direction

staff

Executive Director

Jill E. Adams, J.D. has been the Executive Director of LSRJ since September 2006. Prior to that, she served the organization as President of its Board of Directors, intern in the national office, and trainer, facilitator, and speaker on many occasions throughout law school. As ED, Jill oversees fundraising and development, management and operations, programming, finances, and public relations. She also engages in extensive public speaking and writing. Jill is committed to empowering law students, building coalition with other social justice groups, and fostering LSRJ's long-term sustainability. She further contributes to the reproductive justice movement as Vice President of the California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, the Steering Committee for Pharmacy Forward: Pharmacist Leadership for Reproductive Health, the Advisory Boards of Real Reason and Nursing Students for Choice, and the Women’s Health Leadership Network of the Center for American Progress. She graduated with honors from the University of Missouri, Columbia School of Journalism in 2000 and from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2006. Jill is licensed by the State Bar of California. She was recently named a 2010 Gerbode Foundation Professional Development Fellow.

Director of Campus and Community Programs

Sabrina Andrus, J.D., is LSRJ’s first Director of Campus and Community Programs (DCCP). She joined LSRJ in April 2010. As the DCCP, Sabrina is responsible for mobilizing, training, and supporting LSRJ student leaders and alums. While in law school, Sabrina was Co-President of her LSRJ chapter for two years, Legal Intern in the national office, West Regional Coordinator, and member of the national Board of Directors. Sabrina was also a leader with her law school’s Public Interest Law Foundation and was the co-founder of the Social Justice Coalition, a meta-organization designed to provide space for social justice minded leaders to learn best practices, engage in anti-oppression work, and support and challenge the law school on its stated mission to educate leaders for a more just and humane world. Prior to joining LSRJ, Sabrina was the project coordinator for the Northwest Justice Project's Committee on Indigent Representation and Civil Legal Equality (CIRCLE) in Seattle, Washington. CIRCLE coordinates and supports civil right to counsel advocacy and identifies and strategizes on cases that raise civil right to counsel and access to courts issues. Sabrina also practiced law in Washington, focusing her work on family law, domestic violence, housing, consumer law, and public benefits. Sabrina holds a B.A. in Political Science from Willamette University and graduated cum laude from Seattle University School of Law in 2008. She is licensed by the Washington State Bar Association.

Director of Academic and Professional Programs

Mariko Miki, J.D., is the Director of Academic and Professional Programs (DAPP). She joined LSRJ in April 2010. As the DAPP, Mariko provides vision, direction, and evaluation for multi-faceted projects in two of LSRJ’s core programming areas: curriculum enrichment and professional training. Mariko also directs the new Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program, which places new lawyers with reproductive justice organizations in Washington D.C. for a one-year fellowship. As a law student, Mariko helped lead her LSRJ chapter, interned at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, participated in the Trauma & Learning Policy Initiative Clinical Program, and served as an executive editor for the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and Unbound: Journal of the Legal Left. Prior to working at LSRJ, Mariko gained extensive litigation and pro bono experience as an associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP in San Francisco. Mariko graduated from Brown University and received her law degree, cum laude, from Harvard. She is licensed by the State Bar of California.

Legal Fellow

Jessica Rubenstein, J.D. joined LSRJ as a Legal Fellow in January 2011. Prior to joining LSRJ, she interned at the Center for Reproductive Rights. During law school, Jessica interned at Equality Now, the European Roma Rights Center, and the Center on Law and Security. She participated in the Brennan Center Public Policy Advocacy Clinic, in the Liberty and National Security Project. Jessica graduated from NYU School of Law in 2010. She also holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale University and an M.A. in Human Rights from Central European University.

