Immigration Equality - 2.5 About Us

"Immigration Equality is the only national organization in the country fighting for equality for LGBT and HIV positive immigrants."

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Ali R.S Abbas is the Database and Operations Associate at Immigration Equality, national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Mr. Abbas splits his time three ways assisting the Operations Director, the Development Manager, and the Executive Director. Mr. Abbas received his undergraduate degree from DePaul University and is currently finishing his Masters at New York University. His program is interdisciplinary and his concentration is Human Rights, Refugees, Technology, and LGBTQ issues. E-mail aabbas@immigrationequality.org

Gabe Carleton-Barnes is the Operations Director at Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Mr. Carleton-Barnes is responsible for the smooth and efficient day-to-day operation of Immigration Equality’s national headquarters, providing direct support to the legal services and advocacy staff, and the organization’s fundraising work. He received his B.A. from Oberlin College with a double-major in Computer Science and Theatre. Mr. Carleton-Barnes brings six years of nonprofit Operational and Technology experience from his previous work at Ecotrust, Wild Salmon Center, and other small organizations in the Northwest United States. E-mail gabecb@immigrationequality.org

Albert R. Chen is a Legal Fellow at Immigration Equality. He directly represents LGBT and HIV-positive asylum seekers in asylum proceedings and helps answer immigration law inquiries. He is also compiling a legal brief database for use by asylum attorneys. Mr. Chen has a M.A. in political science from Columbia University and is also a graduate of the McGill University Faculty of Law, where he was case comments editor of the McGill Law Journal. After graduating from law school, Mr. Chen researched immigration and refugee law while serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Justice Michel Shore of the Federal Court of Canada. E-mail achen@immigrationequality.org.

Holly Chen is a Legal Fellow at Immigration Equality. Ms. Chen serves as part of the legal team in the New York office, where she takes a leading role in our detention advocacy, as well as represents a transgender detainee in immigration court. Ms. Chen received her law degree from Columbia Law School, where she was a member of the Sexuality & Gender Law Clinic, and her bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to working at Immigration Equality, Ms. Chen worked as a civil legal services paralegal and a legal intern at public interest organizations advocating on behalf of reproductive rights and the rights of transgender individuals. She will be joining Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in New York as an associate in the Real Estate Department in Fall 2010. Email hchen@immigrationequality.org.

Win Chesson is the Development Manager at Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Mr. Chesson is responsible for conceptualizing and executing Immigration Equality’s fundraising activities, including special events, publications, and grant-writing. Mr. Chesson graduated as a Morehead Scholar from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in both International Studies and Women’s Studies, as well as a minor in Sexuality Studies. At UNC, Mr. Chesson directed the 2007 Unity Conference, an annual gathering of progressive LGBT and allied activists from across the Southeast. Most recently, Mr. Chesson cycled across the country to raise money and awareness about the United States affordable housing crisis. E-mail wchesson@immigrationequality.org

Pamela Denzer is part of the legal team at Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Ms. Denzer represents LGBT and HIV-positive asylum seekers at asylum hearings and in Immigration Court and assists asylees with adjustment of status applications and HIV waivers. She also helps binational couples and transgender clients navigate US immigration laws that discriminate against LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants and their families. Ms. Denzer did course work at Fordham University Law School and was a Stein Scholar for Public Interest Law. Before joining Immigration Equality, Ms. Denzer worked as a BIA Accredited Representative at HIV Law Project representing HIV positive asylum seekers, handling adjustment of status cases involving HIV waiver issues, and providing technical assistance to attorneys and BIA Accredited representatives on HIV waiver issues. Email pdenzer@immigrationequality.org.

Christopher Taylor Edwards is the Communications Manager for Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. He joined the organization after working as a grassroots volunteer, including designing the Immigration Equality float for the San Francisco Pride Parade in 2004, leading the former DC Chapter, and co-organizing its annual Valentine’s Day fundraiser. Throughout those eight and half years, he has been in a long-term, binational relationship. In addition to his volunteer work, Mr. Edwards has spent over a decade building a portfolio as a graphic designer and writer, including working with nonprofit clients as diverse as DC’s Brainfood, SOS Children’s Villages, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and the Stop AIDS Project. Mr. Edwards studied anthropology at the University of Virginia and has a BFA in Media Arts from the California College of the Arts. Email ctedwards@immigrationequality.org.

Julie A. Kruse is the Policy Director at Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Ms. Kruse heads Immigration Equality’s Washington, D.C., office, where she works to advance the rights of LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants and their families and to create fully inclusive comprehensive immigration reform. She leads the national effort to pass the Uniting American Families Act. Ms. Kruse holds a Master’s in Education degree from Northwestern University. She has over 15 years of experience working for LGBT, immigrant, and women’s rights and economic justice, including serving as Interim Director of Legislative Affairs for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Director of Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships at the Center for Economic Progress, and as Vice President of Chicago Women in Trades. She worked with two Chicago-based Latino community programs and taught high school in Nicaragua. Ms. Kruse led the national Immigrant Taxpayer Working Group and chaired the Employment and Pay Equity Working Group of the Illinois Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women. E-mail jkruse@immigrationequality.org.

