LSC’s dedicated attorneys, social workers and support staff provide every client with comprehensive, holistic service to enable them to live healthy, productive and meaningful lives.
Lauren Brady
Staff Attorney
B.A., Princeton University; J.D, Stanford Law School
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Lauren joined LSC in September of 2006, and was previously a legal intern in the summer of 2005. She was awarded a Skadden Fellowship to implement a project to address the educational needs of foster youth in the Bay Area through individual representation, outreach and policy advocacy. Lauren has previously worked on education related issues through the Youth & Education Law Project at Stanford Law School, was an advocate and mentor for at-risk and incarcerated youth in the delinquency system, and is a life-long Boston Red Sox fan.
Shella Brenner
Development Director
B.A., State University of New York at Stony Brook; M.A., City University of New York, Queens College
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Shella joined LSC in October 2007 and oversees resource development from individuals, foundations and the corporate sector and manages communications and marketing efforts. Shella has worked in the non-profit sector in both New York and San Francisco for twenty years. Most recently she has served as the Director of Development for Legal Community Against Violence and, prior to that, for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Shella is a self-acknowledged homebody, classic movie buff, and crazy cat-lady who occasionally leaves her home for biking (flat routes only), traveling, and watching pro-beach volleyball.
Reyna Burgos
DICP Coordinator
B.A., San Francisco State University
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Reyna joined LSC in September 2005. She manages the Detained Immigrant Children’s Project. Her main focus is providing direct support for detained Spanish-speaking immigrant youth. Reyna’s professional background includes working as a certified mediator, certified domestic violence counselor, and a suicide hotline counselor. As a mediator and counselor, she assisted adults and youth who faced substance abuse, domestic violence, and HIV/AIDS-related issues. Outside of work, she loves spending time with her four-legged child KittyCat, her nephews Giovanne and Issa, and her niece Genevieve.
Linda Chiu
Social Worker
B.A. Ohio University; M.S.W. San Francisco State University
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Linda joined the LSC team in June 2008. Linda has been a social worker working primarily with foster care/homeless/runaway youth for the past ten years both in New York City and in San Francisco. She has a deep commitment towards social justice and working in disenfranchised communities. While at LSC, Linda will be providing social work support and assisting with both the Young Women’s Empowerment Project and the Model Standards Project. In her spare time, Linda enjoys karaoke, picnicking in Dolores Park, and going to the movies.
Andrea Del-Pan
Senior Staff Attorney
B.A., Saint Mary’s College of California; J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law
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Prior to joining LSC in July, 2007 Andrea managed the Tacoma office of TeamChild, a legal services agency in Washington State. At TeamChild, Andrea represented at risk and incarcerated youth on their civil legal matters, including school discipline, enrollment and special education issues. She also provided training and outreach to the legal, social service, and parent community on basic education rights of students. Earlier in her career, Andrea represented youth in dependency and delinquency proceedings, and monolingual Spanish speaking parents in custody cases at the Family and Children’s Law Center in Marin County. Andrea is also a former NAPIL fellow. Andrea continues to advocate on behalf of children at LSC, representing youth in immigration, legal guardianship and juvenile dependency matters. She is fluent in Spanish. In her free time, Andrea enjoys the outdoors with her partner, Jaime, scuba diving in warm waters, and adding to her Nancy Drew book collection.
Rachael Gardiner
Equal Justice Works Fellow
B.A. Oberlin College; J.D. Berkeley Law School
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Rachael joined LSC in August 2009, and was previously a legal intern in the summer of 2008. She was awarded an Equal Justice Works Fellowship to implement a project that addresses public benefits needs for youth in out-of-home care placements in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. The project hopes to stabilize youth in their home placement, facilitate educational success, and increase overall safety and well-being. During a legal clerkship at the National Center for Youth Law, Rachael advocated for youth seeking access to Supplemental Security benefits in order to adequately address their mental health needs. Rachael is a Bay Area native, loves being outdoors, and is learning how to play flamenco music on her guitar.