Program Assistant

Obiamaka Ude joined LSRJ as the Program Assistant (PA) in January 2012. As the PA, she supports the Director of Campus & Community Programs and the Director of Academic & Professional Programs, working with LSRJ members, alums, and allies. She is a recent graduate in African American Studies from UC Berkeley with a passion for student activism and social justice. As a former student leader, she has dedicated herself to student organizing, co-founding Berkeley's Black Student Leadership Training, a conference focused on refining and developing student leadership. While at UC Berkeley, Obiamaka served as the Co-Chair of the Student Health Advisory Committee for University Health Services, as well as Senator of the Associated Students of the University of California. She presently serves as an organizer for the annual UC Berkeley Empowering Women of Color Conference. Strongly committed to coalition building, Obiamaka seeks to utilize her work with LSRJ as a vehicle for social change.

Legal Researcher

Enza Barbato, J.D. is LSRJ's volunteer Legal Researcher. Enza holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California, Riverside, and graduated from Boston University School of Law in 2010. Prior to joining LSRJ, she did a fellowship at the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and worked at the law firm of Cardenas, Di Cio, Romero, Tarsitano & Lucero in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While in law school, Enza participated in an Employment Rights Clinic.

interns

Erika Willis is a 2L at Florida A& M College of Law where she is Secretary of the Women's Law Caucus, and current president of FAMU's LSRJ chapter. Erika graduated with a B.A. in Women's & Gender Studies and a minor in Philosophy and Law from Michigan State University in 2010. Erika has advocated with many student groups and administrators as Co-Chair of Women's Advisory Committee to the VP of Student Affairs and Services, and a member of several Women/LGBT/Sex organizations. Prior to law school, Erika tutored and mentored students throughout her undergraduate career. She has a strong interest in women's, civil, and human rights. Erika aspires to begin her own non-profit centered around the advancement and education of young men and women, while committing herself fully to reproductive justice. Erika will spend Summer 2011 interning in the LSRJ national office and has also joined the LSRJ Board of Directors.

board of directors

Current Directors

LSRJ's Board of Directors ensures fulfillment of its mission by holding the vision of the organization, shaping its long-range plans, and monitoring its needs. The volunteer board meets monthly to discuss the financial health, programming feats, and strategic plans of the organization. True to LSRJ's mission to be student-led and student-driven, the majority of our directors and officers are law students. New directors are selected each spring through an application and interview process to serve one-year renewable terms, beginning in June. We are proud to have an active Board made up of ardent LSRJ supporters who bring diverse experiences, perspectives, and expertise to the noble work of steering the course of this organization and shaping the future for its members.

President Rebecca Reingold is a 3L at the University of Washington School of Law where she serves on the board of its LSRJ chapter. Originally from California, Rebecca graduated with honors from Middlebury College with a B.A. in International Studies. She conducted her senior thesis research on abortion rights in Chile and Mexico, which she also had the opportunity to present at a conference in Mexico City. Prior to attending law school, Rebecca worked at AmeriCares identifying and responding to significant disparities in health among marginalized populations in Latin America, the Middle East and the U.S. Rebecca is the proud recipient of UW’s Center for Human Rights and Justice Grant, which supported her internship at Women’s Link Worldwide in Bogotá, Colombia during the summer of 2010 and will support her internship at the Center for Reproductive Rights during the summer of 2011.

Vice President Lillian Hewko, J.D. is a recent graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, where she was a Gates Public Service Scholar and former Co-President of UW’s LSRJ chapter. She will serve as a 2011 Equal Justice Works Fellow at Legal Voice in Seattle, Washington, where she will provide legal education to incarcerated mothers and implement litigation and legislative strategies to reduce the chances of family separation and incarceration of women and girls in Washington State. Prior to law school, Lillian was a Peace Corps Urban Youth Development Volunteer in Concepción, Paraguay. During law school she interned at Equality Now’s New York office, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project’s Domestic Violence Unit, and Legal Voice. Lillian graduated with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in Law and Society from the University of California, San Diego in 2003.

