LEGAL ACTION CENTER

LAC Staff

Dan Belnap, Senior Health Policy Analyst: Dan joined Legal Action Center’s Washington DC office in August 2008. At Legal Action Center, Dan’s work focuses primarily on national advocacy efforts to expand effective health policy responses to drug and alcohol addiction. Dan came to Legal Action Center from the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), where he worked on issues related to Medicaid, covering the uninsured, and access to care. Before joining NASHP, Dan was a policy advocate working to improve anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs at Utahns Against Hunger. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Utah.

Sherie V. Boyd, Office Manager: Sherie V. Boyd joined the Legal Action Center in November 2006. Ms. Boyd manages LAC's Washington, DC office for LAC's National Policy Team. Ms. Boyd also serves as Administrative Assistant for the State Associations of Addiction Services. In addition to performing a variety of administrative functions, Ms. Boyd also is responsible for formatting and disseminating a number of electronic newsletters and alerts for the Center. Prior to joining LAC, Ms. Boyd worked for five years as the Administrative Assistant II for Joseph J. Blake & Associates, Inc., located in Washington, DC. Ms. Boyd also serves as an Election Judge for the state of Maryland. Ms. Boyd is currently attending P.G. Community College in Largo, Maryland, where she is pursuing a degree in Business Management Science.

Graham Bridgeman, Senior Development Associate: Graham Bridgeman joined the Legal Action Center in November of 2007. His work includes database management, web site maintenance, direct mail, and event planning and production. Before coming to LAC, he worked in development and non-profit publishing. Graham is a graduate of New York University.

Janet Coleman, Accountant: Janet Coleman joined the Legal Action Center in September 2000. She works as the Center’s accountant.

Crystal M. Ferguson, Senior Administrative Assistant: Crystal joined the Legal Action Center in November of 2006 bringing over 8 years of administrative experience. Crystal is the assistant to the Center’s Senior Vice-President, Vice-President, New York Policy Director/ WISH-NY Coordinator and Fiscal Department. Before coming to the Legal Action Center, Crystal worked at the National Development and Research Institutes and the Fortune Society.

Sally Friedman, Legal Director: Ms. Friedman directs the Center’s Legal Department, which serves over 2,500 clients annually and provides trainings and technical assistance for hundreds of health and social service program serving LAC’s constituency. Since joining the Legal Action Center in October of 1993, Sally Friedman has prosecuted cases involving the breach of HIV confidentiality and discrimination on basis of HIV status, criminal record, and drug or alcohol history. She has also advised and trained hundreds of organizations across the country on privacy and anti-discrimination laws protecting individuals with HIV, criminal records, and alcohol/drug histories. Ms. Friedman has authored numerous publications and produced video/DVD and online trainings on these topics. She is a graduate of Brown University and New York University Law School.

Tracie M. Gardner, Director of State Policy: Tracie M.Gardner joined the Legal Action Center in October of 2000 as Director of New York State Policy. She coordinates the Center’s lobbying, advocacy, grass roots organizing and policy work on issues relating to HIV/AIDS, criminal justice and substance abuse in New York State. She is also the coordinator of an advocacy project at the Center, the Women’s Initiative to Stop HIV/AIDS, NY (WISH-NY). Ms Gardner started WISH-NY to respond to the escalating rates of HIV infection among women and girls of color. Prior to joining the Legal Action Center, Ms. Gardner has worked in various capacities of national and New York HIV/AIDS policy and advocacy since 1987. Ms. Gardner is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.

Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, JD; Director for National Policy:Gabrielle de la Guéronnière leads the Center’s federal policy advocacy to expand and improve the health responses to drug and alcohol addiction, and to end discrimination against people with drug and alcohol histories and criminal records. Ms. de la Guéronnière directed the Center’s federal advocacy toward passage into law of the Second Chance Act reentry legislation and successful inclusion of strong addiction and mental health provisions in the Affordable Care Act. Ms. de la Guéronnière currently works with Congress and the Administration to increase funding for drug and alcohol prevention, treatment, recovery, and research programming; to ensure that the federal health care reform law is implemented well for people with addiction and mental health service needs; and to eliminate legal and policy barriers faced by people with criminal records and drug addiction histories. Ms. de la Guéronnière coordinates and helps to direct strategy for the Coalition for Whole Health, a coalition of national addiction and mental health organizations, and is a frequent presenter on health and criminal justice policy at national and state-wide conferences.

Ms. de la Guéronnière joined the Legal Action Center’s Washington, DC, office in 2003, and, after serving in various policy positions at the Center, she became Director for National Policy in 2008. Ms. de la Guéronnière is a graduate of Boston University and American University’s Washington College of Law.

Robert B. Levy, Director of Development: Robert Levy is the Director of Development for the Legal Action Center. Prior to joining LAC, Robert served as the Executive Director of the Givat Haviva Educational Foundation, the oldest and largest educational institute in Israel, dedicated to building a future of peace and democracy between Israeli Arabs and Jews.

