Sarah (Huddleston) Ponnala Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Responsible for advising internal clients on immigration matters and remain abreast of recent immigration developments as well as manage the immigration needs of the company’s general employee population including those within the company’s globally mobility program.

Chicago, Illinois, United States

• Acts as a liaison between Tritura (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Faegre Drinker) and the client (our partners and other legal professionals at the firm) in understanding needs, positioning solutions, and coordinating.
• Lead deal engagement and new client development;
• Develop customer journey map and identify KPIs;
• Strategizes with the Marketing Team to develop new approaches to outreach and growth;
• Educates clients on a variety of legal technology services including data science and AI;
• Maintains client records in HubSpot;

Chicago, Illinois, United States

• The Customer Success Manager is a strategic role, advising clients on how to improve their immigration function, responsible for the following:
• Operate as the lead point of contact for clients and collaborate cross-functionally, pulling in the right resources for clients at the right time.
• Onboarding and continuous management of the account, including regular meetings and ongoing customer support.
• Prioritize customer requests by need, urgency and availability of resources across the entire Client Services team.
• Establish best practices that benefit all internal teams and clients.
• Process management and transparency: collaborate with client and Client Services Associates (“CSAs”) to ensure deadlines are met and reflected on the Bridge platform; identify roadblocks or process issues that can be.

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Greater Chicago Area

• Bridge is a full-service corporate immigration provider that combines modern, purpose-built technology and high-touch legal expertise to transform the traditionally inefficient, frustrating and reactive immigration.
• Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact for business immigration clients.
• Answer non-legal process questions and general inquiries from both employers and their foreign-national employees;
• Collaborate with Bridge-affiliated attorneys to determine optimal immigration strategy;
• Prepare immigration petitions from start-to-finish including review of supporting documents, letter drafting, USCIS form review, compilation and more;
• Manage client accounts through the Bridge software platform including company-level updates and employee updates;

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

• Prepare employment-based immigration petitions including H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-1/E-2, PERM, EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 cases
• Collaborate with attorneys and clients to develop case filing strategies on complex immigration issues
• Provide support to clients by communicating with government agencies, including USCIS, CBP, congressional offices, and DHS/ICE
• Review and provide summary compliance reports for I-9s in both government audits and internal audits for corporate clients
• Contribute to creating best practices for using our case management system, LawLogix

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

• Assisted attorneys and paralegals preparing employment-based immigration petitions, such as H-1Bs, L-1s, O-1s, I-140s, and E visa applications
• Leveraged technology to create useful tools for attorneys and paralegals, such as building an excel template to make collecting information during client I-9 audits more efficient and accurate
• Maintained a high attention to detail when entering client information and critical expiration dates into LawLogix, our case management software
• Managed the Faegre Baker Daniels' Immigration Twitter account, actively working to increase both the account's followers and the engagement rate for each tweet
• Provided administrative support to the Labor and Employment Group Leader by arranging International and Domestic travel, submitting expense reimbursements, and scheduling client and internal meetings

• Organized and summarized evidence contained in initial case submission by the investigator
• Scheduled financial records data for charged cases for prosecutor case development
• Researched charged defendants’ Minnesota criminal histories to identify convictions of same or similar offenses, for possible use as Spreigl evidence
• Prepared case files for discovery to opposing counsel, including case file organization and bates-numbering
• Assisted in trial preparation; attended witness preparatory meetings and wrote clear memos; prepared exhibits and demonstratives for trial, and assisted in courtroom set-up
• Drafted legal documents such as Subpoenas Duces Tecum for prosecutor review and service upon financial institutions

• Enforced the proper execution and interpretation of bylaws governing student organizations at Hamline
• Managed the editing and writing of bylaws
• Planned and administered student body elections for over 1,500 undergraduate students
• Directed and trained a committee comprised of elected student representatives

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

• Participated in training on how to run a successful campaign through field work, fundraising and communication
• Acted as a valuable asset for a campaign
• Took the initiative to help elect more women to public office

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

• Conducted research for the Director of Candidate Services to build profiles of DFL candidates, noting social media presence, tracking fundraising patterns, and recent news coverage
• Input data into the VAN, a voter database, to help improve how the DFL communicates with voters
• Compiled a list of DFL events to help candidates reach their constituents

• Organized over 1,500 client files and assisted lawyers and paralegals in locating files
• Prepared arbitration books as needed and completed miscellaneous secretarial duties
• Maintained a high degree of confidentiality and professionalism

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

• Enforced the rules and regulations of the pool facility to insure the safety of patrons
• Handled high-stress situations in cases of emergency
• Contributed to a swim program that coaches community members on water safety and swimming as a healthy exercise
• Promoted the well-being and growth of Y members who seek to enhance or improve their swimming abilities

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

• Canvassed local neighborhoods to ensure residents’ knowledge of getting to the polls and voting
• Informed and motivated the community to become involved in their government
• Helped to establish a High School Youth Democrats club to engage peers to become motivated to learn more about government and politics
• Participated in a phone bank to gage voter opinion and input information into a database

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Legal Studies Major, English Minor, Political Science Minor, Aba Approved Paralegal Certificate

Activities and Societies: Hamline University Student Congress, Hamline University Honors, Model United Nations, Pre-Law and Justice.

Cooperative Academic Partnership Program (Capp) Program

Through the CAPP Program I was able to take college level courses for credit through the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh while still in.

High School

Activities and Societies: O'Neil National Honors Society, Four Year Varsity Swimming, Musical