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.
Sarah Belton
Equal Justice Works Fellow
B.A., Stanford University; J.D., Harvard Law School
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Sarah joined LSC in September 2010 after receiving an Equal Justice Works fellowship to represent students in education matters including school discipline and issues related to school enrollment and push-out. Sarah was previously a legal intern at LSC during the summer of 2007. Her project aims to prevent the push-out of marginalized student groups and to help create a school culture inclusive of these students. During law school, Sarah was a student in Harvard’s Child Advocacy Program clinic and represented both youth and adults in delinquency and criminal matters, respectively. Upon graduating, Sarah completed a federal district court clerkship with Judge Algenon L. Marbley of the Southern District of Ohio. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys cooking, tap dancing, and watching the Giants and the 49ers.
Lauren Brady Blalock
Senior 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.
Sara Cendejas
Administrative Coordinator
B.A., Stanford University
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Sara joined LSC in August 2011. She graduated from Stanford University in 2011 having double majored in Psychology and International Relations. Sara was a JusticeCorp/AmeriCorp Intern at the Family Law Facilitator’s Office at the Superior Court of California in San Mateo County and has worked as a Research Assistant in the Mind, Culture and Society Lab at the Stanford Department of Psychology, where she researched issues of identity, race, and ethnicity and their implications across different societal institutions. Sara studied abroad in Florence, Italy and speaks Italian very well, and is a native speaker of Spanish. Sara enjoys spending time with her family and friends, eating her mom’s great food, reading while drinking a good cup of coffee, and listening to new artists’ music while wishing she was musically talented.
Linn Chiu
Social Worker
B.A. Ohio University; M.S.W. San Francisco State University
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Linn 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, Linn 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, Linn 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.
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.
Alison Lucas
Intake/ Outreach Coordinator
B.A., Indiana University
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Ali joined LSC in November of 2010 as the Intake/Outreach Coordinator. In 2009 Ali graduated from Indiana University, where she completed a Capstone Thesis exploring the topic of “agency” in relation to the concept of “childhood” along the socioeconomic spectrum. She has worked as a research assistant for Indiana University, has taught ESL classes in the Dominican Republic, and has worked as a Teacher’s Assistant for a middle school Spanish class. She recently moved from snowy Ithaca, NY, and is getting used to the CA coast. Outside work, she loves to spend time with her partner Byard; read books about women’s health and midwifery; drink coffee; covet dogs; play competitive scrabble and tennis; eat pizza and ice cream (and chocolate); and write letters to family and friends.
Erin Maxwell
Social Worker
B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.S.W, University of California, Berkeley
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Erin joined LSC in May of 2010. She is a social worker with the Detained Immigrant Children’s Project. Prior to coming to LSC Erin worked for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services advocating on behalf of, and making best interest recommendations for, unaccompanied detained immigrant children and youth. She has experience working with immigrants and refugees both domestically and internationally. She is fluent in Spanish. When not working Erin enjoys reading, bicycle riding and traveling to beautiful beaches.
Eliza Patten
Senior Staff Attorney
B.A., Stanford University; J.D. New York Univeristy School of Law; C.W.L.S.
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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 guardianship, immigration, dependency and school discipline matters, she 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. She is co-author of Hidden Injustice: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Juvenile Courts. Over the past two decades, Carolyn has worked with children, youth and families in several capacities—as social worker, child welfare worker, child and family therapist, school counselor and lawyer. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, backpacking, yoga and, most especially, spending time with her daughter, Kairos.
Rumeli Snyder
Senior 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, 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 lives there with her partner, Cyrus; their son, Sandriz, who was born in June 2010; and their cat, Budokan. Rumeli (a.k.a. “Tia Mei Mei”) also spends as much time as possible with her nephews, Selim and Naveed, and the rest of her family. Her interests include music, crafts, travel, good food, and finding treasures at thrift stores/flea markets/antique stores.
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.
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. 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.
Hayley Upshaw
Staff Attorney
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.
Alison Yoder
Development Associate
B.A., University of Colorado, Boulder
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Alison joined LSC’s development department in December 2010. She previously worked as the development associate for the McCullum Youth Court in Oakland and Quinn Associates in San Francisco – a consulting firm which specializes in nonprofit arts management. Alison originally hails from Massachusetts and loves Ethiopian food.