He has worked as the ED or Director of Development for several social-service oriented non-profits, promoting education, medical research, elder care, and community outreach. Robert has extensive experience in marketing and advertising, and teaches Entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He is the past Chair of the Board of Directors of the All Stars Project, Inc in New York, and has his own consulting firm dedicated to helping small businesses and non-profit organizations grow.

Karla Lopez, Staff Attorney: Karla Lopez joined the Legal Action Center in 2011, where she represents clients who have suffered discrimination based on their criminal histories, histories of substance use, or HIV/AIDS status, as well as clients whose HIV/AIDS confidentiality has been breached. Karla also participates in litigation, policy, and technical assistance efforts the areas of substance use, HIV/AIDS, and criminal records. While in law school, Karla participated in a clinic where she co-represented a client in federal immigration court, successfully winning him asylum in the United States. She has also held legal internships in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and MFY Legal Services. Prior to attending law school, Karla spent four years working on criminal justice reform at the Open Society Institute and Policy Center. Karla is a graduate of Bard College, where she worked with the Vera Institute of Justice and the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Public Interest Law Scholar.

Anita R. Marton, Vice President: Anita Marton joined the Legal Action Center in 1988, after spending five years at the Legal Aid Society in the Criminal Defense and Criminal Appeals Divisions. During her tenure at LAC, Ms. Marton has provided legal advice and assistance to individuals with alcohol and drug histories, criminal records, and HIV and has participated in ground-breaking litigation on all of these issues. She has also provided training and technical assistance to health and social service providers, federal, state, and local policymakers, employers, employee assistance programs, and unions on such issues as managed care and welfare reform, confidentiality of treatment records, and employment discrimination. Ms. Marton has drafted legislation, written position papers, testified before legislative committees, and developed funding proposals. She has also served on advisory committees at the state and local levels. Ms. Marton is a graduate of Brandeis University and Northeastern Law School.

Roberta Meyers, Director of the National H.I.R.E. Network Prior to assuming this position, Ms. Meyers served as Co-Director of HIRE for two years, Co-Deputy Director for one year and as the Field Educator and Organizer for two years while dramatically expanding the outreach of the Network. She has worked directly with policy makers and advocates around the country to identify public policy priorities that directly affect employment opportunities for people with criminal records as well as helped develop appropriate advocacy strategies in strengthening or challenging existing legislation in those states. Ms. Meyers has also served as a Legal Assistant at the Legal Action Center for 10 years. She has trained hundreds of workforce development and corrections staff on employment strategies that best serve job seekers who have criminal histories. She is the author of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) newly released primer entitled Serving the Employment Needs of Justice-Involved Juveniles and Adults: A Primer for Treatment and Recovery Support Service Providers (May 2008), is a contributing author for the U.S. Department of Labor guidebook, Working Ahead: A Guide for Connecting Youth Offenders with Employment Opportunities (July 2004) and is author of the "Completing Employment Applications" section of Legal Action Center's How to Get and Clean Up Your New York State Rap Sheet, Sixth Edition 2003. Roberta has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business, Management, and Economics with a concentration in Management from the State University of New York/Empire State College. Additionally, she serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Youth Represent, a non-profit legal advocacy organization for juveniles in New York City and on the Steering Committee of the National Transitional Jobs Network.

Frank Murphy, Paralegal: Frank Murphy has worked for LAC as a Legal Assistant since September, 2005. His duties include assisting individuals with criminal records clean up their New York State rap sheets as well as advising them about their legal rights and obligations when seeking employment. Mr. Murphy currently undertakes this work through the Rikers Island Single Stop (RISS) pilot program. At RISS he helps clients obtain their official criminal history “rap sheets” and reviews the rap sheets for errors. Mr. Murphy works with courts, district attorneys’ offices and the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to help correct common rap sheet errors. He then counsels clients on how to understand their criminal histories and how to explain them in job interviews, all with the goal of making clients more able to obtain employment. Additionally, Mr. Murphy trains people with histories of drug and alcohol dependence and HIV/AIDS, and people who work with them, about their right to be free from criminal-records and disability related job discrimination. Mr. Murphy received his Bachelors Degree from Canisus College of Buffalo. He served as a Program Assistant for the College Program and as Law Library Clerk, Director of the Transitional Services (Pre-Release) Program, Coordinator for the Residential Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program. Mr. Murphy is a decorated veteran of the United States Navy.

Mark O'Brien, Policy Associate: Mark joined Legal Action Center's Washington, DC office in May 2010. His work at Legal Action Center focuses primarily on advocating for federal policies that reduce barriers for and discrimination against individuals with criminal records. Mark came to Legal Action Center from the Jericho Re-entry Initiative in Baltimore, MD, where he assisted individuals with criminal records with obtaining employment and transitioning into the community. Prior to working at Jericho, Mark assisted in preparing capital and other serious felony cases for trial as a paralegal for a criminal defense law firm. Mark is a graduate of Towson University and Georgetown University Law Center.

