Our Staff
The LatinoJustice PRLDEF staff is dedicated to the work of protecting the rights of Latinos. Interested in joining our staff as an intern? Click here.
Juan Cartagena
President and General Counsel
Richard Bellman
Special Counsel
Jackson Chin is a Senior Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF where he focuses on impact litigation, advocacy and community education related to civil rights, voting rights, and immigrant rights. On language and employment discrimination matters, he has obtained over $550,000 in settlement amounts for groups of Latino workers.
Before joining LatinoJustice PRLDEF in 2000, he defended mostly indigent clients in immigration courts and directed Safe Horizon’s Immigration Law Project as its Supervising Attorney. He has also held attorney positions at Legal Aid Society of New York (juvenile rights/family law), Center for Immigrants Rights (immigrant rights), Chinese Staff & Workers Association /Chinatown Immigrant Rights Project (immigrant rights /labor law / organizing), and New York City Commission On Human Rights(Title VII /City Human Rights law).
Jackson is a native-born first generation New Yorker and product of Chinese immigrant parents who toiled in the city’s low wage garment and restaurant industries. He is proficient in several Chinese dialects, French and conversational Spanish. He attended the University of California’s Hastings College of Law, The City College of New York (CUNY) and Bronx Science, and did a graduate fellowship at Washington University at St. Louis.
Roberto Concepción, Jr. is an Associate Counsel. He focuses on impact litigation related to civil rights, voting rights, and immigrant rights. As part of his efforts to safeguard the civil rights of Latinos, Roberto has written articles on the disparate impact of pre-employment criminal background and credit checks on racial minorities.
Prior to joining LatinoJustice PRLDEF in 2012, Roberto served as a Civil Rights Fellow at Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian in Oakland, California, where he concentrated primarily on litigating wage and hour class actions. Roberto also interned for the Honorable Juan Torruella of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Honorable Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Roberto graduated from Columbia Law School and received his chemical engineering degree from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Lydiette Diaz is the Executive Assistant to the President and General Counsel. A native of Puerto Rico, Lydiette has always had a profound interest in the Latino community and the Latino experience within and beyond the borders of the United States. She received her BA from Rutgers University, where she double majored in Political Science and Hispanic Caribbean Studies.
Lydiette also has a MA from the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. Her concentrations included Latin America, Human Rights and International Law, and her master’s research project focused on the effects of conditional cash transfer programs in Mexico and Brazil.
Lydiette previously worked as an Assistant to the Dean of International Programs and Special Projects at Seton Hall University’s School of Law. Additionally, Lydiette has worked as a paralegal and as an intern at the International Institute of New Jersey, where she witnessed first-hand the challenges of immigrants in the United States. These experiences led her to LatinoJustice PRLDEF where she hopes to further the mission of protecting the rights of all Latinos.
John Garcia is the Director of Communications and Redistricting Manager for LatinoJustice PRLDEF. Before joining LatinoJustice, John was a VP, Content and Programming, for NBC Television Stations, Interactive. He also served as an Integration Leader for NBC/Telemundo and as an Executive Producer for WNBC. John also served as the Executive Producer of NewsChannel4.Com and for MSNBC on the Internet.
John joined NBC from New York University, where he served as Director of Digital Journalism in the Department of Journalism. Before that, he was a reporter for the New York Daily News, Miami Herald, Miami News, Gannet Westchester Newspapers, and several other newspapers and magazines.
John is a native of New York City’s Lower East Side and a graduate of Hunter College. He is the author of Hispanic Magazine, a book about magazine publishing, and is a former National Racquetball Champion.
Elizabeth Joynes joined LatinoJustice PRLDEF as a Skadden Fellow in September 2010 to coordinate the Latinas At Work (LAW) Project. The LAW Project seeks to stop the exploitation of Latina immigrant workers on Long Island through collaboration with partner organizations in the community.
Elizabeth graduated from Fordham Law School, where she was a Stein Scholar in Public Interest Law and Ethics and earned the Joseph R. Crowley Award for academic achievement and commitment to community service and the Ann Moynihan Award for outstanding performance in Fordham Law School's Clinical Program. She spent her 2L summer at the ACLU National Legal Department and the previous summer as a legal intern at ProDESC in Mexico City. Elizabeth received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Philosophy, Politics & Economics.
Marisabel Kanioros-Abbas is the Legal Assistant for LatinoJustice PRLDEF. She assists the Associate General Counsel andthe Legal Division attorneys. In her support role, she provides administrative support, drafts document translations and interprets for staff and clients. She screens and provides intake and referral to public inquiries received at LatinoJustice. These issues relate to Latino callers in need of advice and information regarding job discrimination, housing, immigration and social services. She also is involved with supervision and training of high school volunteers.
Marisabel has worked for 15 years in the community, including prior employment at Catholic Charities of New York, Community Services-Administrative Services, as a Unit Support Supervisor Manager and for Safe Horizon as an Office Manager for the Domestic Violence Unit, Immigration Unit, Hotline Immigration, Refugee, and Education Unit. She is an active member of Bolivian Charities, Inc. and Club La Paz, which are Bolivian-American organizations that help people in need. She organizes an annual Christmas toy drive to benefit indigenous children in Bolivia.