Secretary Erika Willis is a 2L at Florida A& M College of Law where she is Secretary of the Women's Law Caucus, and current president of FAMU's LSRJ chapter. Erika graduated with a B.A. in Women's & Gender Studies and a minor in Philosophy and Law from Michigan State University in 2010. Erika has advocated with many student groups and administrators as Co-Chair of Women's Advisory Committee to the VP of Student Affairs and Services, and a member of several Women/LGBT/Sex organizations. Prior to law school, Erika tutored and mentored students throughout her undergraduate career. She has a strong interest in women's, civil, and human rights. Erika aspires to begin her own non-profit centered around the advancement and education of young men and women, while committing herself fully to reproductive justice. Erika will spend Summer 2011 interning in the national LSRJ office.

Treasurer Brigitte Amiri, Esq., is a Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project. Brigitte is currently litigating a case involving reproductive health care access for individuals trafficked into the United States, and will be challenging South Dakota's restrictive abortion law. Brigitte has also led the Project’s case involving access to abortions in a county jail in Arizona; led the challenge against a ban on abortions in Michigan; and was part of the Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood legal team in the U.S. Supreme Court. Brigitte is teaching a reproductive rights seminar at New York Law School this Fall, and has been an adjunct assistant professor at Hunter College. Before joining the ACLU, Brigitte worked at South Brooklyn Legal Services in the Foreclosure Prevention Project and at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Brigitte graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in 1999 and from DePaul University in 1996.

Jill E. Adams Please see staff bio above.

President Emerita Erin Armstrong, Esq., holds a B.S. in Sociology and Social Welfare from the University of New Mexico and graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law in May 2011. Erin is the immediate past president of the LSRJ Board of Directors and also served throughout law school on the board of UC Berkeley’s LSRJ chapter. Before law school, Erin worked as the first Program Coordinator of the Society of Family Planning (SFP), a national membership organization that works to advance family planning research and education by providing evidence-based insight and funding to improve clinical care in the areas of contraception and abortion. Before joining SFP, she worked in drug policy reform in New Mexico and HIV/ADIS advocacy, both in the US and abroad, providing further familiarity with issues of sexual health and the struggle to prioritize science, social justice, and human rights in health policy. During law school, Erin worked as a legal intern at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), a summer RJ Fellow at the SW Women's Law Center, and a clinical student at the East Bay Community Law Center's Medical-Legal Partnership. She is a recipient of a 2011-2012 RJ Fellowship and began her fellowship year at the National Health Law Project in Washington, DC in September 2011. She also sits on the board of the Pamoja Project and is a former board member (ex-officio) of NARAL California's Privacy PAC.

Aimee Z. Arrambide is a 3L at New York Law School where she is a founding member and vice president of the LSRJ chapter. Since coming to law school she has cultivated her interest in reproductive justice through legal internships at the NYCLU Reproductive Freedom Project and the Center for Reproductive Rights International Legal Program. Prior to law school she worked at the ACLU, Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region, and for the Sarah Weddington Center in addition to interning at NARAL Pro-choice Texas. Her passion for Reproductive Justice was inspired by her father’s work as an abortion provider in central and south Texas and her mother’s dedication to help the underserved community in San Antonio. As a proud native Texan, she graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Philosophy.

Janine Shissler, J.D., is an associate in the Tax-Exempt Organizations Group of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler in New York. She advises public charities, private foundations, and other nonprofit organizations on all aspects of the formation, operation, and governance of exempt organizations, and her practice includes a special focus on the making of charitable and socially beneficial investments. She received a B.S. from Yale College, a masters in Anthropology from University of Pennsylvania, and her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2001.

Lara Shkordoff is a 3L at Northeastern Law School in Boston MA. Originally from Toronto Canada, Lara has been working in anti-oppression advocacy and community organizing for the last seven years. While living in Toronto, she and four of her closest friends started an anti-racist feminist education organization called The Miss G_Project. This past winter, Lara worked at the Sex Worker's Project in New York and will be interning at the Center for Reproductive Rights, International Legal Program this summer. Lara has done, and is passionate about providing legal assistance to sex workers, people who are engaged in the sex trades, and people who have been trafficked into sex work both in the domestic and international context. She is also interested in the effects of international trade policy on the reproductive health of migrant women, as well as the connection between discriminatory property rights and women's ability to access HIV prevention & treatment services in developing countries. She strongly believes that the local and the global are connected.

