People » Program Staff

Amber Baylor, Staff Attorney
Prior to joining our office in February 2008, Amber Baylor worked as a trial attorney at Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. Amber participated in NYU’s Community Defender Clinic and the Comparative Criminal Justice Clinic and worked as an NDS intern. Amber also held legal internships with the indigenous rights division of the United Nations at Nairobi, Kenya, and BPI, a Chicago-based civil rights organization. She graduated from New York University School of Law in 2006.

Weldon Brewer, Staff Attorney
Weldon joined NDS in 1996. Before coming to NDS, Weldon worked for the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society from 1972-1983 as a trial attorney, and for a period of time as an appeals attorney. From 1983-87, Weldon worked with the Law Office of Ramsey Clark, specializing in civil rights, criminal appeals, and international human rights. In 1990, Weldon joined Mid-Hudson Legal Services as the Managing Attorney, and became the Acting Director of Litigation in June of 1995, where he tried civil cases and supervised attorneys in the areas of housing, public benefits, disability, and family law. Weldon received his JD from Harvard Law School.

Ayisha Bruce, Social Worker

Elsie Chandler, Senior Staff Attorney, Director, Youth Law Project
Elsie Chandler has been a practicing attorney and public defender for the past 24 years. She is a Senior Trial Attorney with NDS, where she defends those charged with serious felonies and is the founding director of the Youth Law Project, which defends teenagers charged as adults in New York State Supreme Court. She also holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a Masters degree in American history. She has worked as a university professor, teaching forensic psychology to graduate students at John Jay College and has also taught law students at NYU School of Law with Professor Peggy Davis in "Multidisciplinary Methods for Lawyering."

Elsie first joined NDS as a staff attorney in 1992. In 1995, she was recruited to found the Juvenile Offender Team at the Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Practice in Manhattan, a unit which she directed for three years. Elsie rejoined NDS in 2002.

In 1988, she began her legal career in NYC as a staff attorney in Legal Aid's Juvenile Rights Practice, but first came to Harlem in 1964 as an activist with the civil rights and racial justice movements. In December 2010, Elsie was selected to receive the Michele S. Maxian Award for Outstanding Public Defense Practitioner from the New York State Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section.

John Christie, Staff Attorney
John joined NDS in 2006 after graduating from Brooklyn Law School. While in law school, John interned at the Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Division, and at NDS where he was responsible for legal research and trial preparation on complex felony cases. John was awarded a Sparer Fellowship from Brooklyn Law School for his commitment to public interest law.

Gina Clayton, Equal Justice Fellow, Housing Defense Practice
Gina Clayton received her JD from Harvard in May 2010 where she was Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and participated in Harvard's Housing Clinic. While a law student, she was a student attorney for the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard, a law clerk for the Public Defender Service in Washington D.C., a legal intern for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, and a legal intern for the United Nations ICTY at The Hague. She was the Social Justice Committee Chair for the Harvard Black Law Students Association and has been both a chapter president and national board member of the NAACP. She is currently an Equal Justice Fellow at NDS, heading up the Housing Defense Practice. She will be specializing in cases involving women threatened with eviction as a collateral consequence to a criminal matter. 

Cialinett Colon, Staff Attorney, Immigration Services Project 
Cialinett Colon joined the Immigration Services Project at NDS in 2011 as its new immigration attorney. Cialinett graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2010, where she worked on the ICE-out-of-Rikers campaign and represented immigrants in removal proceedings through the Immigration Justice Clinic. She has previously been awarded public interest fellowships to work at Northeast New Jersey Legal Services and The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Prior to law school she obtained her B.A. from Fordham University and studied abroad at the University of York in England. She is a committed New Yorker who grew up in the Bronx and is passionate about immigration issues.

Felice Conte, Staff Attorney
Felice graduated from Boston College Law School in 1995. After law school, Felice worked for several years at Court TV as a producer of live trial coverage. Thereafter, Felice became involved in documentary work, ultimately directing and producing "Dope Sick Love," an Emmy-nominated film for HBO's popular "America Undercover" series. Felice joined NDS in 2005.

