Cynthia Aziz

Reuben Blackwell

John J. Butler

Ilana Dubester

The Rev. Collins Kilburn

Stephen Luke Largess

Joe Moody

Hon. Lillian Jordan

Donnell Van Noppen, III

Professor Wendy Parker

Willis E. Williams

Rhonda Raney (bio) 919.856.3193

Debra Tyler-Horton (bio) 919.856.2169

Carol Brooke (bio) 919.856.2144

Staff Attorney

Director, Education & Law Project

Bill Rowe (bio) 919-856-2177

General Counsel

Carol Brooke, Staff Attorney
Ms. Brooke joined the Justice Center in September 2000 as a staff attorney with the Immigrants Legal Assistance Project. Her work will include representing farmworkers on employment issues and providing training and support to advocacy organizations working with farmworkers. Before attending UNC Law School, Carol worked as a public health educator with a non-profit organization that provided education and advocacy for low-income poultry processing workers in North Carolina.

Staff list

Ms. Cameron joined the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center as a Fiscal Policy Analyst in February 2004. Previously, Amna worked at the North Carolina Department of Revenue, which enabled her to gain a comprehensive understanding of the myriad of state taxes and exemptions. She was drawn to the Justice Center by the opportunity to become more involved in promoting an equitable tax structure while advocating for policy issues that affect low and moderate-income communities. Amna received a BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a Masters in Public Administration from Western Carolina University, and is currently writing her dissertation in pursuit of a PhD in Public Administration from North Carolina State University.

Staff list

Mary Coleman, Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Coleman recently joined the NCJCDC as Chief Financial Officer. Before that, Ms. Coleman worked in the positions of Staff Accountant; Director of Accounting; Assistant Comptroller; and as Directors of Budgets, Planning and Investments for Saint Augustine’s College. Ms. Coleman has over 15 years of accounting analysis and financial management experience from private and public sectors as well as profit and non-profit organizations. She is a graduate of North Carolina State University, with degrees Accounting and Business Management. Ms. Coleman is currently working on her MBA degrees and attends AIU (American Intercontinental University) via distance learning.

Staff list

Ajamu Dillahunt, Community Outreach

Ajamu Dillahunt joined the Justice Center in April of 2004 as the Outreach Coordinator for the Budget and Tax Center. Ajamu has been a tireless advocate for working families in North Carolina for over twenty-five years. For the last 18 years, Ajamu has served as President of the Raleigh Area Local of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). He was Director of Research and Education for the North Carolina Council of the APWU during that period. Ajamu was a Labor Educator and Arbitration Advocate as well. He has done community organizing and training in various communities in N.C. He has a Masters Degree in African Studies and maintains an active interest in the African Diaspora, particularly in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Staff list

Angella Dunston, Rural Parent Organizer
Angella Dunston recently joined the Justice Center as our new Rural Parent Advocate with the NC Education & Law Project. She received a BA in Industrial Relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Angella has worked with parents and children in the areas of early childhood intervention as well as youth development. Before joining the Justice Center, she worked as a Family Specialist with Smart Start and as a Program Coordinator for 4-H Youth Development. Although the Justice Center is keeping Angella quite busy, she finds time to volunteer with various organizations that strive to ensure the success and empowerment of rural youth and families. As Rural Parent Advocate, Ms. Dunston will serve as a direct means of contact between parents and the Justice Center. She will diligently and continuously work with parents to ensure that their voices are heard in regard to education reform in NC.