Cynthia Soohoo, Esq. is the Director of the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic at CUNY Law School. Prior to coming to CUNY, she was the Director of the U.S. Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights. In addition to managing U.S. litigation and state advocacy work, she spearheaded and supervised the development of the Center’s U.S. human rights advocacy and fact-finding work and the growth of its Law School Initiative. From 2001-2007, Ms. Soohoo was the director of the Bringing Human Rights Home Project, Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School and a supervising attorney for the law school's Human Rights Clinic. She has worked on U.S. human rights issues before U.N. human rights bodies, the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights and in domestic courts. Cindy was a founding Board Member for the U.S. Human Rights Network and served as co-chair of the American Constitutional Society’s Working Group on International Law and the Constitution. She is the author of several articles on human rights advocacy in the United States and co-editor and contributor to BRINGING HUMAN RIGHTS HOME, a three-volume book on human rights in the United States, which received the 2008 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award.

Aimée Thorne-Thomsen, M.P.A. brings her passion and extensive experience in movement-building, leadership development and communications to the reproductive justice movement. Most recently, she served as the Interim Executive Director for the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, dedicated to supporting LGBTI organizations around the world working for racial, economic and social justice. Before that, Aimée was the Executive Director of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP), where her work focused on creating spaces for and elevating the voices of young women, transgender and gender non-confirming young people in sexual and reproductive health and rights. Under her leadership, PEP completed 2 ground-breaking research reports on young women of color on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Prior to joining PEP, she held senior management positions in the non-profit and private sectors. Aimée sits on the Board of Directors for Reproductive Health Technologies Project, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and the Doula Project; the Advisory Board of Nursing Students for Choice, the National Institute for Reproductive Health’s Adolescent Health Care Communications Program and IUD Education Campaign, and the National Advisory Board of Exhale. She has spoken around the country on issues of reproductive health, rights and justice and their impact on young women, and women of color. Her writing has appeared on Feministing, RH Reality Check, Goddesses Rising and Feministe. Aimée earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College, City University of New York.

Directors Emeriti

  • Claire Abernathy, J.D. (Former President)
    Stanford Law School, Class of 2005
  • Sabrina Andrus, J.D.
    Seattle University School of Law, Class of 2008
  • C. Caleb Arring, J.D., L.L.M.
    Golden Gate University, Class of 2010
  • Sheila Bapat, J.D. (Former President)
    University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Class of 2007
  • Madison Burnett, J.D. (Former President)
    Georgia State University School of Law, Class of 2009
  • Heather Busby, J.D. (Former Secretary)
    South Texas College of Law, Class of 2007
  • Caitlin G. Coslett, J.D.
    New York University School of Law, Class of 2009
  • Dante Costa, J.D.
    Cardozo School of Law, Class of 2011
  • Jina Dhillon, J.D. (Former Secretary)
    University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill School of Law, Class of 2010
  • Julie Ehrlich, J.D. (Former Secretary)
    New York University School of Law, Class of 2008
  • Julia Ernst, J.D.
    University of Michigan, Class of 1994
  • Ashley Gorski, J.D. (Former President)
    Harvard Law School, Class of 2010
  • Kate Hannaher, J.D. (Former Secretary)
    Hamline University School of Law, Class of 2009
  • Priscilla Huang, J.D.
    Washington College of the Law at American University, Class of 2006
  • Kara Loewentheil, J.D. (Former President)
    Harvard Law School, Class of 2008
  • Louise Melling, J.D.
    American Civil Liberties Union
  • Lauren R.S. Mendonsa, J.D. (Former Secretary)
    University of San Diego School of Law, Class of 2011
  • Nancy Millar, J.D.
    University of Miami School of Law, Class of 2008
  • Katherine Minarik, J.D. (Former Secretary)
    University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Class of 2006
  • Jennifer Seo, J.D.
    Columbia Law, Class of 2011
  • Cari Sietstra, J.D. (Former Executive Director)
    Stanford Law, Class of 2002
  • Jennifer Smith, J.D.
    University of California Davis, Class of 2007
  • Melissa Thelemaque, J.D. (Former Secretary)
    Georgetown University Law Center, Class of 2006
  • Melissa Upreti, J.D.
    Columbia University School of Law
  • Joy Welan, J.D.
    Georgetown University Law Center, Class of 2008