Elizabeth Fischer, Staff Attorney, Youth Law Project
Elizabeth came to NDS in 2008 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by the law firm of Latham & Watkins, LLP. Elizabeth received her JD from Harvard Law School in 2008. While at Harvard, Elizabeth was the co-executive director of the Prison Legal Assistance Project and a student attorney at the Criminal Justice Institute. During law school, Elizabeth interned at NDS, the Southern Center for Human Rights, and the Legal Assistance Centre in Windhoek, Namibia.

Lisa Freedman, Staff Attorney
Lisa joined NDS in 2011 as staff attorney. Most recently, she was a deputy public defender for the Colorado State Public Defender in Alamosa, CO. Previous work experience includes clerking for the ACLU of Ohio and interning for the Criminal Justice Clinic and Death Penalty Lab at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, located in Cleveland, OH. She received her JD from Case Western Reserve University in 2007, where she was awarded the Patricia Ann Burgess prize for outstanding academic performance in the field of public law

Kenneth Gilbert, Staff Attorney, Pre-Arrest Services
Kenn worked at NDS as a legal intern and investigator, before becoming a staff attorney in 1995. Kenn graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1994. During law school, Kenn was an editor on the Journal of Environmental Law and worked as a law clerk at the Baltimore City Public Defender Office. As a law student, Kenn also represented indigent clients charged with crimes through the Criminal Practice Clinic, and was chair of the Community Involvement Committee for the Black Law Students Association.

Justine Gonzalez, Investigator
Justine Gonzalez came to NDS in 2010. She received her BA in Sociology and Spanish from Smith College. Justine was born and raised in New York City and has close ties to the neighborhoods NDS serves.

Kristin Heavey, Staff Attorney
Kristin joined NDS in 2005, after graduating from Columbia Law School. During law school, Kristin was a legal intern at NDS, an articles editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and coordinated pro bono trips for Columbia law students to capital defense organizations throughout the country. Prior to law school, Kristin worked in administration and development for several nonprofit organizations.

Gary Kaufman, Staff Attorney 
Gary Kaufman joined NDS as a staff attorney in 2011. Before coming to NDS, he worked for Battiste, Aronowsky, and Suchow; Staten Island Legal Defense Services, since 2007. He also worked for the Office of the Public Defender in Orlando, Florida. Gary is a Cardozo School of Law graduate. While there, he held internships with the Innocence Project and the U.S. Army's JAG Corps. Gary has also received training at the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland.

Roderick Kelly, Team Administrator
Roderick started with NDS in February of 1999. He resides in Harlem and enjoys serving the community in which he lives.

Will Kendall, Staff Attorney/Fellow 
Will graduated from Northeastern University School of Law in May 2010, and subsequently clerked for the Honorable Ronald L. Ellis, U.S.M.J. (S.D.N.Y.). During law school, Will was a legal intern at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and at Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. Before law school, Will spent three years working as a death penalty investigator for the Southern Center for Human Rights. Will joined NDS in September 2011.

Rachel Kling, Immigration Services Project
Rachel Kling came to NDS in June of 2011. Rachel serves as the Staff Attorney for the Immigration Services Project. Most recently, she served as staff attorney at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona representing detained individuals facing deportation. While earning her JD at Boston College Law School, Rachel served as a Clinical Fellow at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and a Clinical Student at the Boston College Immigration and Asylum Clinic. 

Jonathan Marvinny, Staff Attorney
Jonathan joined NDS in 2009. Previously, Jonathan was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, as well as a staff attorney for three years at the Office of the Appellate Defender, where he litigated appeals in the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, and the New York Court of Appeals. Jonathan graduated from New York University School of Law in 2004.

Johanna Neufeld, LMSW, Social Worker
Johanna came to NDS after graduating from Columbia University's School of Social Work in 2010, where she co-founded the Criminal Justice Caucus. As a social work student, Johanna worked at The Bridge, a psychiatric rehabilitation program, and at the Midtown Community Court in Manhattan.

