Management & Administration

Management

Jonathan L. Mannina
Jonathan L. Mannina
Executive Director
B.A., Philosophy and Economics (magna cum laude), Georgetown University (1990)
J.D., Georgetown University Law School (1993)
As Community Legal Aid’s Executive Director, Jonathan leads CLA and is responsible for the organization’s overall programmatic, personnel, administrative, and financial matters. He began his legal services career in 1998 when he was hired by one of CLA’s predecessor organizations, the Legal Assistance Corp. of Central Mass. (LACCM), as a Staff Attorney working on housing and homelessness issues. He later became LACCM’s Litigation Director, supervising and coordinating LACCM’s systemic litigation and litigating cases in both state and federal court. He became LACCM’s Executive Director in 2006 and oversaw the successful, multi-year consolidation of LACCM with two other legal aid organizations, Western Mass. Legal Services and the Massachusetts Justice Project. Jonathan subsequently became the Executive Director of the resulting company, re-named CLA, which has over 140 staff and is one of the largest laws firms in Central and Western Massachusetts. Before he was a legal aid attorney, Jonathan worked at Silver Golub & Teitell, a leading plaintiff-side firm in Connecticut, where he litigated employment discrimination, medical malpractice and complex personal injury cases at the trial and appellate levels. He is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and Connecticut, in the U.S. District Courts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and in the First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Jonathan is active in the legal community and volunteers his time to many activities. He was appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) to serve as a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission in 2014 and continued in that role until his term ended in 2021. In 2012, Jonathan was elected to the Board of Trustees of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE). From 2011 to 2017, he served on the SJC’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services. In 2008, Jonathan was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to serve on the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination Advisory Board; he was reappointed by Governor Charlie Baker in 2015. Jonathan served two terms as a member of the Executive Committee of the Worcester County Bar Association (WCBA) and currently serves as the co-chair of the Outreach Subcommittee of the WCBA’s Committee for Anti-Racism and Equality (CARE). He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance for many years and is the past chair of the City of Worcester’s Community Development Advisory Committee. In 2017, Jonathan received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Community Service Award for his commitment to the community. He has coached youth sports for many years, and in 2020 received the Wayne Nugent Memorial Sportsmanship Award for his years of service as a volunteer coach at the St. Peter’s Parish Youth Basketball League in Worcester, MA.
Executive Director
Faye B. Rachlin
Faye B. Rachlin
Deputy Director
B.A., Spanish and Political Science (cum laude), Brandeis University (1978)
M.A., Spanish, Middlebury College (1979)
J.D. (cum laude), Boston College (1985)
Faye has been a legal aid lawyer for over 35 years, specializing in eviction defense, protection of rent subsidies, and access to homeless shelter programs. Faye has extensive litigation experience, including winning several appeals in the Massachusetts Appeals Court and arguing two cases before the Supreme Judicial Court. In 2002, Faye received the Boston College Law School Judge David Nelson Public Interest Award in honor of her work in public service. In 2008, Faye was honored with the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Legal Services Award, which is given each year to a lawyer who has made a particularly significant or meaningful contribution to the provision of low-income legal services. Faye has served on the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission’s Housing Court subcommittee, the statewide Tenancy Preservation Program Advisory Board, and several Housing Court bench-bar committees. She has conducted numerous trainings on landlord-tenant law, published several articles on tenants’ rights and the effects of criminal conduct in the housing context, and taught civil rights litigation as an adjunct professor at Western New England University School of Law. As Deputy Director, Faye oversees many of the organization’s grants, its internal evaluation process, and the supervisory work of its legal managers. Faye is fluent in Spanish and English. She is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and the U.S. District of Massachusetts.
Deputy Director
Leticia Medina-Richman
Leticia Medina-Richman
Chief Operating Officer
B.A., English Literature (with honors), Smith College
J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (1997)
Leticia worked at Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts for close to 10 years before the program joined with Western Massachusetts Legal Services to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. During her time with CLA, she specialized in landlord-tenant cases, foreclosure defense and housing discrimination. She has experience in housing, probate and superior court as well as various administrative forums.