advisory board

The Advisory Board is comprised of esteemed advocates, academics, and other key allies who help to guide LSRJ toward its goals. These distinguished individuals represent various facets of the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement, offering keen direction from a comprehensive compass. Advisory Board members have neither meeting nor fiduciary obligations to LSRJ.

  • Maggie Crosby
    ACLU Northern California
  • Walter Dellinger
    O'Melveny & Myers
  • Marcia Greenberger
    National Women's Law Center
  • Angela Hooton
    Institute for Reproductive Health Access
  • Priscilla Huang
    Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum
  • Nancy Keenan
    NARAL Pro-Choice America
  • Louise Melling
    ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project
  • Debra Ness
    National Partnership for Women and Families
  • Nancy Northup
    Center for Reproductive Rights
  • Kim Parker
    WilmerHale
  • Loretta Ross
    SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective
  • Vicki Saporta
    National Abortion Federation
  • Louise Slaughter
    United States House of Representatives
  • Eleanor Smeal
    Feminist Majority Foundation
  • Jody Steinhauer
    Medical Students for Choice
  • Ann Stone
    Republicans for Choice
  • Melissa Upreti
    International Legal Program of the Center for Reproductive Rights
  • Carlton Veazey
    Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

academic advisory council

  • Jack Balkin
    Yale Law School
  • Caitlin Borgmann
    City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law
  • Kim Buchanan
    University of Southern California School of Law
  • Cary Franklin
    University of Texas School of Law
  • Nancy Ehrenreich
    University of Denver College of Law
  • Jesse Hill
    Case Western Reserve School of Law
  • Lisa Ikemoto
    University of California Davis School of Law
  • Dawn Johnsen
    Indiana University Maurer School of Law
  • Pam Karlan
    Stanford University Law School
  • Kristin Luker
    University of California Berkeley Law School
  • Alice Miller
    University of California Berkeley Law School
  • Kim Mutcherson
    Rutgers School of Law - Camden
  • Nina Pillard
    Georgetown University Law Center
  • Dorothy Roberts
    Northwestern University Law School
  • Mindy Roseman
    Harvard Law School
  • Neil Siegel
    Duke University School of Law
  • Reva Siegel
    Yale Law School

regional coordinators

Regional Coordinators (RCs) are outstanding student organizers who facilitate communication and activism at many schools within a geographic region. RCs act as liaisons between the national office and chapters. They connect regularly with the chapters in their regions, checking in about their progress, needs, and goals. They are also the lead organizers for annual Regional Conferences designed to unite students with professors, practitioners, and policymakers who help them expand their reproductive justice work on campus and in their communities.

West

  • Sarah Gosling
    UC Hastings School of Law
  • Hillary Hansen
    UC Hastings School of Law

Midwest

  • Kylee Sunderlin
    University of Michigan Law School

South

  • Agata Pelka
    University of North Carolina School of Law
  • Chelsea Uhlman
    Charlotte Law School

Mid-Atlantic

  • Nikola Nable-Juris
    University of Maryland School of Law

Northeast

  • Mark Wheeler
    New York Law School

alumni network committee

  • Dante Costa
    Cardozo School of Law, Class of 2011
  • Jina Dhillon, J.D., Chair
    UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law, Class of 2010
  • Katherine Minarik, J.D.
    University of Pennsylvania Law School, Class of 2006
  • Erin Schultz, J.D.
    University of Michigan Law School, Class of 2007
  • Jennifer Smith, J.D.
    UC Davis School of Law, Class of 2007
blog

Repossess Reproductive Justice

newsletters

Take a look at our past newsletters for more information on LSRJ programming, staff comings and goings, spotlights on our chapters and alumni, and more!

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