John Koprowski is the Fiscal Consultant/CFO of LatinoJustice PRLDEF. He has been at Latino Justice PRLDEF since 1998 on a part-time basis. John has worked as an independent consultant to many civil right and human rights organizations, policy research and advocacy groups, international NGOs and arts organizations.
Before beginning his consulting business in 1993, John spent 11 years at the Ford foundation as the Treasurer and Director of Financial Services. Prior to that he worked at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. John began his career as an auditor at Touche, Ross & Co., the predecessor firm to Deloitte & Touche, where he earned his CPA certificate from New York State.
John has a B.S. degree in Business Administration from St. Peter’s College and an MBA in Economics from New York University. He spent 2 years in the U.S. Army achieving the rank of First Lieutenant.
In his spare time, John works as a volunteer consultant to arts organizations and also performs as an actor and singer in local theatres and clubs.
Alan Levine
Foster Maer is the Senior Litigation Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF. He joined the Legal Division in 1996 and has represented Latinos and others in federal court actions challenging: ordinances passed in Hazleton, PA and Riverside, NJ, requiring documentation of immigration status to rent a home or obtain a job; lengthy delays in the naturalization process depriving people of the ability to vote in the 2008 elections; the manner in which I.C.E conducted home raids looking for undocumented immigrants; and discriminatory police actions targeting Latino day laborers in Mamaroneck, NY, and Freehold, NJ.
Prior to joining LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Mr. Maer had almost 20 years of legal experience representing the needs of low-income communities as Director of Legal Work at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A; as staff attorney at Legal Aid Society in Queens and New York and at Connecticut Legal Services in Bridgeport. Mr. Maer was class counsel for Jiggetts v. Perales, a successful challenge to the adequacy of the New York State's grant for shelter and housing for public assistance households with children, and McCain v. Koch, a successful challenge to New York City's failure to provide adequate emergency housing to homeless families. He is graduate of Harvard College and obtained his J.D. from Northeastern University.
Maritza Maldonado is the Education Associate at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. She is the administrative assistant to the Education Director. Maritza began working at LatinoJustice in 1987, and as the organization’s longest tenured employee, has become its unofficial historian.
She first joined the staff as the receptionist, where her kind, nurturing demeanor with our constituents and students became an invaluable asset. Her willingness to help her coworkers and learn new skills resulted in her also taking on the role of Assistant to the Office Manager in 1994. Maritza’s consistent support of the LatinoJustice Legal Education Programs, finally led to her being hired by the Director as department’s Associate in the year 2000, and transitioned into a full-time administrative role.
Prior to joining LatinoJustice, Maritza was employed at the Henry Street Settlement working with Senior Citizens. Thereafter, she became a stay-at-home mom to her son. While at home, she attended Boricua College studying Human Resources until the birth of her second child, her only daughter. She has successfully raised four children, three boys and one girl, and is a loving grandmother of six.
Diana DeJesus-Medina is the Director of Development at LatinoJustice. Diana has more than 15 years of nonprofit organizational and fund development experience. As a development officer for such diverse organizations as the YWCA of Brooklyn, the American Folk Art Museum and the NYC Board of Education, Diana has provided guidance and support for board and staff to increase donation revenue from foundations, corporations and individuals, as well as through event sponsorships. She has organized volunteers, training conferences and special events.
During her tenure with Family Promise, a national nonprofit that establishes and supports local affiliates across the country to shelter and serve homeless families with children, Diana led local affiliate board and staff in organizational development and strategic planning, and provided training on board and fund development. As a volunteer, Diana supports and raises funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and for a homeless shelter in her New Jersey community.
Tasha Moro is the Civic Engagement Network Coordinator at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, managing social media technology and outreach programs.
She grew up in Miami, FL to a Cuban father and Japanese-American mother, where she lived until leaving for university. She attended Reed College in Portland, OR where she graduated with honors and a B.A. in Anthropology.
During her junior year she studied abroad in Argentina, attending classes at the University of Buenos Aires, The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences and the National University Institute of Art. She interned with the Madres de Plaza de Mayo-Línea Fundadora where she cultivated a passion for international human rights work.
She wrote her senior thesis on the politics of graffiti and street art in Buenos Aires, exploring topics such as human rights, totalitarianism, grassroots political movements, urbanism and collective memory.
Silvia Orna is the Director of Human Resources and Operations at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. Silvia oversees office-wide activities in the areas of project planning and scheduling, budget planning and administration as well as new systems design and implementation. As the Human Resources Director, Silvia develops and implements human resources guidelines in the areas of policy, benefits and organizational development.
Silvia’s work experience includes the Latin American Corporation for Development and The Document Company Xerox International in Ecuador. She has an MA in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from New York University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude form San Francisco de Quito University in Ecuador with a degree in Psychology. Silvia has an International Bachelor Degree in Physics and Mathematics from the IB Association, Geneva Switzerland. She is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management and the Metropolitan New York Association of Applied Psychology in the United States.