Leticia served as Director of CLA’s subsidiary, the Central West Justice Center, from 2014 until 2021, before becoming the first Chief Operating Officer of Community Legal Aid in January 2022.

Leticia is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
Chief Operating Officer
Kebby Lee
Kebby Lee
Executive Assistant
B.S., Babson College (1989)
M.B.A., Babson College (1992)
Kebby joined Community Legal Aid in February 2014. She has a long career of working with organizations that provide services to those in need including GFA Federal Credit Union, Girls Inc. and the government funded 21st Century afterschool program for at risk children. She is also an active volunteer in Worcester County. Since 2006, she has mentored children grades Kindergarten through second through the House of Peace and Education in Gardner; and since 2009, she has been a volunteer doula, assisting laboring families non-medically, at Heywood Hospital in Gardner, MA.
Executive Assistant

Legal Managers

Rachel Shannon Brown
Rachel Shannon Brown
Senior Supervising Attorney, Elder Law Unit and Disability Benefits Project
B.A., Linguistics & Cognitive Science (magna cum laude), Brandeis University (2001)
J.D., Boston College Law School (2004)
Rachel worked at Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts (LACCM) for over five years before the program joined with Western Massachusetts Legal Services to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. Rachel’s first role with the program was as a Staff Attorney in the Elder Law Unit, where she handled Medicare, housing, and public benefits cases, among other elder law issues. Rachel assumed the position of Senior Supervising Attorney for the Elder Law Unit and the Disability Benefits Project in late 2020. Rachel is active in CLA’s Diversity and Equity Committee and is a member of the Worcester County Bar Association. She regularly trains on issues pertaining to Medicare eligibility and appeals.

