Cierra Anderson
Director of Finance
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Cierra joined Legal Aid Justice Center as the Finance Manager in August 2021. Cierra brings over 8 years of Accounting/Finance experience from several industries, including telecommunications, healthcare, and manufacturing. Cierra completed her studies at Liberty University with a master’s degree in Management and Leadership and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, in 2017. Additionally, Cierra completed her associate’s degree in Business Management from Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in 2007.
Fanny Brisker
Director of Human Resources
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Fanny Brisker joined the Legal Aid Justice Center as Human Resources Director in July 2022. She has over 15 years of experience in human resources and is passionate about supporting organizations through hyper-growth while building their people and culture processes. She received her bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and a master’s degree in Human Resources Development from McDaniel College.
Chris Florez
Director of Information Technology
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Chris joined Legal Aid Justice Center in February 2021. Prior to joining LAJC, Chris worked as an IT consultant and administrator with local non-profits, supporting a variety of operational and programmatic needs. Prior to moving to Charlottesville in 2017, Chris served as the Manager of Digital Learning for Aspire Public Schools in Memphis, TN. In that role, Chris worked with teachers and administrators to ensure all students had opportunities to pursue their goals, leveraging individualized technology programs that fostered confidence and skill-acquisition. Outside of LAJC, Chris is a mentor for 6th-12th grade youth who enjoy learning new skills such as game design and coding. Chris graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Washington University and a master’s degree in educational technology from Boise State University.
Manuel Gago
Program Director, Worker Justice Program
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Manuel is a journalist originally from Venezuela. He has worked as a TV producer for several channels in Venezuela and the US. Since 2006, Manuel has been involved with Amnesty International Venezuela starting as an activist and then as a campaigner and press officer. In 2013, he moved to Miami to work with Amnesty as the Director of Play 4 Amnesty, a project designed to increase awareness of human rights issues among Latino communities in South Florida. In 2016, Manuel decided to get more involved in organizing the latino communities in Florida and Virginia, focusing on civil and political rights. Now he is part of the Immigrant Advocacy Program with the Farmworker Unit at LAJC, conducting outreach to farmworkers across the Commonwealth.
Jeff Jones
Director of Communications
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Jeff joined Legal Aid Justice Center in 2019 to serve as Communications Director handling public relations and external communications as well as organizational marketing and branding. He relocated to Richmond from New York City where he most recently worked as the Director of Marketing for the Community Service Society of New York. Jeff's earlier nonprofit communications work includes time with the Fortune Society and the Texas Association of Community Health Centers. In addition, Jeff has freelanced as a reporter and producer for public radio, designed sound and composed music for regional theatre, and produced and edited documentary films. He holds an MFA in Theatrical Design from Boston University and attended the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland Maine.
Anna Kurien
Legal Director, Civil Rights & Racial Justice Program
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Anna Kurien worked for over a decade as a Public Defender in Atlanta where she represented poor people charged with felonies at trial and on appeal. In her practice she used the participatory defense model to partner with her clients and their communities to shift the balance of power in the courtroom. A strong believer in the power of organizing and movement lawyering, Anna was a founding member of two grassroots organizations in Atlanta that advocated to reimagine public safety and build the power of Black and brown communities. Anna is a proud graduate of and trainer with Gideon’s Promise and believes that we need to invest in strengthening public defense to combat the power of police and prosecutors. Before attending law school at Emory University, Anna studied English and French at Wellesley College. Anna was born and brought up in India and is fluent in Malayalam, Hindi and French.
Andrea Mayfield
Director of Administration & Facilities
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Andrea joined LAJC in the spring of 2022 with experience in non-profit leadership, small business ownership, and elementary special education. Most recently, she served as Deputy Director of The Women’s Initiative. She manages LAJC’s strategic direction of administrative activities, office management, and facilities oversight. Andrea represents the agency on the Green Business Alliance, where she collaborates with a leadership circle of Virginia-based businesses that have committed to reducing their collective emissions by 45% by 2025. She is dedicated to developing an organizational culture that reflects LAJC’s commitments to racial justice and supporting an environment that is welcoming and empowering to employees and clients of all identities, communities, and experiences.
Luis Oyola
Director of Organizing
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Luis has over a decade of organizing experience, including coordinating the community response to the Unite the Right rally and anniversaries, building a multi-racial coalition against ICA’s private immigration detention center in Farmville, pressuring City officials to increase efforts to investigate the disappearance of Sage Smith, demonstrating in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, advocating for a living wage at UVA, and much more. At LAJC, he led our De-ICE Virginia campaign, helping to bring an end to local government contracts with ICE, exposing the Norfolk sheriff’s secret contract with ICE, passing legislation paving the way to inspect Farmville, and supporting mutual relief efforts at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abbey Philips
Director of Policy
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Abbey Philips is a macro Social Worker by training and began her public policy career with the goal of centering equity and creating systemic change while eliminating racism, discrimination, and barriers to economic mobility.
She has extensive experience working in the Virginia General Assembly, from running special projects in the Governor's office as Assistant Secretary of the Commonwealth to serving as Chief of Staff for a state Delegate and Senator. Abbey also has experience working in the nonprofit sector.
Abbey is committed to empowering and uplifting marginalized communities in the policy arena and is excited to bring her experience to LAJC. She has seen first hand how power, money, and stature can provide access and influence in the government and policy-making arena and how this influence and its corresponding outcomes can often be in direct contrast to what marginalized communities want and need.