Ron Gutierrez
Clinical Director
B.A., Wesleyan University; M.S.W., Columbia University
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Ron has been practicing social work at LSC since 1996. He received his license as a clinical social worker (LCSW) in 1999. From 1992 to 1994, he served as a foster care caseworker with Episcopal Social Services in New York City. At LSC, Ron supervises the social work staff and interns, as well as the overall coordination of clinical services. Outside of work, Ron is a competitive and accomplished road and mountain bike racer, continuing his on-going training each day during his commute. Ron and his wife, Cherie, are proud parents of their two beautiful daughters. He is fluent in Spanish.
Helen Jiang
Office Manager
B.A., San Francisco State University
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Helen manages and provides administrative support for the office. In addition, Helen often provides translation support for numerous immigration and other cases. Helen enjoys cooking, knitting and traveling in her spare time, and recently celebrated the birth of her son, Derrick. She is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.
Eliza Patten
Senior Staff Attorney
B.A., Stanford University; J.D. New York Univeristy School of Law
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Eliza joined LSC in July 2007 after a two and a half year hiatus from legal practice during which time she had two children and spent some time teaching Legal Writing at Stanford Law School and UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. After graduating from law school, Eliza worked from 2001-2005, first as a Skadden Fellow and then as a staff attorney, at Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), in Wilmington, Delaware. At CLASI, an unrestricted legal services agency, Eliza implemented a fellowship project that focused on improving the delivery of child welfare services to children in foster care through representation of parents in dependency proceedings, community education and outreach to clients and service providers, and public policy work at the state level. At LSC, Eliza continues to focus on dependency practice and is enjoying the new experience of representing youth. When not at work, Eliza enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, Sophie and Cyrus.
Carolyn Reyes
Senior Staff Attorney
B.A., Wheaton College, M.A., Pacific School of Religion, M.S.W., San Francisco State University, J.D., UC Hastings College of the Law
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Carolyn joined LSC in January 2005 as a Staff Attorney, and was previously a legal intern in 2003-2004. In addition to representing children and youth in immigration, dependency and school discipline matters, Carolyn coordinates the Model Standards Project, leading workshops and assisting counties in implementing model professional standards for the care of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in out-of-home care. In addition, Carolyn helps to coordinate the Equity Project, a collaborative initiative with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the National Juvenile Defender Center focused on ensuring fairness and respect for LGBT youth in delinquency courts. Over the past 19 years, she has worked with children, youth and families in several capacities—as social worker, child welfare worker, child and family therapist, school counselor and lawyer. Carolyn lives in Oakland with her partner, April, and their daughter, Kairos, and two Labs, Zendo and Tenzo. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, backpacking and yoga. She also really likes the color green.
Emily Rodda
Youth Outreach Coordinator
B.A., Davidson College
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Emily lives out her commitment to social justice by working at LSC as a Jesuit Volunteer. The Jesuit Volunteer Corps offers women and men an opportunity to work full-time for justice and peace. Emily will be staffing the Intake line, running the weekly clinic and providing general assistance for the lawyers throughout the year. Before skipping over to the west coast, Emily lived in Memphis, TN where she cheered for the Tigers, ate copious amounts of BBQ, and played recreational basketball every Saturday afternoon. Emily attended Davidson College in North Carolina. She graduated with High Honors in Spanish, a minor in Chemistry, and a new love for sweet tea. Emily is proficient in Spanish.
Rumeli Snyder
Social Worker
B.A., Hampshire College; M.S.W., San Francisco State University
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Prior to joining the LSC staff in 2006, Rumeli was a clinical case manager at two of La Clinica de la Raza’s high school-based health centers in Oakland. She has extensive experience providing short-term counseling, therapy, crisis intervention, psycho-education and case management to a diverse group of teens and their families. Rumeli received her License in Clinical Social Work in August 2008. She is particularly interested in the issues facing Latino immigrant youth and she is fluent in Spanish. She is a native of Oakland and spends as much time as possible with her two nephews, Selim and Naveed. She also likes to spend time with the rest of her family and friends, finding treasures at flea markets/antique shops/thrift stores, making artsy craftsy stuff, travel, good food, and good music.