Staff list

Nicole Dozier, Hyatt Project Coordinator/Senior Litigation Paralegal
Ms. Dozier joined the Justice Center in October 1996 to coordinate the Hyatt project. The lawsuit, Hyatt v. Barnhart, is a class action of over 144,000 individuals, brought on behalf of the state's disabled population. She coordinates the monitoring activity on identified claims, reviews files, and supervises a hotline where clients, attorneys, and representatives call with questions regarding the class action and activity on individual claims. She has developed an expertise in Social Security disability, as prior to joining this organization, she worked for eight years as a disability specialist with the NC Disability Determination Services where she made medical decisions on disability claims. Part of her work also includes assisting Carlene McNulty with her class actions and impact litigation cases. She holds a BA in Industrial Relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Staff list

Staff list

Jack Holtzman, Staff Attorney
Jack Holtzman is a Senior Litigation attorney with the Poverty Law Litigation Project. Prior to joining the Justice Center, Jack was a policy analyst with the N.C. Assn of CDCs, working on affordable housing and community economic development issues. During the 1980s and 90s, Jack worked as a Legal Services attorney and then litigated in federal court as an attorney with N.C. Prisoner Legal Services.

Staff list

Jenny Jensen, Administrative Assistant
Jenny relocated to Raleigh from Washington in early 2001 and joined the Justice Center in October 2001. She was born and raised overseas and has spent the majority of her life in Asia. Jenny has a BA in History from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and speaks fluent Thai and conversational Spanish. She has over four years administrative experience in the non-profit and for profit sectors.

Staff list

Elizabeth Jordan, Policy Analyst
Ms. Jordan joined the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center as a Public Policy Analyst in November 2002. Before joining the staff of the Justice Center, Elizabeth spent several years as a project director for Habitat for Humanity International. After leaving Habitat, she was a consultant in San Francisco, CA, working closely with several community-based non-profits and Eureka Communities- a national fellowship program. She then served as a policy analyst and Interim Director of the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth. Most recently, Elizabeth was the Evaluations Officer for the Capital Area Workforce Development Board in Raleigh. Elizabeth holds a Masters of Public Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill and a BA from the University of Richmond.

Staff list

Attracta Kelly, Staff Attorney
Attracta Kelly is an immigration attorney with the North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center. Attracta joined the Justice Center in November 1999 as the staff attorney for the Justice Center’s Immigrants Legal Assistance Project (ILAP). Prior to working at the Justice Center, Attracta worked in Washington, DC with Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) and also with Legal Services of DC. She spent two years doing asylum and immigration policy work with Jesuit Refugee Services in Dublin, Ireland. Attracta is a Dominican Sister whose headquarters is in Adrian, Michigan. Prior to her law degree from Catholic University of America, she worked in education in Florida and Alabama and Louisiana and did community organizing in low-income areas of west Tennessee.

Staff list

Evan Lewis, NC Legal Services Planning Council Advocacy and Training Coordinator
Evan Lewis joined the North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center as a staff attorney in October 2003. He is the Advocacy and Training Coordinator for the North Carolina Planning Council. Evan also continues to work part time as the Senior Managing Attorney for the New Bern and Greenville offices of Legal Aid of North Carolina. Evan has been a legal aid staff attorney, advocacy director, interim executive director, and managing attorney for a total of over fifteen years in Virginia and North Carolina. He has also been in private practice and is a former Virginia Assistant Attorney General for consumer, antitrust and civil rights enforcement. Evan has a bachelors degree in Economics from the College of William & Mary in Virginia, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Staff list

Carlene McNulty, Staff Attorney
Since joining the NCJCDC in February 1996, Ms. McNulty has served as the litigation director. She supervises civil cases brought by low-income individuals who are statutorily barred from receiving Legal Services assistance. In addition to managing a caseload that includes class action and impact litigation, Ms. McNulty also provides back-up support for the work of Legal Services advocates and pro bono attorneys. Prior to joining the NCJCDC, she worked at North State Legal Services in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Staff list

Elaine Mejia, Director, Budget and Tax Center
Ms. Mejia joined the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center as a Fiscal Policy Analyst in April 2002. Before joining the Justice Center, Elaine worked as a budget and management analyst for Orange County, North Carolina and also served as a North Carolina Governor's Public Management Fellow with the Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of State Personnel. Ms. Mejia received a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Political Science from Texas A&M University.

