Renee Boman
she/her/hers
Senior Paralegal
Prior to joining FVAP in 2016, Renee worked as an investigator for the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, a California state agency that prepares habeas corpus appeals in capital cases. Renee holds a B.A in Urban Planning and Community Development from the University of Kansas City, Missouri, and in 2015 she received an ABA-Approved paralegal certificate from West Los Angeles College.
Taylor Campion
she/her/hers
Senior Managing Attorney, Housing Safety and Justice Program
Prior to Joining FVAP in late 2018, Taylor worked as a direct services legal aid attorney representing clients with housing and economic rights issues. As a law student at University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, she worked at Utah’s Disability Law Center advocating for the housing and employment rights of a people with disabilities. In 2014, Taylor returned to California and began working at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley as a Staff and then Senior Attorney representing clients in various housing claims including, eviction defense, housing subsidy terminations, fair housing discrimination, habitability issues and restraining orders.
Gloria Carolina Chong
she/her/hers
Housing Safety and Justice Program
Gloria Carolina Chong is a Housing Attorney at FVAP. She has spent her entire legal career working to help serve indigent communities receive better access to justice and legal resources. Before joining FVAP, Gloria was a housing attorney with Legal Aid of Sonoma County. Her housing practice focused on defending tenants in Sonoma County through unlawful detainer litigation. Prior to that, she worked at UC Immigrant Legal Services Center as the immigration attorney for UC Merced students and their immediate family members. Gloria is a native Spanish speaker.
Zyreena Choudhry
she/her/hers
Staff Attorney, Washington Office
Zyreena Choudhry is a staff attorney at the FVAP Washington office. She previously worked as a fellow, heavily assisting with FVAP’s expansion to Washington. Zyreena attended Seattle University School of Law where she was the Vice President of the Middle Eastern South Asian Law Student Association, Events Coordinator for the International Law Society, and Social Chair for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board.
Thao Dang Weldy
she/her/hers
Development Director
Thao Dang Weldy is the Development Director at Family Violence Appellate Project. Prior to joining FVAP, Thao dedicated herself to advocating for resources and funding for social services for marginalized community members in Northern California. She oversaw fundraising and financial operations for Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, a legal aid organization founded to serve DV survivors. Prior to that, she established the legal immigration program at the Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay where she practiced immigration law as a DOJ-accredited representative. Thao currently resides in the Seattle area and is eager to raise awareness and funds to support DV survivors in both California and Washington.
Elissa Gray
she/her/hers
Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP and The Clorox Company Foundation
Elissa Gray (she/her) is an Equal Justice Works Fellow, sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP and The Clorox Company Foundation, at Family Violence Appellate Project (FVAP). Elissa’s fellowship project will increase access to writ review for low-income domestic violence survivors facing harmful orders that lack adequate remedies through direct representation, resource development, and community partnerships.
Shuray Ghorishi
she/her/hersSenior Managing Attorney
Shuray has been practicing litigation at the trial and appellate level since January, 2010. Before joining FVAP, she managed the Legal Services department at a domestic violence shelter in San Francisco, La Casa De Las Madres, where her practice focused on domestic violence law, family law, immigration law, and victims’ rights in criminal matters. She joined FVAP in 2014 to help guide and empower survivors in defending their rights in civil appeals.
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Cory Hernandez
Pronouns: they/them
Senior Managing Attorney
With a bachelor’s of science degree in political science and American studies from MIT, a master’s of science degree in political science from MIT, and a juris doctor from UC Berkeley, Cory is excited to return to FVAP. Cory previously worked as a law clerk and post-grad legal fellow for FVAP, and as a staff attorney for Family Violence Law Center (FVLC). During law school, Cory clerked for Justice Jon B. Streeter of the California First District Court of Appeal, Division Four; FVLC; FVAP; and East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC). Cory also currently . . . .
Nancy K.D. Lemon
she/her/hers
Of Counsel and Co-Founder
Nancy has been a leading authority on domestic violence for more than 40 years, pioneered its study in law schools and is the author of Domestic Violence Law, the first textbook on the subject. Nancy has been teaching the Domestic Violence Law Seminar at UC Berkeley Law – the first law school class of its kind – since 1988, and also directs the Domestic Violence Field Placement.