She was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador and has lived in NYC since 2000. She is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese. She is an active practitioner of Capoeira Angola, loves to travel and sometimes dances tango.
Sonji Patrick is the Director of Education Programs at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. She has been with LatinoJustice for 12 years working solely on pipeline initiatives. As the current director, Sonji works to cultivate the next generation of community leaders by promoting diversity in the legal profession. She manages all pre-law programming and will oversee the new Cesar A. Perales Leadership Institute.
Programs include the LSAT Prep Course, LAWbound®, JD Prep Institute, LSAT-to-JD workshop series, one-on-one counseling services and a new high school scholars program launched this year (2011). Sonji also executes the organization’s signature event, LatinoJustice PRLDEF’s Annual Law Day. Sonji makes regular presentations at NY area colleges, addressing pre-law groups and student organizations on law school admissions. She serves on the New York State Bar Association, Diversity Committee as part of their Youth Law Day planning group. She has contributed to pre-law guides, and written articles for the CLEO Edge and the NYSBA Pro Bono Newsletter. Sonji is also a member of the Northeast Association Pre-Law Advisors and Pre-Law Advisors National Council.
Jose Luis Perez is the Associate General Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF. He oversees LatinoJustice’s Legal Division, and also works very closely with the Education Division and its many innovative pipeline programs that seek to expand the number of Latinos & Latinas entering law school.
Jose is in his 26th year as a public interest litigator. He served as an Assistant Attorney General, Deputy Chief, and Acting Chief of the NYS Attorney General’s Consumer Frauds Bureau. Prior to joining the AG’s Office, Jose worked at the Legal Aid Society for 10 years. Jose began his legal career as a prosecutor with the Queens County District Attorney’s Office and the NYC Housing Authority’s Anti-Narcotics Strike Force.
Jose is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law. He created the award-winning “Spanish Street Law” Community Education program as a student and continues to oversee Street Law en Espanol, as the program is now called, working with LALSA groups from St. John’s and other metropolitan area law schools conduct “Know Your Rights” presentations in Spanish at local parishes, libraries and community centers.
Christine Rickoff Tirado is the Development Manager at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. She has over a decade of experience in not-for-profit fundraising. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from New York University, Christine worked in editorial and marketing positions at several publishing firms including Matthew Bender and the American Society of Civil Engineers. She served as an editor in acquisitions and development and at W.H. Freeman and Company where she managed the Scientific American Reader Series and at Saunders College Publishing in Philadelphia.
Christine moved from publishing to not-for-profit Development beginning as a grant writer at Harlem United Community Aids Center. She served as Development Associate at Aaron Davis Hall –the theater on the campus of City College– where she managed annual fund appeals and individual donor cultivation in addition to grant writing for program and general operating support. Christine served as Senior Development Associate and Communications Manager at Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service where she managed events including the gala silent auction and journal book, wrote grants and produced annual reports and newsletters. A lifelong avid reader, Christine has served as a literacy volunteer with the New York Public Library.
Rhadaisis Rodriguez has been LatinoJustice's Chief Administrative Assistant and receptionist for 10 years. Rhady's responsibilities include providing valuable support to the all of the LatinoJustice staff.
Rhady graduated with honors from the University of Dominican Republic in 1994 in Executive Secretary Management, and from Hostos Community College, where she obtained an AA in Secretarial Sciences. “Being the administrative assistant at LatinoJustice PRLDEF represent a tremendous responsibility for me. Welcoming the staff and visitors every day with professionalism and courtesy is my goal.”
Rosanna Rosado is the Director of Finance of LatinoJustice PRLDEF. She brings 15 years of fiscal and operations management within the nonprofit community; positioning organizations for solid financial footing, optimizing their operations; devising systems and controls to improve business processes; securing scope, adequacy and integrity of their fiscal and internal controls; securing budgetary compliance and organizational objectives. A longtime advocate for social and racial justice, as a former community organizer working with marginalized communities.
Rosanna obtained an MBA from Iona Hagan School of Business in Management & Finance, with a Certificate in International Business and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the College of New Rochelle.
Diana Sen is a Senior Counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, where she heads their Southeastern U.S. practice. She primarily works to safeguard the civil rights of Latinos in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. Prior to LatinoJustice, Diana was a senior litigation associate with the international law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.
Diana was also a staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF) for two years in their Atlanta office as a Fried Frank/MALDEF Fellow.
Diana is the Immediate Past President of the Hispanic National Bar Association. She is a Commissioner of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights; serves on the House of Delegates of the New York State Bar Association; and is on the Leadership Development Board of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. Diana received her JD from Emory Law School and her BA and MA in Political Science/International Relations from the University of Florida.
Alba Lucero Villa is a Bickel & Brewer Latino Institute for Human Rights Fellow at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. Alba was born in Cali, Colombia, and grew up in New Jersey. She graduated with honors from Brown University in 2001 with a dual degree in International Relations and History, and from American University in 2004 with an M.A. in Journalism and Public Affairs. She has worked as a writer, editor, and education consultant. Alba is on a two year fellowship at LatinoJustice PRLDEF to advocate for low-wage Latino immigrant workers in the metropolitan New York area