She is a co-founder and board member of a philanthropic giving circle, Collective 365, a Henrico County Court Appointed Special Advocate for 14 years, and serves on the Virginia Criminal Justice Service Board. Abbey loves to read, run, and be in nature. One of her favorite authors is Octavia Butler who wrote “all that you touch you Change. All that you Change Changes you.” Abbey lives in Richmond, Virginia with her child, spouse, cat and a handful of fish.
Elaine Poon
Deputy Director of Advocacy
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Elaine joined the Legal Aid Justice Center in 2017. Prior to working at LAJC, Elaine worked as a senior staff attorney at Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc. before moving to Virginia. There, she represented low-income individuals in a variety of areas including predatory lending, disability rights, heir property, and domestic violence prevention. Elaine is a graduate of Cornell University and Emory University School of Law.
Simon Y. Sandoval-Moshenberg
Legal Director, Immigrant Advocacy Program
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Simon joined the Immigrant Advocacy Program in 2011, and became its Legal Director in 2015. He specializes in federal civil rights litigation on behalf of immigrants, and has led cases of nationwide impact challenging immigration detention of adults and children. Simon co-directs the Immigration Litigation Clinic at the George Mason University School of Law. In 2017, Simon was named an “Up & Coming Lawyer” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly, and won the Wynn Newman Equality Award from Americans for Democratic Action. He was awarded the 2016 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year award from the Virginia State Bar, the 2013 LASSY award from the Virginia Poverty Law Center for greatest achievement in consumer law, and was a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School in November 2021. Simon is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School, where he was awarded the C. LaRue Munson prize for excellence in clinical practice.
Nareen Scott
Director of People Operations
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Nareen joined the Legal Aid Justice Center as the first Director of People Operations in October 2020, Nareen previously spent 8 years working with the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Management from Old Dominion University and has been a member of the Charlottesville area community since 2004. Nareen has been involved in many community activities and youth & mentoring groups that are focused on empowering and uplifting others.
Fallon Speaker
Legal Director, Youth Justice Program
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Prior to joining LAJC as Legal Director of our Youth Justice Program, Fallon served as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and the Director of The Jeanette Lipman Family Law Clinic at The University of Richmond School of Law where she taught students in a holistic legal clinic dedicated to working with communities affected by domestic relations, child welfare and dependency proceedings and intersectional areas of the law such as substance use, mental health, housing, immigration and social services.
Before moving to Richmond, Fallon served as a Staff Attorney and Team Leader in the Family Defense Practice at The Bronx Defenders where she represented parents in child protective proceedings who were accused of abuse or neglect. During her time in that role, Fallon became very active in policy, lobbying, community organizing, and movement lawyering.
Fallon also served as an Adjunct Professor at Cardozo School of Law and Director of the Mainzer Family Defense Clinic, where she taught and supervised students in child protective hearings. Fallon received her undergraduate and Juris Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Danielle Taylor
Deputy Director of Operations
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Danielle Taylor is a global development strategist and human rights activist who helps organizations improve operations to maximize social impact. Danielle has led high-stakes international human rights initiatives with respected global development agencies including The Carter Center, the General Board of Global Ministries, and the Girls Gotta Run Foundation. Her work has been featured in numerous publications and media outlets including Nasdaq and Runners World UK, and she regularly serves as a guest lecturer on human rights and DEI at colleges and universities. She holds a Master of International Policy from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University. After a decade of international work, Danielle has made her home in Richmond, Virginia with her partner and son.
Miriam Torian
Interim Director, Economic Justice Program
She/Her
Leadership: Leadership
Miriam Torian joined Legal Aid Justice Center in 2019 as the Managing Attorney for the Richmond office, which also serves the Petersburg area. She is part of the Economic Justice Program working primarily within the public benefits practice. She also promotes pro bono and volunteer opportunities and builds relationships with potential partners. Prior to joining LAJC, she spent the bulk of her career in non-profit management both in Richmond and in Lynchburg, providing strategic planning and evidence-based program development in the areas of transportation, workforce development, early childhood development, mental health, and violence prevention. Miriam received her BA from the University of Virginia, an MA in clinical & community psychology from University of North Carolina – Charlotte, and an MA in public policy & management and law degree from The Ohio State University.
Tim Wallace
Director of Development
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Tim (he/him) joined Legal Aid Justice Center's development team in January 2014 in a role focused on grant writing and database management. He became Director of Development in June 2016. A beloved donor said it best when she told Tim that "if a nerd can do this job, you're that nerd." Tim is proud of having hired a top notch development team and prouder of having, for the most part, gotten out of their way as they've built critically important relationships of trust with supporters throughout Virginia. Tim sees his job as making sure that the organization and his team have the tools and resources they need to do their jobs with excellence. Prior to joining LAJC, Tim served as the Director of Development for Cabrini Green Legal Aid, an organization that supports low-income Chicagoans negatively impacted by the criminal justice system. He graduated with an English degree from the University of Virginia in 2004.
Clay Warner
General Counsel, Falls Church Office
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Clay began working as a volunteer at the Legal Aid Justice Center in June 2019. Before he joined LAJC, Clay represented labor unions and employees for more than thirty years. Clay is a graduate of William and Mary and the University of Virginia School of Law. In law school, he was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif, and he received the labor relations award for his graduating class.
Jason Yarashes
Program Director, Worker Justice Program
He/Him
Leadership: Leadership
Jason joined LAJC in 2017 as an attorney for our Virginia Justice Project for Farm and Immigrant Workers. Before LAJC, he served the Commonwealth of Virginia as a judicial officer, practiced tribal law at a private firm in Portland, Oregon, worked at a citizen diplomacy non-profit in Washington, D.C., taught primary school in Honduras, and hitchhiked Central and South America. Jason received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary, and his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School, where he received the Pro Bono Honors Award.