Jodi Lewis
she/her/hers
Senior Managing Attorney
Jodi Lewis a Senior Managing Attorney at FVAP. Prior to joining FVAP, Jodi was the Legal Director, for over ten years, for the Women’s Resource Center, a non-profit organization in Pennsylvania that provided civil legal representation to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. In this role, Jodi engaged in holistic, client-centered representation in family, housing, and appellate matters. Jodi also oversaw all aspects of the organization’s legal center including hiring, training, and supervising legal staff, program development, performing administrative duties, grant writing and reporting, planning and organizing annual conferences, and collaborating with community partners, state-wide organizations, and legal aid providers.
Lucia Romo
she/her/hersDevelopment & Grants Coordinator
Lucia is the Development & Grants Coordinator at FVAP. She previously worked as the Operations Manager with The National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter and as the Membership & Education Coordinator at California ACEP. Lucia attended California State University, Sacramento where she received her Bachelor Degree in Psychology and a Project Management Certification. Lucia is from Sacramento and enjoys reading, long walks, and watching comedies and funny animal reels with her daughter Lilah (6).
Lupe Sanchez
she/her/hers
California Intake Specialist
Lupe joins FVAP with an extensive background in community organizing. She has led advocacy efforts for undocumented students at UCLA, housing rights for tenants in South Los Angeles, and wage & hour rights for garment workers in LA. Lupe holds a B.A. from UCLA where she studied Psychology and Labor & Workplace Studies. She is also a DACA recipient and native Spanish speaker.
Deborah Son
she/her/hersExecutive Director
Deborah brings over fifteen years of experience in domestic violence advocacy, organizational leadership, and the nonprofit sector. She has co-authored advocacy letters and organized broad-scale grassroots efforts to raise attention for requests to appeal high-profile court decisions as they pertain the health of children, individuals, and families, leading awareness initiatives to leverage communications platforms and digital campaigns to bring light to the necessity of appealing dangerous cases. Additionally, Deborah has served as a nationally-recognized domestic violence trainer, technical assistance provider, and advocate; and has contributed to the design and implementation of dozens of psychosocial programs across the nation that support survivors and their communities.
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Evangeline Stratton
she/her/hersSenior Managing Attorney, Washington
Evangeline Stratton is the Senior Managing Attorney for the new Washington State FVAP office. A 2010 graduate of William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell | Hamline) in St. Paul, Minnesota, Evangeline has dedicated her 11 years of practice to domestic violence survivors. While in law school, Evangeline also earned her Master’s in Gender and Women’s Studies at Minnesota State University, through a unique dual degree program, and clerked for the Battered Women’s Justice Project, Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project, the Advocates for Human Rights, and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office Domestic Abuse Service Center. Prior to law school, Evangeline worked as a community-based domestic violence and sexual assault victim advocate in Southern Oregon for 5 years.
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Arati Vasan
she/her/hersSenior Managing Attorney
Arati Vasan (she/her) is a Senior Managing Attorney at Family Violence Appellate Project (“FVAP”). She represents survivors of gender-based and family violence on appeal and manages FVAP’s training and law clerk/fellow programs. Her work has focused on trauma and culturally-responsive representation and services, language justice, confidentiality protections, and family/dependency court issues for survivors. Arati provided full-scope family/civil court representation for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the Bay Area for a decade before joining FVAP in 2018. Arati has given trainings for a wide range of stakeholders at the local, state and national level. She is on the facilitator faculty for the ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and has been a faculty trainer for Practising Law Institute and the Vera Institute on Justice. Arati completed her training to be a California Domestic Violence Counselor in 2009 from Asian Women’s Shelter.
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Jennafer Dorfman Wagner
she/her/hersDirector of Programs
Jennafer Dorfman Wagner is the Director of Programs at Family Violence Appellate Project (FVAP). She has been a legal services attorney since 1997, including over 20 years in a supervisory or managerial role. She has practiced in diverse geographic regions and in multiple subject areas in previous positions at Mental health Advocacy Project (a project of Law Foundation of Silicon Valley in San Jose, California; Legal Action of Wisconsin; Washington (DC) Legal Clinic for Homeless; and Nevada Legal Services.
Read Jennafer Dorfman Wagner’s Full Bio.
