Our Community
Staff
+Jonathan Goldman (He/Him/His)- Executive Director
Jonathan Goldman is the Executive Director of the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice and an advocate for immigrant justice. Born in Denmark and raised in the US, Jonathan's outlook on immigration has been shaped by this foundational part of his identity. He previously co-founded The Right to Immigration Institute (TRII) and was one of the youngest elected members of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee. Jonathan Goldman is committed to creating a better world through collaborative approaches, community engagement, and innovative solutions.
At TRII, Jonathan co-led a nonprofit which operates the first-in-the-nation program at Brandeis University that trains undergraduate students in immigration law and mobilizes them to provide immigration legal services. With his leadership, they served 120+ immigrants, trained 70+ students, accredited 7 students with the Department of Justice, and proved the feasibility of engaging undergraduates in the fight for immigrant justice. He received multiple recognitions including the Davis Projects for Peace prize and the Karpf Hahn Peace Award, and TRII received the Interdisciplinary Legal Studies Teaching Award from the Consortium for Undergraduate Law & Justice Programs.
Jonathan also has over 5 years of experience in community and advocacy organizing with multiple campaigns across Massachusetts on the local, state, and federal levels. Jonathan has raised $100,000s through his work at SCIJ, TRII, Northampton Arts Council, and political campaigns. Through his experiences as a multilingual, dual-citizen, young adult fighting to create a better tomorrow, Jonathan draws on his background to engage people in making a difference.
Immigrant justice is important to me because: "Based on my experience coming to the US and the stark contrast between my journey and that of so many others, I've seen how our immigration system is designed to be inequitable. This inequity fuels my drive to fight for immigrant justice."
+Luisana Guerrero (Any Pronouns)- Brown University Trainer
Luisana is a Trainer with SCIJ. Born in Lima, Peru, Luisana immigrated to the US at seven years old. They graduated from Brown University with a BA in Ethnics Studies and are currently working as a paralegal at an immigration law firm in Providence, RI. They were part of SCIJ’s first cohort of students and are excited to take on a new role with the organization. Luisana is unsure what their next steps will be but hopes their work is grounded in community care, growth, and equity. They are learning to sit with the uncertainty that the future holds and working to find joy and warmth in the everyday.
Immigrant Justice is important to me because
Immigration and the ways in which it molds experience is an immutable part of my identity and that of my loved ones. Borders are simply arbitrary lines that have been weaponized to advance colonialism. I strongly believe in the right to freedom of movement and that no human should be criminalized for exercising that right.
Favorite Quote:
“Even when seized by a thousand fears, we can make strange and wonderful things simply for the sake of the strange and the wonderful” -Akwaeke Emezi
+Mitch Gordon (He/His/They)- Worcester State University Campus Organizer
Mitch Gordon is SCIJ's Campus Organizer at Worcester State University (WSU). Mitch is a long time nonprofit CEO and fundraiser, professional musician, mindfulness meditation practitioner, mediator, martial artist, and Storyteller. He is deeply committed to social justice generally and immigration specifically and works closely with immigrant communities in court, residential, and other situations.
Immigrant Justice is important to me because: As an immigrant myself, I understand how important it is to be able to travel to the United States especially if that opportunity comes because of great risk to the immigrant and their family. As a professional in the world of conflict resolution I also understand the importance and the nuances of language, customs, and culture and the difficulty in trying to both maintain individual independence and the potential benefits and difficulties of assimilation.
Favorite Quote: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” — Rumi
+Anik Willig (She/Her/Hers)- Brown University Case Rounds Leader
Anik Willig is SCIJ's Brown Universit Case Rounds Leader.
Immigrant justice is important to me because: Immigrant justice is important to be because as a member of an immigrant family, I hope to help others achieve the accomplishments I have seen my family achieve. I hope to fight for justice and bring light to the injustices brought forth on hardworking people.
Favorite Quote: "The thing worse than the rebellion is the thing that causes the rebellion" -Fredrick Douglass
+Cheyanne Woodrow (They/He)- Lead Community Organizer
Cheyanne Woodrow is SCIJ's Lead Community Organizer. He has been organizing since he was 17 years old in the city of Boston. As a AfroIndingenous Latinx queer person, they understood very quickly that our current society was not set up to support lives like theirs. They have committed themselves to making an equitable future for those most vulnerable in our society. He obtained his degree in Psychology from Umass Boston with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. He is also currently obtaining his Masters degree at Boston College in Clinical Social Work. Cheyanne hopes to provide equitable psychotherapy to young queer black/indigenous folks while committing themselves to continued work in community organizations like SCIJ.
Immigrant Justice is important to me because: "Immigrant Justice is important to me because every part of my identity is influenced and directly shaped by forced and chosen immigration. The process of immigration, historically, has never been kind to Black folks and I feel very strongly that no one should be criminalized for engaging in a human act."
Favorite Quote: "Nothing is easy to the unwilling" - Nikki Giovanni
+Kaleigh Lizotte (She/Her/Hers)- UMass Boston Campus Organizer
Kaleigh Lizotte is SCIJ's UMass Boston Campus Organizer. After completing SCIJ's training during the fall of 2022, Kaleigh has been involved in SCIJ's legal advocacy efforts.
Immigrant justice is important to me because: Immigrant justice is important to me because I believe everyone has the right to live in a more compassionate, equitable world where people feel safe and are not treated differently for their decision to come to this country. As a Hispanic woman, I am passionate about making sure that people like me and all other immigrants are treated with human dignity through the complicated legal systems they must face seeking refuge.