Before coming to LACCM, Rachel was a law clerk at Greater Boston Legal Services, where she worked on a class action lawsuit against the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority under the Americans with Disabilities Act and assisted clients with MassHealth and Medicare matters. Rachel also interned at Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services (now Prisoners’ Legal Services), the Boston Medical Center Domestic Violence Project, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and the City Attorney Prosecutor’s office in Columbus, Ohio. Rachel is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and the U.S. District of Massachusetts.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Elder Law Unit and Disability Benefits Project
Jennifer Dieringer
Jennifer Dieringer
Managing Attorney, Northampton and Pittsfield
B.A., Sociology, Haverford College (1989)
J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (1996)
Jennifer worked at Western Massachusetts Legal Services for over 12 years before the program joined with Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. Jennifer is the Managing Attorney of the Northampton and Pittsfield offices, and specializes in family and housing law. She has handled a number of appellate cases in both areas of law, served as faculty for continuing legal education seminars, and authored academic and practice-oriented publications. She has also taught in a number of law schools and undergraduate colleges and served as a law clerk for the probate and family judges in the four western Massachusetts counties.
Managing Attorney, Northampton and Pittsfield
Amy Dion
Amy Dion
Senior Supervising Attorney, Education and Employment Law Units
Boston College
J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law
Amy came to Community Legal Aid in 2021 with almost a decade of experience as a Staff Attorney at Greater Hartford Legal Aid, where she primarily practiced education and employment law. She has worked in private practice as an education attorney, and prior to joining CLA she worked at UMass Amherst in the Equal Opportunity Office. She is Connecticut native, but now resides in Sturbridge, MA with her husband, two children, and two rescue dogs. In her free time, she can usually be found at the rink watching her kids play hockey.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Education and Employment Law Units
Jane Edmonstone
Jane Edmonstone
Senior Supervising Attorney, Housing Law Unit
B.A., Law and Society (magna cum laude), American University (2003)
J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (2007)
Jane worked at Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts for over four years before the program joined with Western Massachusetts Legal Services to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. Jane is a Staff Attorney in the Housing Law Unit, primarily handling fair housing and eviction defense issues. She provides know-your-rights trainings to tenants and community groups on a regular basis During law school, Jane interned with the Civil Rights Division of Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, the Child Abuse Unit of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and the Boston law firm of Kotin, Crabtree & Strong. Prior to law school, Jane worked with the HIV/AIDS Services program at Tapestry Health in Springfield, MA. Jane is licensed to practice in Massachusetts.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Housing Law Unit
Alyssa Golden
Alyssa Golden
Senior Supervising Attorney, CORI/Re-Entry Unit
B.A., Liberal Studies with a Concentration in Historical, Social, and Cultural Studies, Union Institute and University (2012)
J.D., Roger Williams University School of Law (2014)
Before joining Community Legal Aid, Alyssa practiced law in Fall River, MA as a Staff Attorney with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, defending individuals charged with crimes in the district court. Briefly after that, she represented children and parents in care and protection cases in juvenile court in Worcester County. Before attending law school, Alyssa worked for nearly 10 years in the field of domestic and sexual violence survivor advocacy in a variety of capacities.
Senior Supervising Attorney, CORI/Re-Entry Unit
Ines Kenney
Ines Kenney
Managing Attorney, Fitchburg
B.A., Political Science & Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2013)
J.D., Suffolk University Law School (2016)
Prior to becoming the Managing Attorney of CLA’s Fitchburg office, Ines served as a staff attorney in our Education Law Unit, serving northern Worcester County. Before joining Community Legal Aid, Ines served for one year as an AmeriCorps Legal Advocates of Massachusetts member in Northeast Legal Aid’s Housing Unit. Ines also worked at the Victim Rights Law Center, where she represented survivors of sexual assault in housing, education, privacy, and safety matters.
Managing Attorney, Fitchburg
Lyonel Jean-Pierre Jr.
Lyonel Jean-Pierre Jr.
Managing Attorney, Worcester
B.A., Political Science, Brandeis University (2001)
J.D., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (2004)
Prior to rejoining Community Legal Aid in 2022, Lyonel was the Clinical Instructor/Supervising Attorney of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, where he supervised and instructed second and third year law students certified to represent clients in the Probate and Family Court pursuant to S.J.C. Rule 3:03. After law school, in 2005, Lyonel was a Massachusetts Legal Services Corporation Bart Gordon Fellow with the Prisoner Legal Rights Program (formerly known as the Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services). When the fellowship ended, Lyonel became a full-time Staff Attorney with CLA (formerly known as Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts), where he litigated various domestic relation and restraining order matters in the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court and Massachusetts District Court. After 9 years with CLA, Lyonel joined Murphy & Rudolf, LLP, where he expanded his family law practice to include representing parents and children in care and protection proceedings in the Massachusetts Juvenile Court.

Community Involvement: Judicial Nomination Steering Committee, 2022; S.J.C Lawyer Well-Being Steering Committee, 2018-2019; Community Legal Aid Board, 2017 to 2022; Worcester Community Connections Steering Committee, 2012-2015; Department of Children and Families East Area Board, 2012-2014; and Co-Chair of WCBA Family Law Section, 2011 to 2013.
Managing Attorney, Worcester
Catherine Kay
Catherine Kay
Senior Supervising Attorney, Civil Legal Aid to Victims of Crime Initiative
B.A., History, Smith College (1981)
J.D., Boston University (1985)
Catherine first joined Community Legal Aid’s Family Law Unit in February 2016. She previously worked for 15 years at Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council in New Bedford, MA and Western Massachusetts Legal Services (WMLS) in Pittsfield, MA and Northampton, MA. From 1987 through 2000, she was a Staff Attorney at WMLS, which later merged into CLA, in housing benefits, family law, and elder law. She has taught Legal Services Clinic and Poverty Law at the Western New England University School of Law.