Vanessa Pai-Thompson, Staff Attorney 
Vanessa joined NDS in 2011 as a staff attorney. Before coming to NDS, she worked as a staff attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services. Vanessa graduated from New York University School of Law in 2008. In law school, she participated as a student advocate in both the Juvenile Defender Clinic and the Criminal and Community Defense Clinic. Vanessa was also a legal intern at NDS and at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

Chant'a Parker, Staff Attorney 
Chant’a Parker joined NDS in 2011 as a staff attorney. As a 2006 New York University School of Law graduate, Chant’a is returning to New York from New Orleans, where she has been a felony trial attorney with Orleans Public Defenders since 2008. While at NYU, Chant'a participated in the Community Defender Clinic and the Juvenile Rights Criminal Defense Clinic and worked as an NDS intern during the Summer of 2005. Prior to that she worked as an associate at law firms in New York and Savannah, Georgia.

Juan Carlos Payero,Team Administrator

Juan Carlos Payero joined NDS in 2011 as a Team Administrator. He is a recent graduate of St. John's University in Staten Island, where he obtained a degree with honors in government and politics. Prior work experience includes an internship for Staten Island Congressman Michael E. McMahon, various leadership roles in the student government at St. John's, as well as community organizing and counseling positions in political and community organizations.

Phil Primason, Investigator
Prior to joining the criminal team as an investigator, Phil worked at NDS as an undergraduate Civil Rights intern, and was a caseworker with the Fatherhood program in 2010. He received his BA in Psychology and English from Columbia University. As an undergraduate, Phil worked at Columbia's Social Relations laboratory, where he contributed research to an article that was published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Melida Ramirez, Team Administrator
Melida joined NDS in 2004. Melida previously participated in the Work Experience Program sponsored by the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island. She received her AAS in paralegal studies from Hostos Community College. While at Hostos, Melida worked in the college's admissions office, and for Bronx Legal Services through a work study program.

Dorothy Rolon, Team Administrator
Dorothy Rolon joined the NDS team in March 2009. Previously, she worked as an administrative assistant for New York University's Stern School of Business, Alumni Division. Dorothy received her BA in sociology from the New York University School of Continuation & Professional Studies.

Wilfredo Sta. Ana, Senior Staff Attorney
Prior to joining NDS in 2005, Wilfredo spent the first four years of his legal career as a public defender for the Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Division in Manhattan. He then worked as a court attorney in both Manhattan and Bronx criminal courts. Wilfredo graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1999, where he was awarded a Sparer Fellowship for his commitment to public interest law.

Harold Steed, Staff Attorney/Fellow 
Harold Steed joined NDS in September 2011. Prior to joining the NDS staff, he worked as an associate with the firm Maher & Brown. His prior experience includes a judicial externship with the Honorable Ronald J. Hedges, U.S.D.C. (D.N.J.), a judicial internship with the Honorable Renee J. Weeks, Superior Court of N.J., and a summer internship with NDS while attending Rutgers School of Law - Newark, where he served as Editor of the Law Review. 

Seth Steed, Staff Attorney
Seth joined NDS in 2009, after serving as a legal intern in 2004. Working at NDS has a special significance for him, since he was born and raised in East Harlem. Seth received his BA from Swarthmore College, and his JD from Washington and Lee University School of Law. While in law school, Seth was a staff writer for the Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, and a member of the John W. Davis Moot Court Executive Board. Seth also clerked for the Honorable Michael F. Urbanski in the Western District of Virginia, and worked in a legal clinic representing coal miners in Black Lung Benefits Act claims before the Department of Labor and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Following law school, he worked in private practice in Washington, D.C.

Michelle Villaseñor-Grant, Senior Staff Attorney, Director of Training and Continuing Development
Michelle came to NDS in 2005. From 2001 until 2005, Michelle was a staff attorney at Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc., where she was lead trial attorney in over twenty federal trials. While at the Federal Defenders, Michelle also represented clients in appellate courts, including presenting oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit nine times. Michelle received her JD from the University of California Hastings School of Law in 2001.

Tiffany Wang, Staff Attorney
Tiffany Wang joined NDS in 2011 as a staff attorney. Most recently, she spent a year as a post-grad law clerk in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Arizona. Prior to that, Tiffany completed an overseas fellowship in South Africa, working as a legal advisor for the University of Cape Town's Refugee Rights Project. During law school, Tiffany served as a legal intern for both Human Rights in China and the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center. She received her law degree from The University of Michigan.

Royce Wilder, Investigator
Royce joined NDS in 2007. He received his AA from the Borough of Manhattan Community College in 2006. Royce is a Harlem resident, and previously worked at Harlem Hospital.

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