Client Leadership Council
What is the Client Leadership Council?
The Client Leadership Council (CLC), is a separate and independent body established to ensure that LSC
Management and Board members have an opportunity to hear directly from members of the client
community around the country. This initiative was started by Julie Reiskin, one of LSC’s board members,
with the goal of enhancing the feedback loop between LSC and the clients who our grant recipients
serve.
Independent and Separate
The CLC operates independently from LSC and does not represent LSC. It is composed of individuals from the client community who wish to participate. While many members have at some point been clients of LSC-funded organizations, the council is open to anyone from the client community.
Quarterly Comments
The CLC provides quarterly comments to LSC during the Delivery of Legal Services Committee meetings of the Board of Directors. These comments are designed to offer insights into the issues and experiences of the client community. For example, if a meeting is held in Atlanta, Georgia, a representative from that region may share pertinent issues faced by clients there.
What the Client Leadership Council Is Not
Not overseen by LSC
LSC does not oversee the CLC’s meetings or its formation or operation. The council operates autonomously and LSC is not involved in organizing its member meetings or selecting who presents information to management or the LSC Board.
Not a forum for complaints
The reports from the CLC are not intended to field complaints about grant recipients or affect grant recipient funding or reviews. Instead, they serve as a means for the LSC board to gain a better understanding of the client community’s concerns and experiences, similar to how the National Legal Aid & Defender Association at times provides comments to the LSC Board.
No obligation for involvement
Grant recipients are not expected to participate in or influence the CLC’s activities or reporting. How the CLC operates and who is selected to present to LSC’s Board of Directors are determined by the CLC itself. LSC provides grant recipients the name of an individual from their region who will present at a board meeting or event as soon as LSC receives it.
Co-Chair Arlene Hipp
California – Bay Area Legal Aid
Arlene has been involved with Bay Area Legal Aid for 17 years. Her work centers on tenants’ rights, homelessness, human trafficking and intimate partner violence, vocational training and workforce development, senior rights, social housing and community land trusts, community organizing, and organizational consulting.
Co-Chair Zella Knight
California – Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Zella served 4 years with Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. Her key areas of expertise are housing, individual rights, and public benefits.
Members
Ronel Baccus
Pennsylvania – Summit Legal Services
Ronel has 16 years of experience with Summit Legal Services. Her areas of expertise include homelessness, housing, food insecurity, advocacy, education, racial justice, anti-oppression, and anti-racism.
Edna Bland
Kentucky – AppalReD Legal Aid
Edna has 13 years of experience with AppalReD. She focuses on family law, adoption, and advocacy for children with special needs.
Amanda Bradley
North Carolina – Jackson County Legal Aid; Cherokee Legal Aid of NC
Amanda has served in legal aid leadership roles for 20 years. She brings expertise in Head Start and Early Head Start education, divorce and family law, family support, board and council leadership, and client advocacy.
Wendy Cabil
California – Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Wendy has served with Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles for more than 6 years. Her focus areas include mental health, homelessness, domestic violence, advocacy, cultural brokering, community engagement, and disability awareness.
Dora Callahan
Virginia – Central Virginia Legal Aid Society
Dora has 50 years of service with Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. She brings experience in board leadership, community engagement, client council reporting, housing policy, and low-income housing advocacy.
L'Sonya Crawford‑Jones
Illinois – Land of Lincoln Legal Aid
L’Sonya has over 10 years of experience with Land of Lincoln Legal Aid. Her specific areas of expertise will be highlighted as they are identified with her.
Allison Cuff
California – Community Legal Aid SoCal
Allison has served with Community Legal Aid SoCal for 4 years. Her areas of focus include criminal law (as a non-lawyer), senior services, higher education, and public benefits.
Dionne Dowdy
Ohio – Community Legal Aid Services
Dionne has been with Community Legal Aid Services for 7 years. Her primary area of expertise is reentry.
Joe Gaston
Ohio
Joe’s work is rooted in social science and movement building. His expertise includes liberation activism, Kropotkin-inspired theory, Pan-Africanism, and social systems change.
Latasha Gorman
Florida – Coast to Coast Legal Service
Latasha has served with Coast to Coast Legal Service for 3 years. She brings expertise in training, advocacy, grant writing, public speaking, community organizing, and legal advocacy including court accompaniment.