Additionally, she has taught music, directing adult and youth choral groups. Most recently, she worked with her husband in his business, the State Street Fruit Store and Cooper’s Corner.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Civil Legal Aid to Victims of Crime Initiative
Blair Komar Bates
Blair Komar Bates
Senior Supervising Attorney, Housing Law Unit
B.A., Political Science, Vassar College
J.D., Boston University (2012)
Blair joined Community Legal Aid’s subsidiary, the Central West Justice Center, in January 2016 as a housing law attorney, before becoming a Senior Supervising Attorney to the Housing Law Unit in 2021. Before joining CLA, she clerked on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. During law school, she participated in the Boston University Civil Litigation Clinic and interned at the Rhode Island Public Defender, Juvenile Unit and at the Women’s Bar Foundation, Family Law Project.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Housing Law Unit
Meredith Palmer
Meredith Palmer
Pro Bono Director
M.P.H., University of South Carolina School of Public Health, 2006
J.D., Hofstra University School of Law, 2010
Meredith has committed her career to public interest work. While studying for her M.P.H., Meredith focused on LGBTQ health issues in her work. Her advocacy for the LGBTQ community continued throughout law school, where she was named an LGBTQ Advocacy Fellow at Hofstra University School of Law. Upon graduation, Meredith served as the Fair Courts Project Attorney at Lambda Legal in NYC, where she managed a national legal education project aimed at countering harmful attacks against the judiciary that threaten LGBTQ and HIV-affected civil rights. Meredith then served as a Staff Attorney at the Children’s Law Center in Brooklyn, NY, a nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to children in family court proceedings. Upon relocating to Western Massachusetts, Meredith began volunteering at Community Legal Aid’s Northampton office in the Family Law Unit. Shortly thereafter, Meredith was hired as a Staff Attorney, where she represented victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in the Probate and Family Courts and District Courts throughout Western Massachusetts. As of August 2019, Meredith became Pro Bono Director at CLA, a newly created position aimed at expanding the pro bono programs throughout the service region.
Pro Bono Director
Christina Paradiso
Christina Paradiso
Senior Supervising Attorney, Family Law Unit
B.A., Political Sociology, Boston University (1992)
J.D., Boston University School of Law (1996)
Tina worked at Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts for over five years before the program joined with Western Massachusetts Legal Services to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. Tina is a Senior Supervising Attorney in CLA’s Family Law Unit. She handles complex divorce, custody, support, visitation, and abuse prevention matters at the trial and appellate level, and supervises all family law work at CLA. In 2006, Tina was chosen to serve on the Trial Court’s Child Support Guidelines Task Force to evaluate and redesign the Commonwealth’s Child Support Guidelines and in 2012, Tina was asked to serve on Governor Patrick’s Working Group on Child-Centered Family Laws. She received the Women of Justice Award in 2009 in recognition of her meaningful and inspiring contributions in the fields of social justice and advocacy. Tina was formally the co-chair of the Worcester County Bar Association’s Family Law Section.

