Public Defender with New York County Defender Services (Unpaid Leave)

I am a career public defender. I started my career at The Legal Aid Society in the Manhattan Criminal Defense Practice. After three years, I then began working at New York County Defender Services (NYCDS), where I have been employed since 2015.

PS 62 in Richmond Hill, JHS 210 in Woodhaven, and St. Francis Preparatory High School in Fresh Meadows. B.S. in Crime, Law, and Justice from Penn State, and a J.D. from New York Law School.

Obama for America volunteer; Amplify Her member; Know Your Rights volunteer; LGBTQIA+ sports league volunteer; public interest work in different areas from VAWAs and U-Visa assistance to supporting housing and government benefits.

Throughout law school, I held a number of internships and externships with public interest organizations. At CONNECT, Inc. I helped undocumented survivors of domestic violence petition for VAWAs (Violence Against Women Act) and U-Visas with the goal of adjusting their immigration status. At Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, I conducted client intakes and provided assistance with various housing, healthcare, and benefits issues. In one of Legal Aid’s civil offices, my responsibilities were vast. I updated a pro se manual that we could give to folks that we, unfortunately, had to turn away due to lack of resources. I managed my own caseload, representing clients at social security and disability (SSI/SSD) hearings before Administrative Law Judges, at Fair Hearings to get government benefits reinstated, and drafted appeals to unfavorable and unfair decisions. I spent a semester at the Queens DA’s office conducting research, writing motions, observing in court and observing the culture of both the Queens DA’s office and the Queens County judiciary.

I am running for Queens District Attorney because I am committed to fixing our broken justice system, and we need a public defender’s perspective in this office. I believe that District Attorneys must innately understand the generational trauma and historical systems of oppression that have been disproportionately enacted on black and brown, LGBTQIA+, immigrant, low-income, and other disenfranchised communities. I do not believe in incremental change. We cannot have well-meaning but otherwise immaterial policies that continue to be biased along race and class lines. This is dangerous because many will mistakenly think our system has become more equitable and just, when in reality, it has not. We can only be successful with wide-reaching, innovative reform. I want to ensure that Queens is home to the most progressive, justice-oriented District Attorney in the country, and I believe I am the best person to bring real reform to the office.