Gannon Long is the Grassroots Organizer of Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Ms. Long connects activists from across the country with the tools they need to advocate for LGBT-inclusive comprehensive immigration reform. Originally from Hartford, CT, she earned a Bachelor�s degree in Romance Languages and Literatures from The University of Chicago in 2004. Since then, she has worked at Everybody Wins! CT and The Institute for Community Research, as well as serving on the Board of Directors for True Colors, Inc. Previously, she was a Field Organizer at Love Makes a Family, successfully advocating for marriage equality in Connecticut. E-mail glong@immigrationequality.org.

Aaron C. Morris is a Staff Attorney at Immigration Equality. Mr. Morris provides direct representation to indigent LGBT and HIV-positive foreign nationals in asylum proceedings, at adjustment-of-status and naturalization interviews, and in the federal courts. Mr. Morris also represents transgender individuals in marriage-based green card applications and in obtaining gender-appropriate identity documents from U.S. immigration authorities. He provides general legal advice to same-sex binational couples in navigating the immigration system, and he works with both detained and non-detained individuals. Mr. Morris is a graduate of the American University’s Washington College of Law and the University of Oklahoma. Before joining Immigration Equality, Mr. Morris was an immigration staff attorney in the Office of Legal Affairs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Currently, he serves as Secretary of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on AIDS. E-mail amorris@immigrationequality.org

Victoria Neilson is the Legal Director of Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Ms. Neilson runs Immigration Equality’s pro bono asylum project and provides technical assistance and mentoring on LGBT and HIV immigration issues to attorneys around the country. She is the primary author of The LGBT/HIV Asylum Manual, a comprehensive guide for attorneys, and she has published extensively on legal issues facing LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants and refugees. Ms. Neilson received her law degree from the City University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. Ms. Neilson is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and former chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on AIDS. She was a 2009 recipient of the LGBT Law Association of Greater New York ((Le-Gal) Community Vision award. Ms. Neilson is the former Litigation Director at the HIV Law Project in New York and a former tenant organizer. E-mail vneilson@immigrationequality.org

Steve Ralls is Director of Communications for Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. He joined the organization following his work with Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, where he placed hundreds of media stories on LGBT issues, including military law, marriage equality, transgender civil rights and more. Mr. Ralls has been widely quoted in the press, including in the Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and virtually every major daily newspaper in the country. He has penned op-eds appearing in dozens of newspapers across the country and worked with The Washington Post on more than a dozen editorials dealing with LGBT military issues. Mr. Ralls has coordinated coverage of federal, state, and local issues affecting the LGBT community, including an award-winning 60 Minutes report on gay troops serving in the war zone. He is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, The Bilierico Project, and Ambiente magazine. E-mail sralls@immigrationequality.org

Stephen Silva is the Paralegal at Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Mr. Silva assists the legal team in New York and serves as Immigration Equality’s liaison to pro bono attorneys. Originally from Massachusetts, Mr. Silva attended Yale University, where he received his B.A. in Portuguese. At Yale, Mr. Silva was heavily involved in LGBT leadership and educational endeavors, helping to run a peer counseling program, teaching healthy sexuality workshops in public schools, and serving on the board of the LGBT Cooperative. Before coming to Immigration Equality, Mr. Silva interned at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, DC, where he worked on their National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change. E-mail ssilva@immigrationequality.org

Rachel B. Tiven is the Executive Director of Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Under her leadership, Immigration Equality has tripled in size, quadrupled client services, and opened a policy office in Washington, D.C. Ms. Tiven received her law degree from Columbia Law School and her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. She has represented immigrant clients at the Legal Aid Society of New York, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Barbara S. Jones in the Southern District of New York. Before becoming an attorney, Ms. Tiven was a reporter and television producer for Bloomberg Business News, and a member of Lambda Legal’s media team. E-mail: rtiven@immigrationequality.org.

Constance (Connie) Utada is the Policy Counsel for Immigration Equality, a national organization fighting for equal immigration rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and HIV-positive community. Ms. Utada works with the policy team to lobby Capitol Hill and key stakeholders on pro-LGBT immigration legislation. She plays a major role in campaigning for the Uniting American Families Act (S. 424/H.R. 1024) and the Reuniting Families Act (H.R. 2079). Ms. Utada received her law degree from Northeastern University and is an alumna of Smith College, with a bachelors degree in American Studies. After law school, she worked as a Public Defender in Massachusetts, representing indigent clients. She also has previous experience working with the Refugee Protection Program at Human Rights First. E-mail: cutada@immigrationequality.org.

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