Alvaro D. Soria
Staff Attorney
B.A., Stanford University; J.D., Stanford Law School
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Alvaro joined LSC in September 2008. Prior to joining LSC, Alvaro was the Equal Justice Litigation Fellow at the Impact Fund in Berkeley, working on employment discrimination, racial profiling and other civil rights cases. He is also a former clerk of the Honorable Patricio M. Serna of the New Mexico Supreme Court. While in law school, Alvaro worked on behalf of low-income clients and on education related cases with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Stanford Law School’s Youth and Education Law Project. When not in the office, Alvaro likes to cook, hike, and watch soccer and college football and basketball on television.
Erin Sozanski
Development Associate
B.S., Rice University
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Erin joined LSC in September of 2008, after finishing a year of service through AmeriCorps*VISTA in Trenton, NJ and North Philadelphia. Prior to her work with AmeriCorp Erin spent the summer as a Development Intern at Shambhala Mountain Center and working with at-risk and special needs campers at Cradle Beach Camp. Erin loves all things Buffalo, from the Bills to the chicken wings.
Kirsten Strobel
Pro Bono Coordinator
B.S., University of Maryland
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Kirsten joined LSC in 2005 coordinates LSC’s extensive pro bono panel which has a membership of over 200 Bay Area attorneys who represent youth in guardianship, school discipline and immigration cases. She attended the University of Maryland earning a degree in psychology and graduating magna cum laude in 2001. Kirsten serves on the Alumnae Board of Mercy High School in Burlingame, plays tennis and attends as many SF Giants games as possible.
Abigail Trillin
Managing Attorney
B.A., Yale University; J.D., New York University
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As Managing Attorney, Abigail oversees all attorneys and legal interns, and supervises over 2,500 intakes and multiple attorney and service provider trainings each year. Previous to joining LSC in 1996, Abigail worked at numerous charitable organizations with a focus on education, and taught at an inner-city school in Los Angeles. At LSC, Abigail continues to work with children and youth, representing them in school cases, guardianships, dependency and other juvenile law issues. Abigail is one of the nation’s first Certified Child Welfare Law Specialists. She is proficient in Spanish. Every moment outside of work, Abigail and her husband enjoy their beautiful daughters, Izzy and Rebecca.
Derek Tafu Wang
Social Worker
B.A. U.C. Berkeley, M.S.W. Cal State East Bay
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Derek joined LSC in June of 2008. Prior to LSC, he interned at Alameda County Juvenile Hall, providing individual and group counseling in the Mental Health Treatment Unit. He previously worked with Conard House as a case manager for formerly-homeless, dually-diagnosed adults. Derek was also the president of Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed community service fraternity and organized college students to volunteer for human service organizations in the Bay Area. His current interests are to continue to provide advocacy and support for adolescents on an individual and systems level. On his spare time Derek likes to hike, play board games, and be a fan of the Dodgers, Lakers and all professional teams from Los Angeles.
Hayley Upshaw
Equal Justice Works Fellow
B.A., University of Chicago; J.D. Northwestern University School of Law
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Hayley joined LSC in August 2008. She was awarded an Equal Justice Works fellowship to represent unaccompanied immigrant youth in the Bay Area. She will assist youth in obtaining safe, stable living arrangements through guardianship or dependency, in getting the educational services they require, and in pursuing immigration relief. Before attending law school, Hayley taught elementary school for three years in San Jose, California. During law school she represented youth in school expulsion hearings and delinquency proceedings and provided special education advocacy for foster youth. Hayley learned Spanish during a year abroad in Spain and loves to travel. She is a big fan of the local food movement and makes a weekly trip to her local farmers market.
Shannan Wilber
Executive Director
B.A. Michigan State University; J.D. Santa Clara University
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Shannan Wilber has been the Executive Director at Legal Services for Children since April 2001. Prior to her current position, Shannan served as a Staff Attorney at the Youth Law Center for nine years, where she specialized in the legal rights of children in out-of-home care. She was the first Directing Attorney at Legal Advocates for Children and Youth (LACY) from 1990 -1992. Earlier in her career, she worked as an associate at Morrison & Foerster from 1988-1990, and served as a law clerk for Associate Justice Alan Broussard at the California Supreme Court from 1986-1988. In her spare time, Shannan likes to sing, garden and spend time with her children, Jake and Liam.
