Partnership Management: Liaise with legal partner organizations regarding referrals, capacity, case statuses, and reporting. Facilitate communications among the 15 partner organizations and 4 legal services providers.Maintain updated knowledge about the 4 legal partners’ respective areas of expertise and capacity so as to make appropriate client referrals. Build relationships with legal partners, through close collaboration and communication.Program Strategy and Design: Generate program strategies and solutions based on feedback from clients, partner organizations, and legal partner organizations. Take part in strategy development and program integration with other Collaborative initiatives.Represent the Collaborative at a range of events.This position is immigrant client centered, ensuring access to appropriate legal services, in a just and dignified manner. Speak with individuals seeking immigration legal help (referred from 15 immigrant serving organizations throughout MA) in their language to complete legal screeners and set up free phone immigration legal consultations for them with immigration lawyers or DOJ accredited representatives at Rian, Agencia ALPHA, IFSI, or Mabel Center. These legal partners have different niches.Report on immigration legal services program at regular meetings with Collaborative leadership, at bi-weekly partner meetings, and, when requested, at steering committee meetings and funder meetings.Regularly collect legal partner reporting for requested timeframes and submit in a timely manner, and conduct interviews for impact stories, for grant reporting and grant application purposes.Qualifications, required for the position: Bilingual in Spanish and English. Familiarity with the barriers associated with the immigration system and demonstrated commitment to working in solidarity with communities that have experienced systemic oppression.

Small immigration firm in East Boston with three immigration attorneys with different specializations. One of these attorneys also has experience in criminal and appellate matters. Did country conditions research specific to female clients' claims and drafted memos that were submitted before clients' defensive asylum hearings.Drafted 13 affidavits. Drafted affidavits for male and female Spanish-speaking asylum seekers (one of whom was granted asylum during my time at Cameron Law), a client petitioning for U Nonimmigrant Status, and for a husband and wife to support an I-601A Waiver Application for the spouse of a citizen.Drafted extensive cover letter for O1B Extraordinary Ability Visa in the Arts or the Motion Picture or Television Industry and helped client compile materials.Drafted extensive cover letters for two I-601A Applications for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers.Completed I-929 Petition for Qualifying Family Member of a U-1 Nonimmigrant, packaged, and sent, to benefit the spouse of a U-1 Nonimmigrant. Completed I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, Adjustment of Status and Work Permit Applications, packaged and sent, to benefit a Spanish speaking mother of a US Citizen. The adjustment of status is pending and she obtained her work permit.Completed packaged and sent I-130 Petition, to benefit daughter of a permanent resident. Updated and compiled an affirmative asylum application for this client as well, and filed with USCIS.Completed TPS applications for Spanish speaking family, packaged and sent them.

Interpretation and translation for Spanish-speaking asylum seekers and local pro bono attorneys taking on PAIR cases.

IINE Unaccompanied Children’s Program is a Partner Agency of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).Bilingual Spanish/English Case Manager for children who arrived at the border unaccompanied. Children are referred from unaccompanied children program facilities to post release services if there are reasons that the child and/or sponsor could benefit from extra support. Post release services are voluntary. The majority of families accepted services. Mandated reporter. Worked with supervisor to refer child to specialized social worker, and to refer a child to Trafficking Victim Assistance Programs.Helped families enroll children in school, get health insurance, & access health and legal services. Completed change of addresses and change of venues for some higher-need children pro-se. Gave each family city-based resource lists. Also educated families regarding laws in the US and provided psycho-education. Developed individualized case plans and tracked each family's progress, provided referrals education advocacy and support, assessed safety, conducted home visits, communicated with families by phone, submitted reports, and maintained case files. Created a network of effective legal, medical, and education supports, to provide immigrant families with, when working with them as a case manager. Was responsible for 32 cases within the first 3 months of working as a case manager (not all at one time, and including some cases that were transferred, with service periods coming to a close).Referred leadership to the Boston Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement legal clinic and to the Unaccompanied Minors Regional Group. Referred children to soccer without borders, a youth program specifically geared towards supporting immigrant children. Shared additional resources with housing and food insecure clients.

Interpretation for Individualized Education Plan (IEP) related meetings at schools in the local community.

Interpretation for Spanish-speaking asylum seeker and PAIR attorneys.

