VEED Manager

APRIL NEWMAN

april[@]ccijustice.org

As CCIJ’s Vaccine Education & Empowerment in Detention (VEED) Manager, April connects detained individuals with culturally and linguistically competent information on the COVID-19 vaccine, and advocates on state and local levels for improved access to covid vaccines and boosters in immigrant detention. 

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Before joining CCIJ, April managed an accompaniment program for migrants entering the US from Tijuana under the Huisha exemption to Title 42. As Immigration Justice Program Director at the National Lawyers Guild - SF Bay Area, she ran a collaborative immigration court watch program and facilitated a coalition of community and legal organizations to hold the EOIR and SF Immigration Court accountable.

April wants to help transform US immigration from a punitive, dehumanizing machine into a genuinely welcoming system. She believes in the right to migrate and aims to support folks in their journeys toward liberation. 

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April holds a master’s in public policy from UCLA and a bachelor’s in biology and ethnomusicology from Tufts University. She is the child of immigrants and lives in the East Bay with her human and feline family.

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Executive Director 

BIANCA SIERRA WOLFF 

bianca[@]ccijustice.org

Bianca joined CCIJ in early 2020, bringing close to 20 years senior management experience in nonprofit, philanthropic, and for-profit settings. As Executive Director, she is responsible for the overall health, strategic priorities, and direction of the organization, including successfully transitioning CCIJ from a fiscally sponsored project to an independent 501c3 nonprofit.

Prior to joining CCIJ, Bianca served as both Deputy Director of California ChangeLawyers and CEO of ChangeLawyers for-profit subsidiary, Cal Bar Affinity, from 2016 to 2020. From 2008 to 2016, Bianca was the Executive Director of Oakland’s Centro Legal de la Raza.

Her passion for social justice comes from her own experiences as the daughter of Mexican immigrants. The first in her family to graduate from law school, Bianca holds a law degree from Stanford Law School and a BA in International Relations from Stanford University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She is licensed to practice law in California and New York. Bianca currently lives in the East Bay with her partner and two children.

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Community Engagement Director

EDWIN CARMONA-CRUZ

edwin[@]ccijustice.org

Edwin leads CCIJ’s statewide campaigns, participatory defense and rapid response that will help achieve our mission of ending immigration detention in California. Edwin also created and co-leads CCIJ's VEED program.

Prior to joining CCIJ, Edwin was Co-Director | Community-Legal Advocate with Pangea Legal Services in San Francisco focused on providing legal support on deportation defense cases and leading public campaigns for the release of immigrants in detention. While in San Francisco, Edwin held membership to the FREE SF Coalition supporting local and regional advocacy efforts with respect to the intersection of immigrant rights and criminal justice.

Edwin was formerly a Department of Justice Accredited Representative representing immigrants before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services while at La Raza Centro Legal, where he ultimately served as Development Director. Edwin holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of San Francisco where he is now an Adjunct Faculty teaching “Advocacy Skills” to undergraduate and graduate students.

As the youngest son of immigrant parents from Morelos, Mexico, Edwin has dedicated his life inspiring social responsibility within communities. Edwin currently lives in Azusa, CA where he was born and raised.​

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Legal Fellow

EUN-BIT CHANG

eun-bit[@]ccijustice.org

Eun-Bit is CCIJ’s Legal Fellow. She primarily works on detention accountability through AB3228, a California law providing detained individuals a cause of action against private detention operators who violate detention standards.

Eun-Bit graduated from NYU Law in 2021 and was recently admitted to practice law in California. She was born in South Korea and grew up in Houston, TX. Recognizing her fortunate immigrant experience, Eun-Bit wants to use her privilege to support fellow immigrants who may not share such privileges. Eun-Bit enjoys eating too much, going to beaches, and petting dogs.

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Senior Attorney

KATIE KAVANAGH

katie[@]ccijustice.org

Katie leads emergency legal services ("rapid response") and legal clinics for CCIJ. She provides pro se legal assistance to unrepresented detained individuals, helps match people with pro bono attorneys, and advocates for vulnerable individuals to be appointed counsel. She also represents detained and formerly-detained community members in removal and bond proceedings and manages the Attorney of the Day Program for detained dockets at the San Francisco Immigration Court. In addition, Katie facilitates the sharing of best practices and strategy around detained immigration litigation and rapid response, and provides technical assistance and training.

Prior to joining CCIJ in 2018, Katie was a Staff Attorney and Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at The Legal Aid Society in New York City. She attended NYU School of Law as a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar, where she participated in the Immigrant Rights Clinic for two years and was awarded the Eric Dean Bender Graduation Prize for Commitment to Public Service. Katie also completed immigration law internships at The Bronx Defenders, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and The Door. Before law school, Katie was an immigration paralegal for seven years, including four years at the firm Van Der Hout LLP. She holds a B.A. from Tufts University.

Katie is inspired daily by detained and formerly-detained leaders and her clients, colleagues, and mentors to use her privilege to fight for the liberation of immigrants in detention.

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Communications Manager 

LAURA DUARTE BATEMAN

laura[@]ccijustice.org

Laura leads CCIJ's communication strategies for social and digital media, public campaigns and other liberation efforts. She grew up in Bogotá, Colombia and has lived in California since 2019. Prior to joining CCIJ Laura worked as the communications director for an impact film campaign that screened the documentary When Guns Go Silent and held workshops on nonviolent communication in towns that were deeply affected by the conflict between guerilla groups, paramilitaries, and the Colombian government.

Laura is constantly looking for creative ways to engage people in social justice issues through communication tools. As an immigrant herself now settled in the Bay Area, Laura is keen to use her Spanish skills and communications background to work alongside detained and formerly detained folks, their families, organizers and legal service providers to fight immigrant detention in California through innovative campaigns and community actions.

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Laura double majored in journalism and literature and is the cofounder of Say What?, an education company that believes in personalized learning. 

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Legal Director

LISA KNOX

lisa[@]ccijustice.org

As CCIJ's Legal Director, Lisa oversees CCIJ’s work creating and supporting strategies to fight for the liberation of immigrants in detention through direct representation, litigation and advocacy. Lisa comes to CCIJ from Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, CA where she oversaw emergency legal services for ACILEP, Alameda County’s rapid response network, and managed legal clinics at two California detention centers. Lisa was also one of the first attorneys to provide representation to individuals forced to await their asylum hearing in Mexico under Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols program, and has continued to organize regular workshops and remote pro se assistance for asylum seekers in Tijuana and Juarez.

Lisa is currently a board member of the National Lawyers Guild SF Bay Area. Through the Guild, Lisa has helped develop Know Your Rights trainings and trained community advocates through the Immigration Court Observation Program. Previously, Lisa worked as a staff attorney and clinical instructor at the East Bay Community Law Center, and practiced immigration law at Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale in San Francisco.

As a person of Black and Latinx descent, Lisa’s own lived experience has taught her that immigration is a racial justice issue. She is passionate about moving beyond a traditional service provision model, to work in partnership with detained people towards their individual and collective liberation

Legal Services Coordinator 

PABLO BADRA 

pablo[@]ccijustice.org

As CCIJ’s Legal Services Coordinator, Pablo provides basic legal services to and helps find pro-bono representation for immigrants in detention. Pablo also manages CCIJ’s data, and develops tools to seamlessly integrate CCIJ data across web platforms and partner organizations.

Pablo has a background in biomedical sciences, and enjoys applying his technical skills to support the immigrant advocacy / prison abolition movement. 

Pablo believes that intentional data collection and sharing practices across partner organizations will help us achieve our shared advocacy goals.

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