Our Staff
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Sam Alpert (salpert@probono.net)
Americorps *VISTA
Sam Alpert joined Pro Bono Net in January 2010 through the AmeriCorps*VISTA program. He is working with the LiveHelp project to build additional capacity to support LiveHelp replication projects nationwide. Sam recently graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelors degree in International Relations. He lives in Helena, Montana. -
Travis August (taugust@probono.net)
National Support Coordinator
Travis August joined Pro Bono Net in September 2010 as National Support Coordinator. He worked at Pro Bono Net as Program Associate from 2006-2008, supporting the development of LawHelp.org and probono.net projects. He recently graduated from the University of Michigan School of Information, where he expanded his skill set in designing and supporting community-oriented information initiatives. While in graduate school, Travis served as the Community Developer for JustConnect, a Drupal-based online community for campus social justice organizations, and also worked on an evaluation of PBN's LawHelp Interactive partner support program. He has served on the Executive Board of the San Francisco National Lawyers Guild and has additional experience in graphic design. Travis is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. -
Matthew Burnett (mburnett@probono.net)
Director, Immigration Advocates Network
Matthew joined Pro Bono Net in August 2005. He is currently Director of the Immigration Advocates Network, a collaborative project between Pro Bono Net and 11 leading immigration advocacy and legal support organizations. Matthew earned his B.A. cum laude from the University of Washington and his J.D. cum laude from Seattle University School of Law. He has worked representing asylum seekers at the East Bay Sanctuary in Berkeley, California and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in Seattle, Washington. He has also worked with the Gender Research and Advocacy Project at the Legal Assistance Centre in Windhoek, Namibia, and served as law clerk to Justice Z.M. Yacoob of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He lives in New York City. -
Marylee Raymond Diamond (mlrdiamond@probono.net)
Director of Finance & Administration
Marylee joined Pro Bono Net in October 2011 as Director of Finance & Administration, based in New York. Marylee has worked for nonprofits for 20 years, most recently at Nextbook. Prior to that she was the chief financial officer of Literacy Partners; she has also worked at the Coalition for the Homeless and in New York City government. A former VISTA volunteer, she holds degrees in sociology from Rivier College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She lives in New York City. -
Kevin Freyne (kfreyne@probono.net)
QA Engineer
Kevin joined Pro Bono Net full-time in November 2007, and now serves as the QA Engineer. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net, he worked for Plural Inc and Dell Professional Services (DPS). Kevin worked on various projects, which ranged from Mortgage Partnership Financial program for a major federal financial institution to testing a proprietary intranet solution of a not-for-profit research organization dedicated to reviewing medical research. Kevin received an A.S. degree in Business Management from the Borough of Manhattan Community College in December 2007. He lives in New York City. -
Claudia Johnson (cjohnson@probono.net)
LawHelp Interactive Program Manager
Claudia joined Pro Bono Net in April 2008. She was most recently part of the management team at Bay Area Legal Aid in Oakland, where she implemented and managed the Legal Advice Line (LAL). LAL is a team of cross trained multilingual advocates providing real time counsel and advice in four areas of law across seven counties. Before joining Bay Legal Claudia was a supervising attorney at the Volunteer Legal Services Program in San Francisco. She supervised the pro bono panel for eviction and consumer defense cases, and intake and placement for eviction, consumer, federal and family law. Claudia started her legal services career in Philadelphia, where she was a Skadden Fellow working on managed care. She is a graduate from the Goldman School of Public Policy and the Graduate School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Washington state. -
Liz Keith (lkeith@probono.net)
LawHelp Program Manager
Liz joined Pro Bono Net in December 2004, working first as a LawHelp Circuit Rider and now as the LawHelp Program Manager. She received a self-tailored master's degree in community informatics from the University of Michigan School of Information, where she was a consultant to community information projects for the Digital Partners Social Enterprise Laboratory and the Alliance for Community Technology in Haiti and Chile. Prior to graduate school, Liz served as Director of Communications and Development at the Maine Women's Policy Center. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area. -
Adam Licht (alicht@probono.net)
Director of Product Management