Became fully accredited in October 2021. Helped immigrants who had been victims of crime in the United States, through drafting materials and compiling necessary evidence for applications such as a VAWA application, TPS applications, and adjustment of status applications for women with U visas and with approved VAWA petitions. Also helped a former asylum client of the Family Detention Project, who is now a De Novo client, register as a member of a class action lawsuit and apply for employment authorization. Immigration Supervisor Valerie Fisk, Esq. assigned and oversaw the work I did.

Helped over 50 asylum seekers register as members of a class-action lawsuit against DHS. Then completed work permit applications for them, empowering these indigent mothers to obtain necessary documentation and take the required steps to apply for themselves and their children, as class members. Contributed to organization capacity-building, through influencing leadership to include language ability and cultural competence as a metric in recruitment, and through sharing program and partnership ideas with leadership, informed by my involvement in the immigration advocacy community.Triaged, for pro se program cases and full representation cases, which began to include a number of dedicated docket cases. For these cases, the overwhelming majority of which were defensive cases (in immigration court), tracked one year deadlines for applying for asylum, court dates, and work permit eligibility dates, among other time sensitive needs. Managed case progress data for the legal program ever since the pilot for Mabel Center: the Family Detention Project. The case progress tracking tool I created facilitated client outreach (by myself, legal interns, and legal volunteers), increased efficiency in case work, and helped with grant applications and with data migration to the new case management system, when Mabel Center began. Was responsible for conducting screenings, managing referrals, and for liaising with clients regarding the progress of their cases. Increased casework efficiencies, enabling the attorneys to take on larger case loads. Continued filling out biographical information with clients and drafting substantive sections of their asylum applications, and drafting affidavits. Prepared petitions for custody for the special immigrant juvenile cases, working with attorney until the predicate order was received.Efficiently prepared adjustment of status applications for asylees, so that they could be sent as soon as these mothers and children were eligible.

Contributed to the formation of Mabel Center through previous work at the Family Detention Project. Did copywriting for Mabel Center website, for Cummings grant application, & for initial fundraising appeals and social media posts, before the Founders hired the Director of Development and Communications. Afterwards, continued to provide feedback on organization's communications.Worked on defensive and affirmative asylum cases, SIJ cases, and on a VAWA case. Drafted affidavits, researched country conditions, helped prepare pleadings and evidence, drafted and compiled asylum and work permit and adjustment of status applications & complaints for custody for SIJ cases, translated evidence, and interpreted for clients. Primarily worked with mothers and children who escaped persecution in Central America. Also coordinated social services for clients during COVID-19, ad hoc; e.g. helped clients access vaccine appointments & connected clients facing food insecurity with local food resources. Additionally, coordinated the annual holiday gift donations for child clients.

Traveled to the US/ Mexico border with attorneys Jill Seeber, Esq. and Daniel Santiago, Esq. to help prepare for MPP case. Interpreted the judge's decision for the client at a tent court in Texas. Deeply involved in preparing the Family Detention Project's first clients for their day in immigration court.Worked to ensure delivery of services, including rental relief assistance, to clients in need during the start of COVID-19. Also coordinated the annual gift-giving donations to child clients, through Operation ELF.The Family Detention Project helped over one hundred mothers and children from Central America, who had been in family detention, apply for asylum within their one year deadline, so that they would not lose the right to apply for asylum. Accompanied asylum seeking mothers, to help them file their asylum applications, at JFK Federal Building. The attorneys took on as many cases as possible full representation. Inspired by border work, we instituted a rapid response model for the legal program. Intake Coordinator and Paralegal- intake management, data management, and paralegal work for the project. As paralegal, worked on asylum and work permit applications, country conditions research, evidence preparation, affidavit drafting, evidence translation, and interpretation during consultations and during mock direct and cross examinations, to prepare for defensive asylum cases at immigration court.

Immediately recognized the value of a legal program focused on helping Central American mothers and children apply for asylum, and invested my time and skills into helping it grow. Took initiative, by using language, research, and data management skills to improve program efficiency, in order to help as many people as possible. Research, interpretation and translation, screening, and data management for the Family Detention Project- helping mothers and children from Central America, who had been in family detention, apply for asylum. This was work done as a volunteer at the organization. Was honored with the President's Volunteer Service Award: Gold, for 500+ hours volunteer service. Held other jobs to support self, while gaining experience, in order to make a career pivot. Had transferrable skills, from having received an excellent liberal arts education at Yale, from extensive past work with immigrants, and from past work that involved data management and research.