Before joining CLA, Tina was a Staff Attorney at the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Child Support Enforcement Division, where she was also a special assistant district attorney for nonsupport crimes. In that capacity, she successfully prosecuted many high-profile cases. Tina has participated as a lecturer, panelist, and author in numerous continuing legal education programs.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Family Law Unit
Corrine Ryan
Corrine Ryan
Managing Attorney, Springfield
A.B., English (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), College of the Holy Cross (2010)
J.D., (cum laude), Georgetown University Law Center (2013)
Corrine joined Community Legal Aid in August 2013 and was promoted to Managing Attorney of the Springfield office in March 2020. As a Staff Attorney in CLA’s Disability Benefits Law Unit, she represented claimants seeking Social Security and SSI disability benefits at all levels of Social Security’s appeals process through Federal District Court. Corrine has also helped grow CLA’s Hampden County Education Law Project, advocating to obtain necessary special education services for students, enforce students’ and families’ legal rights, and overcome barriers that stand in the way of student success. Corrine has conducted numerous trainings to legal aid staff, private attorneys, social service providers, and community groups on the intricacies of Social Security law and the rights of students in schools. During law school, Corrine interned at Washington D.C.’s Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with developmental disabilities. She is a member of the Hampden County Bar Association and serves on the Board of Directors for Square One (formerly the Springfield Day Nursery), a leading provider of early childhood education and family support services. Corrine is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and the U.S. District of Massachusetts.
Managing Attorney, Springfield
Gordon Shaw
Gordon Shaw
Director of Client Access
J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (1990)
Gordon worked for Massachusetts Justice Project (MJP) for more than 15 years before the program joined Community Legal Aid in 2014. At CLA, Gordon became the first Director of Client Access. After he received his law degree in 1990 from Northeastern University School of Law, Gordon served two years as a judicial law clerk to the Massachusetts Superior Court (the second year, as the Deputy Chief Law Clerk). He then spent several years in private practice prior to joining MJP as a Staff Attorney in 1998, then Managing Attorney in 2005 and Executive Director in 2011. From 1996 to 2000, he served as co-chair for Hampshire County Reinventing Justice, a task force charged with examining how to make the justice system more accessible.
Director of Client Access
Madeline Weaver Blanchette
Madeline Weaver Blanchette
Senior Supervising Attorney, Family Preservation Project
M.S.W., Boston University (1991)
J.D., (cum laude), Western New England University (2008)
Maddy joined Community Legal Aid after a decade in a law firm she co-founded specializing in the zealous defense, at trial and on appeal, of parents and children facing the overwhelming power of the Department of Children and Families. Fifteen years before graduating from law school, she received a Master of Social Work degree and worked extensively in community crisis services. Immediately after law school, she served as a law clerk to the justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court. In 2021, she received New England Innocence Project’s “Arc of Justice Award” for her work in freeing and exonerating James Watson who served forty years of incarceration for a wrongful murder conviction. Maddy lives with her husband in downtown Northampton, MA, where she is politically active in affordable housing (including being the current Board President of Valley Community Development), the arts, and animal rights.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Family Preservation Project
Amanda Winalski
Amanda Winalski
Senior Supervising Attorney, Housing Law Unit
B.A., English and History (summa cum laude), Temple University (2004)
J.D., (magna cum laude), Boston University School of Law (2007)
LL.M., Animal Law (magna cum laude), Lewis & Clark Law School (2013)
Amanda joined Community Legal Aid in 2014 as part of the HomeCorps foreclosure defense team funded by the Office of the Attorney General, before becoming a Senior Supervising Attorney in 2022. Before joining CLA, Amanda worked as a commercial litigator. During law school, she was a student attorney in the Civil Litigation Clinical Program, interned with the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office, and worked as a summer associate at a law firm. She was also a Note Editor on the Public Interest Law Journal. Following five years of private practice, Amanda returned to school to obtain an LL.M. and transition to public interest work. Amanda was a student attorney in the Animal Law Clinic, where she represented nonprofits and worked on animal protection issues. She is a volunteer literacy tutor. Amanda is licensed to practice in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island (inactive), and the U.S. District Court of Connecticut.
Senior Supervising Attorney, Housing Law Unit
Leigh Woodruff
Leigh Woodruff
Litigation Director
B.A., Allegheny College (1993)
M.A., University of Chicago (1997)
J.D., Villanova University School of Law (2000)
In 2018, Leigh joined Community Legal Aid as the Litigation Director. In that role, Leigh coordinates and supervises state and federal litigation designed to effect positive impacts in the communities we serve. Before joining CLA, Leigh defended commercial clients in trials and appeals nationwide. Leigh’s prior cases often involved aviation, such as a three-month 2016 trial in Seattle, WA in which Leigh’s team won a defense verdict for an aircraft engine manufacturer. Leigh also defended employers against discrimination and wage claims in national class actions and single-plaintiff actions. She is trained in mediation and admitted to practice law in numerous state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Currently, Leigh serves on QCC’s Foundation Board and the YWCA’s Board of Directors; and her prior volunteer work has included mediating child custody disputes. Leigh resides in Worcester, MA with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs.
Litigation Director

