was a Fulbright Scholar in Taichung, Taiwan and an AmeriCorps member in Chicago, Illinois.
Education:
JD, University of Michigan Law School, 2021
BA, Vanderbilt University, 2016
Job Titles:
- Pathways Student Leadership Cohort Fellow
Tammy Williams (she/her) is currently a STEM major at San Diego City College (SDCC), the Student Government Vice President at SDCC, and a current Rising Scholars student. Tammy is driven to advocate for system-impacted youth as a result of her own personal experiences. Her role as an intern with her local City Council, her engagement in STEM at SDCC, and her leadership on the Youth Law Center and Rising Scholars' Statewide Youth Justice Leadership Cohort exemplify her dedication to ensuring system change for young people impacted by the juvenile justice system so they have strong pathways to college success is powerful. Tammy is getting ready to apply to transfer to various UCs/CSUs/private universities in the upcoming year to complete her Bachelor's Degree.
Terry Harrak, has more than a decade of youth advocacy, curriculum development, training and community outreach experience. She currently works on the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) and the Just Beginning Program (JB) at the Youth Law Center. Mrs. Harrak supports our organizational goals by ensuring young people have a voice in the QPI process. She works directly with QPI sites training youth and developing strategies for youth involvement. Mrs. Harrak manages Just Beginning Program sites nationally. Prior to her work at Youth Law Center, she served as Project Manager for Child Welfare League of America and Director of Youth Engagement for Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. She has testified before congress and elsewhere on issues pertaining to youth services. Mrs. Harrak is the author of Guidelines for Development of Foster Care Handbooks: What Foster Youth Have to Say and co-creator of Strategic Sharing: a curriculum for youth public speaking. Mrs. Harrak created The National Foster Youth Advisory Board in 2000. The group was instrumental in the movement to increase foster youth participation in policy and advocacy. In addition to her professional experience Terry brings her personal experience with the foster care and juvenile justice systems to her work. Mrs. Harrak's personal testimony was instrumental in the passing of the Foster Care Independence Act and John H. Chafee Independent Living Program. She was invited to speak at The White House alongside First Lady Hillary Clinton at the 1999 White House Summit on Foster Care. Mrs. Harrak resides in Northern Virginia with her husband. In her free time, she enjoys travelling and being an aunt. Her advocacy efforts are fueled by her dream that no child will ever experience a system and that every child will have the quality loving parenting they deserve.
Victoria Camper joined the Youth Law Center in 2020 and currently works in the role of QPI Contractor. Victoria brings extensive experience as an advocate for birth parents. She has helped birth parents in Volusia County, Florida navigate the child welfare system as a Parent Partner for the last five years. She is the chairperson of a Birth Parent Advisory Board, supporting birth parents to become more involved in agency, program, and policy development. She also promotes partnerships among families by coordinating Community Cafes. She is a member of the Birth Parent National Network (BPNN), the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership (BFPP), and a Substance Exposed Newborn Task Force.
Will Radler joined Youth Law Center in March 2019. In their role as Director of Operations, Will oversees YLC's day-to-day operations-from HR management and IT coordination through paralegal and event support-and plays a key role in informing YLC's strategic operational planning. Before coming to YLC, they spent 5 years working with the Mental Health Association of San Francisco (MHASF) in both program management and operations/HR roles. While at MHASF, Will provided oversight for programs including a peer-to-peer mental health support call center, a transition support program for people being discharged from psychiatric hospitalization, and an employment support program for people with mental health conditions reentering the workforce. Across all roles, Will has been committed to work that centers the perspectives of people with lived experience, both in advocacy for systems change and in service delivery. Will earned their B.A. summa cum laude in Philosophy from Greenville University and was class of 2010 in Stony Brook University's M.A. in Philosophy & Aesthetics program.
Job Titles:
- Pathways Student Leadership Cohort Fellow