Staff list

Kimberly Mills, Accounting Assistant
Kimberly Mills recently joined the Justice Center, as an Accounting Assistant, in September of 2004. She works as a full time General Ledger accountant with another nonprofit organization, and works part time with the Justice Center. She is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where she majored in Business Management, with a Finance concentration. She has worked in accounting related fields since 1997 and has found that she enjoys working for organizations that make a difference in the lives of others.

Staff list

Jan Nichols, Chief Technology Officer
Before coming to the Justice Center to be Chief Technology Officer, Jan Nichols was Development Director of NC Equity. She draws on the varied technical experience she gained working and volunteering in the field of development and communications. Originally from New York City, Jan's background is quite varied, having worked in live theatre as a scenic designer, and lighting and technical director and in television as a lighting director. Jan has a BS from SUNY Binghamton in Theatre, a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in Theatrical Lighting and Technical Production and a Masters of Public Administration from North Carolina State University. To relax, Jan spends time enjoying the outdoors, gardening and playing with her many pets.

Staff list

Phyllis Nunn, Communications Coordinator
Before joining the NCJCDC, Phyllis worked for over a dozen years designing magazines and environmental education materials in North Carolina, Washington, DC, and Johannesburg, South Africa. In her current position, she is designing and producing all of the NCJCDC's reports, brochures, handbooks and project materials, as well as building staff capacity to utilize electronic telecommunications. Phyllis has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Painting and Printmaking from UNC Greensboro.

Staff list

Rhonda Raney, Executive Director

Rhonda's career as a litigator, lobbyist, trainer, executive and participant in numerous community service endeavors has prepared her well for the demands of her new position. During her seventeen-year legal career, Rhonda has been a litigator in private practice, a staff attorney with the Justice Center's predecessor organization, the N.C. Legal Services Resource Center, President and CEO of the N.C. Association of Community Development Corporations, Deputy Director of the N.C. Governor's Crime Commission and most recently the Assistant Executive Director with the N.C. Bar Association. Rhonda's wealth of experience and commitment will serve the Justice Center well as we continue to work for social and economic justice for all North Carolinians.

Staff list

Sheria Reid, Staff Attorney, Education and Law Project Director
Before she was a lawyer, Ms. Reid was an English teacher at Chapel Hill High School for nine years. In 1994, she left teaching to attend law school at the University of North Carolina School of Law. From October 1997 until April 2001, Ms. Reid was a staff attorney at East Central Community Legal Services. She was drawn to this position at the Justice Center because of the Center's advocacy efforts on the behalf of students. Ms. Reid comments: "My heart is still in education and this position is a perfect opportunity to combine my legal skills with my background in education. My vision of education is that it should be student centered, which seems pretty obvious; however, the reality is that education is more often than not about politics, taxes, funding and everything else besides the students."

Staff list

Al Ripley, Staff Attorney, Consumer Action Network
Al Ripley joined the Justice Center staff in March 2003 as a Consumer/Housing Policy Specialist and Director of the Consumer Action Network. Al has a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master of Education degree from NCSU. He worked for the past two years with Self-Help and the Center for Responsible Lending. He will lead the Justice Center's consumer and housing policy advocacy and will serve as a lobbyist on those issues. In addition, he will edit the Network's newsletter, help develop its membership, serve as counsel in various dockets before the NC Utilities Commission, and conduct education and training events.

Staff list

Bill Rowe, General Counsel
Mr. Rowe came to the Justice Center’s predecessor organization, the N.C. Legal Services Resource Center in 1991 and has been with the Justice Center since its inception in 1996. He is a committed anti-poverty advocate with more than two decades' experience that spans the breadth of the organization's four strategic areas of expertise: litigation, community education, research and direct legislative advocacy. He has been counsel in class action lawsuits concerning consumer rights, public benefits, and housing law. In addition, Rowe has represented members of the state's low-income communities before the legislature and state agencies on issues related to housing, employment, judicial procedures, and environmental justice. Over the years, he has developed an expertise in landlord-tenant law and a passion for advancing affordable housing policies. Rowe served as Executive Director of the Justice Center from 2001 to August 2004 when he transitioned to the position of General Counsel.