Analyzed English and Spanish language primary source documents from the Guatemalan syphilis experiments. Stipend provided for assisting with this research over the summer.

Responsible for teaching and mentoring students who worked on farms, or whose parents worked on farms. Taught teenage students English (at various levels, from a survival level to High School level), mentored elementary school children, and did early childhood education with mothers and their toddlers. Helped parents access beneficial programs for their children, such as STEM after-school programs, sports, and summer camps. Taught students from Southern Mexico, Honduras, and Vermont.

August 2016-August 2017504 Para-Educator: Supported students with Asperger's, depression, ADHD, and anxiety. Helped them manage their school-related stress and work towards their goals. Saw the impact poverty had on the education of many of these students. Additionally, tutored a student in AP chemistry who had missed school days due to receiving treatments for cancer.English Language Jump Start Camp Teacher: Supported high school student English language learners in completing their summer reading assignments. Led a group of elementary school English language learners in reading activities. Many of these students were refugees from Vietnam, Nepal, and countries in Africa.January 2016-July 2016Summer Camp and School Vacation Camp Teacher:Teacher for the 1st-3rd grade group. Adept at supporting campers with emotional & behavioral challenges. Burlington Parks and Recreation supports a diverse group of children, using a trauma-informed and community-centered approach.After-School Program Teacher:Designed Filmmaking and Comic Book Sketch classes. Exposed students to international children's films. Worked with students to write, plan, and shoot their own original films. For Comic Book Sketch, taught students how to tell stories in the comic medium, taught them to use advanced art-making tools, and "published" (laminated) their finished, original, comics.

Taught core subjects as well as English language and civics to a constantly changing class of students, from Guatemala Honduras El Salvador and Brazil, who arrived to the U.S. as unaccompanied children during the Obama administration. Designed a morning early education program for toddlers and parents, taught computer skills once a week, played co-ed soccer with the students, and planned educational field trips and cultural-learning activities. During computer lab days, made the children DuoLingo accounts so that they could learn English in a different way than during class, with their progress saved, and gain computer literacy. Planned educational field trips in the community. Responsible for administering and scoring standardized test, and reporting scores, grades, IEPs, and attendance for each student.-One of the last employees there, wrapping up the program.

Live-In Farm Hand:Following previous farm/wellness experiences related to produce, sought to next learn about raising animals humanely on a farm. While employed in education, lived full-time and helped with the animals part-time at Horseman Trail Farm in Coldspring, New York. I fed the chicks and gave them water, helped feed the pigs, and helped herd animals. Also taught visitors about the farm.Workshop Moderator:After being involved in New Haven Farms, was inspired to design and lead a weekly workshop for low-income Central American families in CT. Each class started with nutrition education based on a particular theme for the week and followed with an interactive cooking or juicing demonstration.Community Liaison:New Haven Farms Program gave low-income members of the community, at risk for diet related diseases, weekly farm shares, and held nutrition and cooking classes. Provided support to Spanish-speaking participants, as a bridge and mentor, to break down barriers to making these lifestyle changes. Collected data on food security, nutrition, & program efficacy.

Conducted semester-long observations in each school, applying concepts learned in Language Literacy and Play and Child Development courses to analyzing child development and the teaching methods in those classrooms. Read stories to students, facilitated imaginary play, and assisted teachers.

Clinic helps parents change their children's problem behaviors, through Dr. Kazdin's evidence-based method. Data Manager- Organized, scored, and coded psychological measures of children's behavioral and emotional problems.

Teacher in educational summer program for low-income children in the community. Children rotated through educational/arts/active workshops, in a school environment of intellectual and social growth. Many of the children spoke indigenous languages at home.

Student job, copy editing for Dr. Kazdin. Copy edited his book and worked on the book's citations. Dr. Kazdin valued my work, and hired me as Data Manager for his center- the Yale Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic.

Worked with a young woman with learning disabilities (2008)- Tutored, planned activities. Young woman's tutor & chaperone on her parent's trip to Ireland, where they led a psychology conference (Spring 2012)- taught daily lessons, organized eighth grade coursework into manageable tasks, provided academic support, planned enrichment activities.

Interned at Highland Early Education Center senior year of high school as a part of my research project- Enhancing Social Skills of Preschool Children with Autism- for the University at Albany SUNY Science Research in the High School Program.