Staff Jamienne S. Studley, President and CEO Jamienne S. Studley became President of Public Advocates Inc in 2004, drawn by its dual mission of advancing civil rights and strengthening community voices. She served as President of Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, and deputy and acting general counsel of the U.S. Department of Education in the Clinton Administration. Earlier she was Associate Dean and Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, where she helped establish the loan forgiveness program for graduates in public service, and adjunct faculty at University of California at Berkeley School Law. As the first Executive Director of the National Association for Law Placement she led its race, gender and sexual orientation equity programs. She is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and practiced there with Bergson, Borkland, Margolis & Adler (litigation) and Weil, Gotshal & Manges (administrative law). A graduate of Barnard College (1972 magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, honors in American Studies) and Harvard Law School, where she was president of the student-faculty government, Studley served on the American Bar Association Commissions on Women in the Profession and on Loan Forgiveness and Repayment. She was appointed to the San Francisco Ethics Commission by the City Attorney in 2007. She serves on the boards of the Association of American Colleges & Universities (treasurer), The Urban School, American Craft Council, and San Francisco Museum of Craft & Design; Harvard Law School Advisory Committee on the 2008 Celebration of Public Service; and chaired the Equal Justice Works E-Guide project advisory committee. Legal and Advocacy John T. Affeldt (Managing Attorney) graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990 where he was a Student Director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1984. Before coming to Public Advocates, John clerked for the Hon. William M. Hoeveler in Federal District Court in Miami, assisting with the trial of Manuel Noriega. At Public Advocates, John has focused on educational equity issues, with responsibility for the case against the California Basic Educational Skills Test; serving as a lead counsel on Williams v. California--a recently settled landmark challenge to California's failure to provide equal and adequate educational opportunities throughout its public schools; and contributing to the firm's post-judgment efforts in its challenge to the use of IQ tests with African American school children. Working with grassroots, community-based groups, researchers, and others, John is a founding member of a collaboration of groups building a sophisticated statewide grassroots policy advocacy campaign to improve educational opportunities for low-income students of color. John was also lead counsel in Public Advocates' litigation halting Governor Pete Wilson from denying prenatal care and emergency medical care to tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant residents. Prior to law school, John spent three years living and working as a volunteer in Indonesia. Liz Guillen (Director of Legislative & Community Affairs) has been active in education policy and litigation for nearly 15 years and has extensive experience advocating for the education rights of undocumented immigrant students in both K-12 and higher education. In 1994, she received the State Bar’s Legal Services award for litigation work challenging Proposition 187 on behalf of immigrant students. Liz came to Public Advocates from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund where she worked as Staff Attorney and then Legislative Counsel. She also spent four years working with the national Civil Rights Monitor for the Denny’s public accommodations consent decrees where she developed and oversaw nation wide implementation of non-discrimination training. Since joining Public Advocates in the spring of 2002, she has continued her policy advocacy work to improve “opportunities to learn” in California's public school system, working closely with a statewide coalition of community and grassroots organizations. A graduate of the University of Denver College of Law, Ms. Guillen was named the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial’s 2003 Social Justice Fellow. She is a kayaker of calm waters and enjoys wildflower hikes and identifying raptors. Mónica Itzel Henestroza (Policy Advocate) focuses on policy research and development, budget advocacy, and technical assistance to grassroots organizations. Before joining Public Advocates, Mónica was Assistant Director of El Centro Chicano, where she developed programming and other opportunities that supported Stanford students’ academic, cultural and public service endeavors. She also has experience with political campaigns, strategy development and public education efforts. She serves on the board of the Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network, the Sacramento board of the Stanford Alumni-in-Government club and as an admissions chair for the Chicano/Latino Youth Leadership Project. Mónica’s family immigrated to United States from México. She grew up in the Bay Area and graduated with honors from Stanford University, where she served as president of the student government. Tara Kini (Staff Attorney) graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 2005. She has spent her career working in the field of education. In conjunction with her work in support of San Francisco’s Proposition F, Tara authored “Sharing the Vote: Noncitizen Voting Rights in Local School Board Elections” (California Law Review 2005). After receiving her BA in Political Science and MA in Education and teaching credential from Stanford in 1998, Tara taught English and History in Bay Area public schools for four years. While in law school, she represented low-income students in student disciplinary hearings and special education meetings. She also worked part-time as a faculty supervisor with UC Berkeley’s teacher education program. Richard A. Marcantonio (Managing Attorney) received his A.B. from Princeton University in 1982 and graduated cum laude and Order of the Coif from New York University School of Law in 1987. He was Articles Editor of the N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change, and represented low-income clients at N.Y.U.’s Urban Law Clinic and Unemployment Action Center. After clerking for the Hon. Robert L. Carter, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York, Richard practiced civil and appellate litigation for five years at the Howard, Rice law firm in San Francisco. He then served as director of litigation at Legal Aid of the North Bay for nine years, specializing in housing issues in Marin and Napa Counties. Richard was lead counsel for intervenors in Home Builders Association of Northern California v. City of Napa, 90 Cal. App. 4th 188 (2001), cert. denied 535 U.S. 954 (2002), which established the validity of “inclusionary zoning.” He was also lead counsel in Marin Family Action v. Town of Corte Madera, a challenge to the housing element of the Town of Corte Madera, and in a suit against a Napa slumlord for equitable relief and damages on behalf of nearly 500 Napa farmworkers and families. Richard joined Public Advocates as a managing attorney in June 2003, where he works on civil rights issues, primarily in the areas of affordable housing, transportation equity and insurance redlining. He has served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs in a number of affordable housing cases, including Osorio v. City of Pittsburg, Fonseca v. City of Gilroy, 148 Cal. App. 4th 1174 (2007), and Urban Habitat v. City of Pleasanton, 164 Cal. App. 4th 1561 (2008). In the area of transportation justice, he is currently co-counsel in Darensburg v. Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a pending federal civil rights class action on behalf of minority bus riders who have seen service cut as a result of inadequate funding, and represents the Los Angeles Bus Riders Union in Labor/Community Strategy Center v. Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He is also co-counsel in Willams v. City of Antioch, a challenge to discriminatory policing of African-American families who participate in the federal Section 8 housing subsidy program. Guillermo Mayer (Staff Attorney) graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 2004 with concentrations in Critical Race Theory and Public Interest Law & Policy. As a law student, Guillermo helped immigrant workers in Michelle Natividad Rodriguez (Staff Attorney) graduated from the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin in 1999 and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2003. During school, she focused on prisoners' rights, domestic violence issues, tenants' rights, and serving the Asian American community. She co-authored “American Racial Justice On Trial - Again: African American Reparations, Human Rights, And The War On Terror” with Professor Eric K. Yamamoto and Susan K. Serrano published in the Michigan Law Review in 2003. Michelle joined Public Advocates as the 2003-2005 Public Advocates Fellow and has been involved in statewide class-action litigation, administrative advocacy, and coalition-building in the areas of educational equity and insurance reform. Whether it is ensuring that 408 students in Modesto attend their college track classes or preventing millions of drivers without prior insurance from being unfairly surcharged, she has been committed to Public Advocates' mission of challenging poverty and discrimination. Outside of work, she volunteers as counsel for an incarcerated battered woman, snowboards, and rock climbs. Samuel Tepperman-Gelfant (2007-2009 Equal Justice Works Fellow) graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2000 and received his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2005. During law school he represented indigent tenants in housing disputes, helped lead a coalition challenging discrimination against LGBTQ students in on-campus military recruiting, and worked as a summer intern at Public Advocates and at Lambda Legal in New York. After graduating, he clerked for the Hon. John P. Fullam of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and in the Staff Attorney's Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. His student note, “Constitutional Conscience, Constitutional Capacity: The Role of Local Governments in Protecting Individual Rights,” was published in the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review in 2006. Sam is also a cellist, ceramic artist, and Bay Area native. Communication Wynn Hausser (Director of Communication) has more than 20 years experience as a communication professional, much of it at Stanford University. His background includes directing a media design and development group producing web sites, interactive courseware products, and print materials; managing marketing for digital library initiatives; developing and directing comprehensive strategic internal communication and readiness programs for enterprise-wide systems installations; and producing a wide variety of communication projects. Wynn also spent ten years as an award-winning documentary and educational filmmaker. He holds an M.A. in Communication from Stanford University and B.S. in Communication from Northwestern University . In addition, Hausser has served in a variety of roles as a community volunteer, including Commissioner for the Palo Alto Human Relations Commission (2 years as chair); appointee to the Community Development Block Grant Citizen’s Advisory Committee; and board member for Palo Alto Community Child Care and the Palo Alto Little League. He has a long history of leadership and involvement in local political organizations and community groups, and serves as a youth sports coach. Management and Administration Patty Leal (Finance Manager) received an M.B.A. in Finance from Cal State University, Hayward in 1994 and has been involved in non-profit accounting since 1996. Patty spent 15 years in the Telecommunications Industry before realizing that her passion for justice was far more important than her paycheck. She has a multiple subject teaching credential from San Francisco State University and an A.B. in Biophysics from UC Berkeley, is active with Pax Christi, and is a member of California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty. Edward Sungkyu Lee (Director of Finance & Administration) has extensive experience in non-profit management. Over his 15 year career, he has worked with social justice organizations including Californians for Justice, the Center for Third World Organizing, and the Korean Community Center of the East Bay, as well as the Tides Foundation and the Contra Costa Child Care Council. In 2003, Ed served as statewide coordinator of the successful No on Proposition 54 campaign, defeating a ban on state and local government collecting or using information related to race and ethnicity. He has also served on a number of non-profit boards. Formerly an Emergency Medical Technician, Ed holds an M.A. in Physiology from Boston University and B.A. in Psychology from Oberlin College. Rebecca Durlin Smith, Executive Assistant, is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin Geography Department. While at UT Austin Rebecca obtained an internship with Public Citizen, where she became enthusiastic about public interest work. A native Californian, she returned home to the Bay Area in 2002 and was Executive Assistant for Gough Insurance and Financial Services prior to joining the Public Advocates team. While friends and family claim much of Rebecca’s free time, practicing and teaching yoga to children also takes up a great deal. April Dawn Hamilton has been a part-time office assistant since November of 1994, working on database, development, filing and reception support. She is a Bay Area native and enjoys movie viewing and attending the performing arts. Pedro Hernandez, Legal Assistant, is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. While an undergrad, he worked as a Campaign Assistant with Viva!USA, as a Research Assistant in the Chicana/o Studies Department, and was a Student Researcher with the UCD Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas. Prior to joining Public Advocates, he worked as a Paralegal with Considine, Sorensen and Trujillo, where he worked with undocumented residents and victims of domestic violence. Pedro currently serves on the board of the Food Empowerment Project; and on his spare time enjoys vegan dining, art exhibits and attending live concerts. Clifford Loo, Receptionist, is three-time liberal arts, education curriculum post-graduate, and architecture minor. He integrates his photographic, calligraphic and design sense both in the office and out. He has volunteered early on at various non-profit organizations such as N.O.W. and various summer youth programs in San Francisco. Foreign travel and cuisines are his ultimate diversion. |
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