Staff list

Cristin Ruggles, Immigration Paralegal
Cristin obtained her Bachelor's degree in Spanish from Siena College in Loudonville, NY in 1993. She spent one year doing volunteer work in Bolivia, South America from July 1995 - 1996. Upon returning from South America, she obtained her paralegal certificate from Meredith College in Raleigh in 1997. For the 3 years prior to her joining the Justice Center, she coordinated a bilingual outreach program for REAL Crisis Center in Greenville, North Carolina. Cristin has been with the Justice Center since January 2001.

Staff list

Sorien Schmidt, Legislative Director
In 1994, Ms. Schmidt joined the staff of the Justice Center as a lobbyist and lawyer specializing in public assistance programs. Since then, Ms. Schmidt's role has expanded to include advocacy, policy analysis, research, and extensive work with the media and coalitions on living wage, economic security, welfare reform and other public assistance issues. Ms. Schmidt has written several publications including Working Hard is Not Enough, Will Devolution Help Welfare Families: An Analysis of the Proposed Electing County Welfare Plan, and the newsletters, WRIN Update and the Living Income Email Update. Before working at the Justice Center, Ms. Schmidt practiced law for six years at Central Carolina Legal Services, a non-profit poverty law firm in Greensboro. She currently serves on the board of directors of the NC Association of Women Attorneys and on the Executive Committee of the Covenant with North Carolina's Children, of which she is a founding member.

Staff list

Rob Schofield, Policy Director
Mr. Schofield came to the Justice Center’s predecessor organization, the N.C. Legal Services Resource Center in 1992 and has been with the Justice Center since its inception in 1996. Throughout his tenure he has served as the Center’s consumer law and policy specialist. In that role, he has lobbied, litigated, and conducted administrative advocacy on behalf of low-income individuals. He has also served as a substantive law resource for poverty law advocates throughout the state and coordinated statewide task forces on consumer and family law. In 2000, Schofield founded the Justice Center’s Consumer Action Network project, which seeks to represent the interests of the state’s most vulnerable consumers. In the mid-‘90’s, Schofield helped establish and oversee the development of the N.C. Budget and Tax Center – a Justice Center special project that disseminates timely and accessible research on North Carolina fiscal policy.

Staff list

Adam Searing, Health Access Coalition Project Director
Adam Searing became Project Director of the North Carolina Health Access Coalition in 1997. Adam received both a law degree and a masters degree in public health from the University of North Carolina in 1994. The Coalition works on many major health care issues in North Carolina including the Blue Cross charitable trust issue, implementation and expansion of Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program and consumer rights for North Carolinians in HMOs. Adam has received the North Carolina Public Health Association's 1999 Distinguished Service Award and a 1998 Independent Newspaper Citizen Award for his work. Adam grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Staff list

Jeff Summerlin-Long, Staff Attorney
Jeff Summerlin-Long joined the Justice Center as a staff attorney with the Immigrants Legal Assistance Project in 2002. Before coming to the Justice Center, Jeff worked as a staff attorney in the New Bern office of Legal Aid of North Carolina, where he focused on employment law, landlord/tenant cases, and helping victims of domestic violence. Jeff obtained his undergraduate degree in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his law degree from American University in Washington, D.C.

Staff list

Debra Tyler-Horton, Deputy Director
Ms. Tyler-Horton oversees fundraising, staff development and directs the Centers Grassroots Empowerment Project. She serves as the managing editor of the Centers statewide magazine Community News/Noticias Comunitarias. She arrived at NCJCDC in November 1996 with over nine years of experience in the non-profit sector. Prior to her arrival, Ms. Tyler-Horton founded a regional magazine targeted to a multicultural audience. The magazine focused on North Carolinians of color and had a circulation of more than 10,000. Ms. Tyler-Horton, who holds a BA degree in Psychology from Shaw University, has served on the board of directors of numerous statewide and national non-profit organizations. She has given her time to those organizations that advocate for the rights of women and people of color and to create opportunities for grassroots organizations to impact on the development of public policy.

Staff list