Development

Tom Navin
Tom Navin
Development Director
B.B.A., Human Resource Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst (1992)
M. Ed., Higher Education Administration, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2000)
Prior to joining Community Legal Aid in 2018, Tom served as Vice President of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement at World Learning, an international education, development, and exchange organization. Before World Learning, Tom had an 18 year tenure at his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he held several positions in the development office including roles as a Leadership Gift Officer and as Director of Annual Giving. As Director of Annual Giving, he was responsible for the strategy and implementation of all annual appeals to the University’s 200,000+ alumni and friends, and oversaw significant growth of dollars, donors, and functions in the annual fund.
Development Director
Hallie Blashfield
Hallie Blashfield
Development & Communications Coordinator
B.A., Cultural Studies & Communication (magna cum laude), Clark University (2017)
M.A., Community Development & Planning, Clark University (2018)
Prior to joining Community Legal Aid in September 2018, Hallie was a student at Clark University, where she studied Cultural Studies & Communication and Women & Gender Studies before going on to earn her Master’s in Community Development & Planning. During her time as a student, Hallie was an Organizer with NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and interned with NARAL Oregon and Ascentria Care Alliance/the City of Worcester. Hallie is the co-producer of “Foreclosures for Sale: Revisiting Stories of Worcester’s Mortgage Crisis,” a 2018 radio documentary about self represented litigants fighting their foreclosures in court. She was previously a member of the Board of Directors at WCUW 91.3 FM Community Radio in Worcester, MA.
Development & Communications Coordinator
Laura Hancock Barry
Laura Hancock Barry
Development Manager
B.A., University of Massachusetts Amherst
J.D., Suffolk University School of Law
Laura joined Community Legal Aid in 2018 as the Development Manager. She brings both legal experience and development expertise to the position. After earning her law degree from Suffolk University Law School, she honed her writing skills as a law clerk to the Justices of the Superior Court. She then worked as an attorney practicing civil litigation in private practice in Worcester, MA. Before joining CLA’s staff, she was a member of CLA’s Pro Bono panel and advocated for students with education-law related cases. Laura is also the founder and chairperson of the Hopkinton Public Library Foundation (HPLF), a nonprofit organization that succeeded in its mission of raising $1 million for the renovation and expansion of the historic Hopkinton Library. For this initiative she was involved in all aspects of fundraising and advocacy, including developing strategy and messaging, organizing and running events, managing volunteers, contacting prospective donors, writing grants, and overseeing finances.
Development Manager
Christine Holbrook
Christine Holbrook
Grants Manager
B.S. Human Development & Family Studies, Cornell University
Christine has dedicated her professional career to working in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining Community Legal Aid, she worked at UMass Medical School for six years, first in a research lab and then in grant and contract management. Before working at UMass Medical School, she worked at Conservation Services Group, an energy conservation company, for 14 years.

Christine has also done volunteer work through the Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church, including organizing meals and clothing drives for residents of the Southern Middlesex Opportunity Council’s transitional housing program. Additionally, she has volunteered for various regional festivals, including the West Brookfield Asparagus Festival, the Sturbridge Harvest Festival, and Southbridge AutumnFest.
Grants Manager
Arianna Reyes
Arianna Reyes
Development Associate
B.A., International Development & Social Change, Clark University (2021)
M.S., Business, Southern New Hampshire University (2023)
Prior to joining CLA, Arianna was the Administrative Director at the Boston Leadership Institute, a small company that runs summer programs for high achieving teens in STEM. Arianna attended Clark University, where she studied International Development & Social Change with a concentration in Refugee and Genocide studies. During her time at Clark, Arianna interned with the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project and was the secretary for the Clark University STAND (Student Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities) Chapter. Alongside being secretary of STAND, Arianna was the Editor-in-Chief of the Scarlet (the Clark University student led newspaper) for three years, while there she focused her energy on bringing new print back to life on campus. Arianna also has a Master’s of Science in Business from Southern New Hampshire University.
Development Associate
Chelsea Wait
Chelsea Wait
Grants Manager
B.A., Criminal Justice & Creative Writing, Rutgers University, New Brunswick (2012)
M.S., Creative Writing, University of Tampa (2015)
Chelsea has been working in nonprofits for over twelve years. In 2015, they became an AmeriCorps member in the Florida Keys where they first started working in grant writing, development, and communications. Since then, they have worked at a variety of nonprofit organizations across the nation, including spending four years at a legal aid in the Tampa Bay Area where they wrote a successful $2.4 million HUD proposal supporting the state’s eviction prevention efforts. They are an award-winning creative writer of fiction and nonfiction and use their love of storytelling to help funders connect to program participants on a personal level.
Grants Manager