Catherine H. O’Neill, Senior Vice President and Director of HIV/AIDS Projects: Katie O’Neill joined the staff of the Legal Action Center in 1977, became Executive Vice President in 1992 and Senior Vice President in 2000. She oversees all of LAC’s legal work, including providing legal and technical assistance and training to individuals and organizations, consulting with policy makers, and developing training materials and publications on a wide range of issues relating to drug and alcohol problems, HIV/AIDS, and criminal justice. As litigation director, Ms. O’Neill supervises LAC’s federal and state court litigation in the areas of discrimination based on disability (drug or alcohol history or treatment; HIV status) and criminal history and protection of confidentiality. She is also responsible for directing LAC’s HIV/AIDS Projects, which include training health and human service providers on confidentiality and other HIV-related legal issues, providing legal services to individuals and families with HIV and AIDS, and assisting policy makers. Ms. O’Neill is the author of many of LAC’s manuals on confidentiality and discrimination issues. She is a member of the Bar Association of the City of New York’s AIDS Committee, a past president and member of Board of Directors of the New York AIDS Coalition andpast member of the Board of Directors of two New York City syringe exchange and harm reduction programs. In 1992, she was awarded the Bar Association of the City of New York’s Third Annual Legal Services Award. Ms. O’Neill is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Yale Law School.

Gladys Peeples, Executive Assistant: Gladys Peeples joined the staff of the Legal Action Center in 1985 as a Legal Secretary and Administrative Assistant to the President and Vice President. In 1993, she became LAC’s Office Manager. Since 1996, she has worked as the Executive Assistant to LAC’s President and Vice President. In this position, she is responsible for all secretarial services, including telephone reception, travel arrangements, correspondence, reports, word–processing and filing. She acts as liaison between the President and the senior staff, is the primary back-up for the development office, and mentors and assists support staff. Prior to joining LAC, Ms. Peeples worked for five years for the then New York State Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.

Michael J. Perez, Paralegal: Michael joined the Legal Action Center in June 2011. Before joining the Legal Action Center, Michael was an AmeriCorps fellow where he worked as a paralegal for the Monroe County Legal Assistance Center (MCLAC) in Rochester. During his two years as an AmeriCorps fellow Michael worked intimately within MCLAC’s service areas of public benefits, housing, unemployment benefits, seniors law, re-entry, and fair housing. Michael also created a legal services homelessness initiative where he went to various homeless shelters to provide legal assistance/intakes. Michael graduated with a B.A. from Drew University where he majored in philosophy and minored in political science.

Michael Schultz, PhD, Institutional Giving Officer: Michael is responsible for sustaining and expanding LAC’s base of private and public institutional funders. He has served as the Director of Foundation and Corporate Philanthropy for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and has also worked as a communications and development consultant for small businesses, community organizations and educational nonprofits. He formerly taught in graduate and undergraduate programs at New York University, the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, and has served on a number of nonprofit boards. Michael received his B.A. magna cum laude from Loyola College in Maryland, and earned his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.

Paul N. Samuels, Director and President: Paul Samuels is Director/President of the Legal Action Center. Mr. Samuels has participated in ground-breaking litigation defending the rights of people with alcohol and drug histories, HIV disease and criminal records; worked on and overseen numerous advocacy campaigns to combat discrimination, expand services, reform sentencing laws, and effect other important public policy advances; testified before numerous Congressional and state legislative committees; lectured in more than 25 States; and served on numerous national and state advisory groups. He has received a number of awards, including the Robert Wood Johnson Innovator Award (2002), The Betty Ford Award, AMERSA (1998), New York City Coalition of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Organizations (1997), Veritas Villa (1995), New York State Association for Alternative Sentencing Programs (1994), and National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (1992 and 1994). Mr. Samuels joined the staff of the Legal Action Center while a law student in 1976, became a staff attorney upon graduation from Columbia Law School in 1979, became Executive Vice President in 1983 and Director/President in 1992. He is a graduate of Harvard College.

Vanessa Severino, Senior Administrative Assistant: Vanessa Severino joined the Legal Action Center in October 1998. Her duties include assisting attorneys, coordinating trainings and rap sheet workshops, organizing office operations and procedures such as, requisition of supplies and other clerical duties. She previously spent five years working in a variety of capacities for the Women's Prison Association and Home.

Kate Wagner-Goldstein, Senior Staff Attorney Since joining the Center in 2010, Ms. Wagner-Goldstein has represented individuals who have experienced discrimination because of a criminal record, drug/alcohol history, or HIV status, as well as those who suffered a breach of their HIV confidentiality rights. She advises and trains organizations about privacy and anti-discrimination laws protecting the Center’s constituencies. She also supervises the paralegal staff, who provide information and advocacy to thousands of clients each year. Prior to joining the Legal Action Center, Ms. Wagner-Goldstein was a Staff Attorney at the Bronx Defenders, where she represented people with criminal and family court cases. She is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School.