Cora Hayes
Virginia – Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, Inc.
Cora has volunteered with Central VA Legal Aid Society for 55 years and served over 13 years as a client board member. She focuses on event organizing, outreach, networking, public speaking, administrative and secretarial support, and homelessness advocacy.
Catherine Harris
Massachusetts – Greater Boston Legal Services
Catherine has served with Greater Boston Legal Services for 33 years. Her expertise includes grandparents raising grandchildren, children and families’ unmet needs, childhood trauma, tenants’ housing advocacy, client board leadership, program priorities, community representation, recovery and justice advocacy, church and community leadership, and criminal justice and human services.
Katelyn Hendrickson
Pennsylvania – Summit Legal Aid
Katelyn has served with Summit Legal Aid for 10 years. She focuses on client board service, protection from abuse (PFA) orders, poverty, and disability access to services.
Carrie Hurst
Utah – Utah Legal Services
Carrie has 13 years of experience with Utah Legal Services. She draws on both lived experience and professional work as a paralegal in family law.
Ericka Ibarra
California – Community Legal Aid SoCal
Ericka has served with Community Legal Aid SoCal for 3 years.
Marquita Wise Jones
Maryland – Maryland Legal Aid
Marquita has 35 years of experience with Maryland Legal Aid. She focuses on housing, health and medical issues, and childcare.
Oma Jones
New Mexico – New Mexico Legal Aid
Oma has approximately 23 years of service with New Mexico Legal Aid. She brings experience in client council advocacy, legal terminology and interpretation, community resources, and outreach.
Sandra “Sandy” Keys
Missouri – Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
Sandy has 4 years of experience with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. She serves as an LSC Client Leaders regional community advocate and focuses on community-based advocacy.
Sue Lau
California – Community Legal Aid SoCal
Sue has worked with Community Legal Aid SoCal for 26 years. Her expertise includes disability rights, seniors’ needs, health care access, grievances, and transportation access.
Liza E. Laguana Merrill
Arizona – Arizona Community Legal Services; National Legal Aid & Defender Association
Liza has worked with Arizona Community Legal Services and now serves with National Legal Aid & Defender Association, with service dating back to 2011. Her focus areas include health care enrollment, Medicaid, health system navigation, community health work, and community organizing.
Dr. Aladdin J. Naji
Massachusetts – Community Legal Aid
Dr. Naji has served with Community Legal Aid for 7 years. His expertise includes community representation, nonprofit governance, computer science, mathematics, and higher education.
Patrice Shelton
Virginia – Central Virginia Legal Aid Society
Patrice has served with Central Virginia Legal Aid Society for 9 years. Her expertise is grounded in public housing lived experience, health department work in public housing communities, community health, and housing issues.
LaDonna Sims
Indiana – Indiana Legal Services
LaDonna has 12 years of experience with Indiana Legal Services. Her primary area of expertise is servant leadership.
Tina M. Smith
Colorado – Colorado Legal Services
Tina has 27 years of experience with Colorado Legal Services. She brings lived experience with civil legal aid, housing and family stability, and overcoming crisis through legal advocacy.
Rose Taulton
Arizona – Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Inc.
Rose has served with Southern Arizona Legal Aid for 11 years. She focuses on community involvement, volunteerism, children’s education, low-income communities, and community growth and strengthening.
Nathan Turner
Ohio – Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE); Legal Aid of Western Ohio (LAWO)
Nathan has served on the ABLE and LAWO boards for 6 years. His expertise includes disability rights, cerebral palsy lived experience, developmental disability systems, Medicaid waivers, public benefits, and advocacy for disability and BIPOC communities through policy and collaborative work.
Patricia Vining
California – Community Organizer/Advocate
Patricia has 24 years of experience as a community organizer and advocate. She focuses on community organizing, social change, empowering underserved communities, local issue advocacy, leadership development, and relationship-building.
If you have members of your client community who are interested in joining the CLC, please encourage them to email Julie Reiskin at jreiskin@ccdconline.org.
If you have additional questions for LSC staff, please send them to Karly Satkowiak at karly@lsc.gov and she will collaborate with Julie to get you a response.