Finance & Operations

Gloria Liseno
Gloria Liseno
HR Assistant
B.S., Biology, Worcester State University (2018)
Born and raised in Worcester, Gloria is excited to join Community Legal Aid as their Human Resources Assistant, continuing her commitment to make a positive impact on her community. With over three years of developing HR skills in hospitality management, alongside a recent role as the Human Resources Assistant for the City of Fitchburg, Gloria will apply her skills to benefit both the employees and the people CLA serves. Gloria’s passion for Human Resources and advocacy, shaped by a childhood living in public housing, drives her dedication to creating an inclusive and supportive workplace in the non-profit sector.
HR Assistant
Hisham Leil
Hisham Leil
Information Technology Director
B.A., Communications Sciences, University of Connecticut (1991)
J.D., University of New Hampshire School of Law (1997)
Hisham worked at Western Massachusetts Legal Services for more than four years before the program joined Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts to form Community Legal Aid in 2011. While serving as lead attorney for the immigrant justice project, Hisham directed the efforts of several partner agencies to provide legal services to hundreds of immigrant victims of domestic violence and crime, many of whom were facing imminent deportation and separation from their families. Hisham also trained and collaborated with numerous law enforcement, prosecution, shelter, and immigrant relief agency staff on matters relating to immigration law throughout Western Massachusetts. He has also appeared in local radio, television, and newspaper media and is a frequent lecturer at Western New England University School of Law on topics relating to immigration law. Prior to his career in legal services, Hisham was in private practice for nine years.
Information Technology Director
Brandon Tunney
Brandon Tunney
Finance Director
B.A., Framingham State University
M.B.A., Framingham State University
Prior to becoming Community Legal Aid’s Finance Director in 2019, Brandon served as the Director of Finance and Administration at Mass Mentoring Partnership from 2016-2019. He was also the Accounting Manager for Victory Programs and served as the Director of Administration and Finance for the GLBTQ Domestic Violence Project from 2010-2015.
Finance Director
Alicia Vaughan
Alicia Vaughan
Director of Human Resources
B.S., Business Administration, Fitchburg State University
M.B.A., Fitchburg State University
Alicia started her Human Resources career as Human Resources Manager and Publishers Assistant at the Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper. She then went on to serve as the Human Resources and Interoffice Operations Manager for etfile, and the Director of Human Resources at Crossroads School. In 2021, Alicia joined Community Legal Aid as the Director of Human Resources. Alicia is a Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional and a participating member of the MetroWest Human Resources Management Association.
Director of Human Resources
Liz Campanale
Liz Campanale
Assistant Fiscal Manager
Liz joined Community Legal Aid in July 2012 and is responsible for processing payroll and accounts payable, and reporting to several grant funding sources. Liz has worked in insurance, manufacturing, and nonprofit industries and has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit social services accounting. She is also involved in the financial operations of her family’s automotive repair business.

Assistant Fiscal Manager
Sandra Girardi-Uljua
Sandra Girardi-Uljua
Accounting Assistant
Sandi brings years of experience in accounting and bookkeeping in both the private and nonprofit sector to her role at Community Legal Aid. She also volunteers her time and services as Treasurer for a condominium association in Auburn, MA.

Accounting Assistant
Ingrid Liu
Ingrid Liu
Recruitment Coordinator
B.A., International Relations & Global Studies and French, The University of Texas at Austin (2019)
Prior to joining Community Legal Aid, Ingrid worked full-time on the Korea team for AIESEC, an international youth-run nonprofit.
Recruitment Coordinator

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