PIRC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Vice President of the Board
Andrew Baranoski joined PIRC in January 2020 as Executive Director. He has long been committed to refugee and asylee resettlement and access to legal services for all immigrants. Prior to joining PIRC, Andrew proudly served as the Executive Director of the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York from 2008 until 2015. Most recently, he worked in higher education at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. He graduated from Binghamton University with a BA in anthropology. After college, he became certified as a paralegal at Syracuse University. Later he earned his Master of Public Administration degree at Binghamton University and completed a year-long graduate internship at the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York.
Andrew was born and raised in Snyder County, PA. Andrew and his wife Barbara are excited to return to Pennsylvania to be close to family and friends. They enjoy traveling and all genres of music and often combine these two past-times attending music festivals abroad and across the USA.
Job Titles:
- Senior Staff Attorney - Removal Defense Programs
Ben Hooper joined the Removal Defense Programs at PIRC in January 2018. As a legal aid attorney and manager since 1999, Ben's advocacy work has included federally subsidized housing, mortgage foreclosure, domestic violence and immigration. Immediately prior to joining PIRC, Ben worked at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence where he coordinated the Civil Legal Representation Initiative, providing legal service to victims of domestic violence in twenty-two counties across Pennsylvania. Ben earned his J.D. degree from Northeastern University, and a B.A. in Political Science at Binghamton University.
Melissa Vega joined the Removal Defense Programs at PIRC in April 2019. After graduating with honors from Widener University Commonwealth Law School, Melissa clerked for three years for The Honorable Mary Hannah Leavitt of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (one of PA's two intermediate appellate courts over state administrative agency law, which also has trial court jurisdiction over certain cases where the state is a party). Upon completing her clerkship, Melissa set up her practice as a sole practitioner, representing clients in family-based petitions, naturalization, TPS/DACA, non-immigrant visa applications and removal defense for the next nine years. Immediately prior to joining PIRC, she practiced immigration & naturalization law in the
Diana Bieber Locke rejoined PIRC in January 2021 as a supervising attorney in Community Programs, having previously worked at PIRC during the development of the Immigrant Survivors Project. She brings over ten years' experience in immigration legal representation for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking and has provided trainings on this topic across the state. Prior to law school, Ms. Bieber Locke worked as part of an Americorps volunteer program in southern Colorado where she helped initiate the San Luis Valley Immigrant Resource Center and successfully applied for its DOJ recognition. Ms. Bieber Locke earned her law degree cum laude from New York University School of Law and her undergraduate degree in English Literature and Sociology/Anthropology with a concentration in Peace and Conflict Studies from Swarthmore College. She has studied and worked in Peru, Colombia, and the Netherlands and is proficient in Spanish.
Job Titles:
- in 2022 As Development Director
Elizabeth Miller joined PIRC in 2022 as Development Director, previously serving the organization as Office Manager/Development Manager, Office Manager, and intern over a period of 10 years. Miller received her Bachelor's in Sociology from Goucher College, with a concentration in Social Justice and Minor in Communications and Media Studies and earned her Master's degree in Social Justice and Human Rights from Arizona State University, with a Concentration in NGO Management. She is a Lancaster native, and most recently worked with the Mennonite Economic Development Associates as Strategic Engagement Coordinator. She is passionate about human rights issues, specifically those surrounding immigrant rights and gender equity. Miller serves on the board of the Lancaster-based Feakins Foundation.
Fernanda Hernandez joined PIRC in August 2016 as the Office Assistant. Before starting with PIRC, Fernanda worked for four years at ACNB Bank as Customer Service Specialist. She graduated HACC with a degree in Behavioral and Social Sciences, with a concentration on Paralegal Studies in 2016, and earned her Bachelor degree in Applied Science in Technical Leadership from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 2019. Fernanda is fluent in Spanish, and received her DOJ accreditation in early 2018.
Job Titles:
- Retired Physician and Administrator
Jazmin H. Hernandez joined PIRC in August 2019 as a Citizenship Coordinator. Jazmin is the daughter of Mexican parents who brought her to the U.S. in 2008 when she was 11 years old. She earned her Associate in Applied Science in Paralegal Studies in June 2017. Jazmin continued her education at Central Penn College and graduated in March 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies. She worked as a paralegal for a private law firm assisting in family petitions, asylum, and removal proceedings. She is passionate about helping the immigrant community as she is an immigrant herself and knows the obstacles and challenges they face. Jazmin is fluent in Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Member of the BOARD of DIRECTORS
- Board President / Millersville University / Professor of Sociology
Job Titles:
- Teacher of English As a Second Language / Community Volunteer
Houston, Texas, area. Melissa is fluent in Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Office Manager & Immigrant Survivors Project Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Bilingual Outreach Worker
Rosa Perez-Lupian graduated from Delone Catholic High School in 1992 and attended DeVry University. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents. In 2005, she began her 12 year career as Bilingual Client Advocate and Community Education Coordinator at YWCA Hanover Safe Home, where she established a robust program of community outreach, speaking to thousands of students as well as adult groups about healthy relationships and intimate partner violence. While developing her skills as an advocate, Mr. Perez-Lupian found that assisting immigrant victims of crime brought deep satisfaction. Through this work, she formed a strong bond with the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, where she began to work in November 2017.
Ryan Brunsink is a managing attorney for the Removal Defense Programs. He joined PIRC in March of 2015, after serving as a judicial fellow in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia where he regularly drafted legal opinions. Ryan graduated, cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law in May of 2014. At Pepperdine, Ryan successfully represented vulnerable clients with fear-based claims through Pepperdine's Asylum and Refugee Clinic. He worked as a summer law clerk at the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman, a prominent immigration firm in Los Angeles, and provided pro bono legal aid to indigent clients through Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles during his time in law school. Ryan obtained a BA in Economics and Religious Studies at the University of Virginia in 2008, and remains an avid Wahoo fan. Ryan is proficient in Spanish.
Samantha Naranjo-Gonzalez was born and raised in Cuba. She moved to the U.S with only her mom in 2016. She is currently working on her Associate in Paralegal Studies and plans to continue her education in the legal field after she graduates. She is fluent in Spanish and is currently working on obtaining her Interpreter license. As an immigrant herself, Samantha is very passionate about immigration law and helping other immigrants like her achieve their dreams.
Sarah Martin-Torres is the State Liaison for the Immigrant Survivors Project at the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center. She holds a master's degree in social work from Temple University and has been providing immigration legal services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking for nearly a decade as a Department of Justice Accredited Representative. Ms. Martin-Torres also coordinates the Immigrant Survivors Advocate Network (ISAN) and is fluent in Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Manager of Donor Relations