Emerging Leaders Council
The Legal Services Corporation’s Emerging Leaders Council will bring together some of the country’s rising leaders to help increase public awareness of the crisis in civil legal aid and the importance of providing equal access to justice to all low-income Americans.
Emerging Leaders Council Co-Chairs
Kristen Sonday, Eduardo Gonzalez, and Sara Agate

Justice Rising
Justice Rising is a publication of the LSC's Emerging Leaders Council. Read it for their insights on closing the justice gap and the latest developments in access-to-justice efforts.
Emerging Leaders Council Members
Elizabeth Abramson
Associate, DLA Piper LLP
John Adams
Stakeholder, Eimer Stahl LLP
Sara Agate (Co-Chair)
Founder, 1871
Liani Balasuriya
U.S. Department of Commerce
Omid G. Bañuelos
Associate, Williams & Connolly LLP
Lester Booker Jr.
Vice President, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Communications, Citizens Bank
Aaron Brooks
Associate General Counsel, Bank OZK
Amanda Brown
Founder and Executive Director, Lagniappe Law Lab
Mikaela Burkhardt
Associate, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Hannah Calhoon
Founder, Calhoon Impact, LLC
Nyssa Chopra
Tech Associate, Perkins Coie LLP
W. Andrew Crown
Investment Professional, Four More Capital
Mauricio Duarte
Justice Entrepreneur, A2J Tech
Clay Dumas
Partner, Lowercarbon Capital
Josh Feinzig
Judicial Law Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Ashley Garry
Head of Compliance Investigations, Roche
Kevin Golembiewski
Deputy Solicitor General, FL Attorney General’s Office
Eduardo Gonzalez (Co-Chair)
Program Officer for Civil Justice, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Kiff Hamp
Executive Director, Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative
Nick Hasenfus
Associate, Holland & Knight LLP
Chase Hertel
Director of Consumer & Counsel, SimpleCitizen
Johnathan Hill
Community Engagement Lead, Relativity
Silas Horst
Campaign Manager, US, Responsible Business Initiative for Justice
LaDierdre Johnson
Manager, Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project
David Layfer
Senior Counsel, AbbVie
Gabe Leader-Rose
Co-Founder, Good Call
Daniel Liss
CEO, Dispo
Creative Director, Gensler
Katrina Logan
Direction Attorney, Economic Advancement Program
Community Legal Services, Inc.
Amelia McGowan
Senior Attorney, Mississippi Center for Justice
Devshi Mehrotra
Co-Founder & CEO, Justice Text
Josh Meltzer
Senior Counsel, Office of the President, University of California
Dorna Moini
Founder, Documate.org
Ben Mundel
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
Alex Nelson
Senior Manager, Strategy & Analysis, Logically
Eric Osborne
Member, Sherrard, Roe, Voigt, & Harbison, PLC
Neil Pai
General Counsel, Founders Fund
Christian Palacios
Former Summer Associate, Proskauer Rose LLP
Adrian Palma
Pro Bono Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Rohan Pavuluri
Cofounder, Upsolve
Zachary Pierce
J.D. Candidate, University of Virginia School of Law
Amy Pitelka
Head of Legal, Level
Founder, Barker Pitelka LLC
Julian Polaris
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
John Ramirez
Chief Product Officer, P33
Brad Robertson
Partner, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
Luke Ruse
General Counsel, Ontra
Laura Safdie
COO & General Counsel, Casetext
Samantha Sanchez
Legal Technology Leader, TechBridge
Maya Sequiera
Counsel, Elias Law Group
Russell Shankland
Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Mackenzie Sheehy
Commercial Counsel, Dell Technologies
Romeen Sheth
President, Metasys Technologies, Inc.
Tarra Simmons
Executive Director, Civil Survival
Shelly Skinner
Ethics/Labor Attorney
Mark Slobodien
Vice President of Government Affairs, VITAS Healthcare
Kristen Sonday (Co-Chair)
Founder, Paladin
Aidan Sova
Human Rights Commissioner, Washtenaw County
Stephen Spector
Associate, Sidley Austin
Matthew Stubenberg
Associate Director of Legal Technology,
Access to Justice Lab
Sam Swartz
Public Policy, Stripe
Jason Tashea
Product Manager, Quest for Justice
Founder, Justice Codes
Marc Theriault
Deputy Circuit Executive, Office of the Circuit Executive, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
Garrett Thomas
Founder & Managing Attorney, The Law Office of Garrett Thomas
Anil Vassanji
Associate, Litigation
Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP
Charlie Weikel
Director, Strategy and M&A, Baxter International
J. Sterling Williams, IV
Associate, Greenburg Traurig LLP
Miguel Willis
Executive Director, Access to Justice Technology Fellows Program
Innovator in Residence, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Emmy Wydman
Law Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Durham, North Carolina
David Zimmer
Partner, Goodwin Procter LLP