Executive Committee Member, Immigration Section, Alameda County Bar Association, 2018 – 2020
LGBT Coordinator for the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association of Northern California (“AILA NorCal”), 2013
Co-Chair of the Immigration Section of the San Francisco Bar Association’s Barristers Club, 2013 – 2015
Immigration and Nationality Law Advisory Commission, State Bar of California, 2015 – 2019
Special Licenses/Certifications:
Certified as a specialist in Immigration and Nationality law by the California Board of Legal Specialization
Pro bono/Community Service:
Asian Law Caucus
El Centro Legal de La Raza
Volunteered as a mentor on numerous asylum cases for the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights
National Center of Lesbian Rights
Honors/Awards:
Super Lawyers, (2019 – 2023), Northern California Super Lawyers
Rising Star, 2015 – 2018, Northern California Super Lawyers
Educational Background:
University of Montana, Missoula, Spanish and Psychology
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
“Creative Humanitarian Options: Using All the Tools in the Toolbox”, (Presenting specifically on the special parole programs for nationals of Ukraine, Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Ecuador), AILA National Web Seminar, Washington, DC, November 29, 2023.
“Start-ups and Entrepreneurship Visa Considerations for International Students,” Haas School of Business, UC-Berkeley, Berkeley, California, April 14, 2019.
“Counseling Employers on the DACA Workforce,” 2019 AILA Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, June 20, 2019.
“Dealing with Employment Gaps,” 32st Annual AILA California Chapters Conference, Monterey, California, November 9, 2019.
“After TPS Ends: Strategies to Keep Beneficiaries in the United States,” 2020 AILA Webinar, Washington, D.C., January 14, 2019.
“Student Visa Changes Under the Trump Administration,” Alameda County Bar Association, Oakland, California, March, 2020.
“Not Your Typical NIV: Employment-Based Strategies for Employees with Unique Immigration Status,” 2020 AILA Annual Conference, San Diego, California, June 2020.
“The Supreme Court’s DACA Decision Is In: Practical Tips & Strategies for Short and Long Term Solutions” Alameda Bar Association Immigration section and AILA NorCal, Oakland, California, August 2020.
“DACA and TPS Under Attack: Using Employment-Based Strategies to Obtain a More Secure Status” AILA National Webinar, Washington, D.C., September 2020.
“Waivers . . . Your Client Did What?!!! Inadmissibility Issues for O’s and P’s” 2020 AILA Athletics, Culture, Entertainment, and Science (ACES) Virtual Conference, Washington, D.C., October 2020.
“Employment-based Immigration for Non-profit Immigration Attorneys: Identifying Eligibility for Work Visas and Green Cards”, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, online webinar from Bogota, Colombia, April 27, 2022
“Unraveling the Findream Nightmare: Representing Former F-1 Students Who Relied on Time Spent at Findream/Sinnocontech, Integra Technologies”, AILA NorCal, virtual presentation from Bogota, Colombia, October 2022.
“Explorando la Maternidad Subrogada en la Sociedad Contemporánea (Exploring Surrogacy and Maternity in Contemporary Society)” Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Universidad Externada de Colombia, Bogotá Colombia, October 4, 2023.
“EB-3 Green Cards for Skilled and Unskilled Workers & Addressing Their Unique Challenges”, AILA Chicago Chapter’s Virtual 2023-2024 Conference, Chicago, Illinois, November 15, 2023.
“Same-Sex Couples and Asylum,” Lavender Law Conference, Miami, Florida, August 2010
“I-864 Affidavit of Support: Intersection of Immigration and Family Law,” The Bar Association of San Francisco; The Barristers Immigration Section and the Barristers Family Law Section, San Francisco, California, July 23, 2013
“Practice Tips on Preparing and Strengthening Waiver Applications,” Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, April 12, 2011
“Overview of US Immigration Law,” Catholic Charities event provided to Social Workers, San Francisco, California, August 16, 2011
“Immigration Law: Political Asylum for HIV+ LGBTQ-Identified Persons in El Salvador,” AIDS Legal Referral Panel and AILA Nor Cal, San Francisco, California, October 18, 2011
“Hot Topics in Prosecutorial Discretion and the Defense of Marriage Act,” All Star American Immigration Council CLE, San Francisco, California, October 21, 2011
“Advocacy: Prosecutorial Discretion,” American Immigration Lawyer’s Association’s California Conference, San Francisco, California, November 10, 2011
“I-601A Waivers,” AILA Nor Cal, San Francisco, California, May, 2013
“Pre-filing Strategies for H-1B Cap Season”, Alameda County Bar Association, Oakland, California, February 5, 2019
“Overview of Asylum Law from Asylum Office to Immigration Court,” Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco, California, September 16, 2013
“Green Cards for Same Sex Couples,” Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco, California, November 15, 2013
“Alternatives to the H-1B,” American Immigration Lawyers Association, Northern California Chapter, San Francisco, California, April 15, 2014
“Foreign National Scientists Obtaining Work in the United States,” American Chemical Society’s National Meeting and Exposition, San Francisco, California, August 10, 2014
“Immigration Options for Start-ups,” Event hosted by Hattery, a co-working space for entrepreneurs and start-ups, San Francisco, California, September 2014
“Obama’s Executive Action: How it Impacts Undocumented Immigrants, Employers and Foreign Employees,” Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, May 7, 2015
“Immigration Options for Entrepreneurs and Investors: A Substantive two hour MCLE dedicated to both (E-1/E-2) non-immigrant and (EB-5) immigrant visa options for entrepreneurs and investors,” Moderator for both sessions, co-sponsored by the Bar Association of San Francisco and AILA Nor Cal, San Francisco, California, September 29, 2014
“New Year, New Rule: the DHS Final Regulations for High-Skilled Workers,” Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, January 9, 2017
“Practice Management CLE: Managing for Success”, AILA NorCal, San Francisco, California, February, 17 2017
“Overview of Employment-Based Immigration,” guest lecturer, Immigration Law, JFK Law School, Pleasanton, California, February 18, 2017
“Immigration Law in the Employment Context,” San Francisco Small Business Week, San Francisco, California, May 17, 2017
“Employment-Based Options for DACA recipients,” Festival of Undocu Innovation, Sausalito, California, September 23, 2017
“Screening DACA recipients for Eligibility for Employment-Based Cases,” AILA NorCal, San Francisco, California, October 12, 2017
“Screening TPS Recipients For Eligibility For Employment-Based Cases, ” Becker & Lee LLP, CARECEN of Northern CA, & AILA NorCal, San Francisco, California, December 11, 2017
“Exploring Alternative Options For Salvadorans Before TPS is Terminated in 2019,” Consulate of El Salvador in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, February 24, 2018
“TPS to Employment-Based Green Card: Identifying Employment-Based Options for TPS Recipients Before It Is Too Late,” LA County Bar Association, Family-Based Immigration Law Symposium, Los Angeles, California, March 10, 2018
“Forming and Dissolving Partnerships,” 2018 AILA Annual Conference, San Francisco, California, June 15, 2018
“Temporary Protected Status is Over – Now What?”, Alameda County Bar Association, Oakland, California, July 24, 2018
“Relief for the Undocumented in the Workforce”, 31st Annual AILA California Chapters Conference, San Diego, California, November 2, 2018