Favorite Quote: "I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own" -Audre Lorde
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+Eliana Lopez (She/Her/Hers)- Brown University Campus Organizer
Eliana Lopez is a First-generation student of Dominican descent. She was born and raised in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and is studying at Brown University towards an A.B. in Education and Africana Studies.
Eliana has a passion for working with youth and evoking change within the education system of her hometown. Eliana hopes to one day be able to influence the public education system of the entire United States. She also finds joy in being an active community member by engaging and empowering her diverse surrounding community, working with nonprofit organizations that uplift families' opinions and ideas.
Immigrant Justice is important to me because: Immigrant justice is important to me because as a daughter of immigrant parents, I’ve seen how immigrants are frequently treated unfairly, unequally, and without dignity as the United States has history and continues to treat the immigrant population as the nation’s problem. Immigrants face blatant racism on an everyday basis, whether that is being racially profiled and harassed solely based on their looks or the language they speak, encountering the false propaganda and discriminatory laws that stigmatize them. No human, regardless of where they were born deserves to live in such conditions, especially in a country that claims to have “better life” opportunities for them. Immigration status should not be a deciding factor in valid treatment. Every human deserves to be treated with dignity, fairness, equity, and love.
Favorite Quote:"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou
+Katherine Ramirez (She/Her/Hers)- UMass Boston Case Rounds Leader
Katherine Ramirez is SCIJ's University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) Case Rounds Leader. Katherine is also a student at UMB studying political science and completed SCIJ's training program in 2022.
Immigrant justice is important to me because: Immigrant justice is important to be because as a member of an immigrant family, I hope to help others achieve the accomplishments I have seen my family achieve. I hope to fight for justice and bring light to the injustices brought forth on hardworking people.
Favorite Quote: "The thing worse than the rebellion is the thing that causes the rebellion" -Fredrick Douglass
+Anna Johnson (She/Her/Hers)- Worcester State University Trainer
Anna Johnson is a Trainer with SCIJ. Anna was introduced to SCIJ in 2020 when, as an undergraduate student, she joined SCIJ's first-ever cohort. After completing SCIJ's training, Anna went on to work with SCIJ's partner attorneys to prepare Country Condition Reports, Affidavits, and I−589s for asylum seekers.
Since having graduated from Worcester State University where she earned her BA in Sociology and political science, Anna has been pursuing her J.D. Western New England School of Law.
Immigrant Justice is important to me because
I believe everybody deserves a chance to live in a place where they experience peace and are accepted, valued, and welcomed.
Favorite Quote:
“With God, all things are possible.” -Matthew 19:26
Advisors
+Stuart Min (He/Him/His)- Access to Justice Fellow
Stuart Min previously partnered with the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice through the Access to Justice Fellows Program, a project of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission and the Lawyers Clearinghouse, which enables senior lawyers and retired judges to partner with nonprofit organizations, courts, and other public service entities to increase equal justice for all. Since then, Stuart has continued providing legal and advising support to SCIJ.
Stuart recently retired as the General Counsel of Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm with 60 offices in 37 countries. Stuart was the first lawyer hired by Bain in 1999, and over the next 21 years he built a legal team comprised of 40 professionals located in 13 countries. He will continue to be affiliated with Bain as an Advisory Partner. Stuart started his career with the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and later served as Deputy General Counsel of Credit Suisse First Boston before joining Bain. He graduated from Harvard College and Columbia Law School.
+Debra Shapira (She/Her/Hers)
Debra has dedicated her career to social justice, working and volunteering with organizations focused on improving livelihoods across the U.S., Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa – through agriculture and financial inclusion for smallholder farmers across the Global South at Root Capital and Sustainable Harvest, through education for vulnerable students in Kenya at Flying Kites and in the U.S. at Stand for Children, and through girl’s and women's empowerment by strengthening grassroots organizations in the Global South with She’s the First and through job training and market access in Costa Rica at Bean Voyage.
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to You?
Debra has been advising SCIJ on development strategy since 2020. As the granddaughter of immigrants, and U.S. citizen deeply concerned about the inequities in the immigration system and the effects on vulnerable families, Debra is proud to support the work of the staff and students at SCIJ.
+Greg Birne (He/Him/His)- Access to Justice Fellow
Since 1993, Greg served as an attorney at the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF). He was General Counsel in that office from 2000 until November 2021, when he started working part-time, and became Senior Counsel. He will be providing voluntary services to SCIJ as an Access to Justice Fellow.
Greg is a co-author of Massachusetts Election, Campaign Finance, and Lobbying Law, published by Mass. Continuing Legal Education (MCLE), and has participated in MCLE and Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) panels on campaign finance law issues.
He graduated from Boston University with a BA in History in 1980. From 1980 to 1985, he served as a naval officer and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at the College of Charleston. Following his naval service, he attended Cornell Law School, where he earned a JD in 1988. He then served as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Thomas D. Lambros in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland, and as a litigation associate in Boston at Hinckley, Allen and Snyder.
In his free time, he enjoys travel, learning Spanish, hiking and playing the cello.
Why is Immigrant Justice Important to You? Watching the evening news and not doing anything to make a difference is frustrating. There are so many persons with a desperate need to gain representation so they might be able to have a safe and secure life in the U.S. Participating in access to immigrant justice would offer a very meaningful and satisfying opportunity to achieve that goal.
Meet Our Students
How Will You Make a Difference?
The struggle for immigrant justice has a role for everyone to play. How will you make a difference? What skills do you have? If you’re not sure if you can volunteer, don’t worry, we’d love to talk with you about how you can get involved. Everyone has a way of contributing.
Supporters like you are what make this work possible. From amplifying the call for immigrant justice to supporting asylum seekers through your donations, you are making a difference.
Click below to sign up as a supporter and stay up-to-date with SCIJ and/or donate today.