Adam joined Pro Bono Net in April 2006 as Director of Product Management. He has substantial software product management and development experience within the publishing, legal and financial service industries. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net, he held senior product management positions with RR Donnelley, CCH Legal Information Services, A Wolters Kluwer Company and Net Exchange.com. Adam earned an MBA from The University of Chicago, an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona and a BFA from SUNY College at Purchase. He lives in the New York City area. -
Tony Lu (tlu@probono.net)
Pro Bono & Special Initiatives Coordinator
Tony joined Pro Bono Net in June 2010. He received a B.A. in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from the University of California, Berkeley and earned his J.D. from NYU School of Law. Following law school, Tony received an Open Society Institute Community Fellowship to represent low-wage immigrant women in the domestic work industry in litigation for unpaid wages at the Urban Justice Center. He also served as an adjunct instructor in the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Clinic at the City University of New York Law School. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net, Tony was a staff attorney at the New York Legal Assistance Group, where he specialized in analyzing the collateral immigration consequences of criminal convictions and co-directed a project to assist Haitian nationals in the United States in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. He lives in New York City. -
Lisa Mackie (lmackie@probono.net)
Sales Account Manager
Lisa joined Pro Bono Net in the fall of 2007 as the Sales Account Manager for Pro Bono Manager. Lisa has an extensive background in sales and marketing of software solutions to the legal industry. She has worked with law firms in both the United States and Canada. Prior to working in the legal vertical Lisa's background was in both telecommunications and geographic information systems. She lives in the New York City area. -
Allison McDermott (amcdermott@probono.net)
Deputy Director
Allison joined Pro Bono Net full-time in July 2001, and has served as the Deputy Director since fall 2005. Previously Allison was the LawHelp Program Manager, developing and leading the national LawHelp statewide website and Circuit Rider programs. Allison received a Master's degree in Social Administration from Columbia University School of Social Work in May 2001. Prior to that, she worked for four years at InMotion, a domestic violence legal organization in New York City, coordinating technology projects and building the Bronx pro bono program. She lives in New York City. -
Mark O'Brien (mobrien@probono.net)
Executive Director
Mark is the co-founder and Executive Director of Pro Bono Net. Prior to starting Pro Bono Net, Mark was the pro bono coordinator at Davis Polk and Wardwell from 1992 to 1999. During his tenure, both Mark and the firm won numerous awards for contributions to pro bono issues. He has served on various New York State and City bar committees dealing with pro bono and legal services issues, and is a member of the Advisory Committee of the University of Pennsylvania Law School Public Service Program. He lives in New York City. -
Sem Philippe (sphilippe@probono.net)
LawHelp Interactive Business Analyst
Sem Philippe joined Pro Bono Net in May 2011 as the LawHelp Interactive Business Analyst. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net he worked as a Digital Product Analyst for John Wiley & Sons and also worked at March of Dimes Foundation as a QA Tester, QA Analyst and Business/Data Analyst. Sem has had an opportunity to work on a range of projects including WileyPLUS.com, Marchforbabies.com, and FRED.marchofdimes.com. Sem received a B.S. degree in Computer Science and a minor in math from the State University of New York at Oswego. He lives in New York City. -
Alice Pucheu (apucheu@probono.net)
Project Manager
Alice joined Pro Bono Net in February 2008. Currently, she is Project Manager for probono.net and LawHelp.org. She also works as a professional dancer, performing on both stage and screen in the U.S. and Europe. A recent graduate of Hunter College, Alice holds a Bachelors degree in Media Studies and previously trained in the Certificate Program at The Ailey School. She happily lives in New York City, but holds her Louisiana upbringing close to her heart. -
Ken Ramsey (kramsey@probono.net)
Program Coordinator, Immigration Advocates Network
Ken joined Pro Bono Net in 2011 as the Program Coordinator for Immigration Advocates Network. Prior to that, Ken worked as an Associate Director and Program Specialist for Church World Service's Immigration and Refugee Program and provided direct services to newly-arrived refugees as a Case Manager with Ecumenical Refugee Services in Denver, Colorado. Ken also lived abroad for several years in the Czech Republic, Thailand, and Poland as an English instructor and worked for an indigenous rights organization, Cultural Survival, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Bachelors degree in Anthropology. Ken lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife and two cats. -
Karin Romans (kromans@probono.net)
Development Associate
Karin joined Pro Bono Net in December 2011. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net, she was the Associate Development Director with Planned Parenthood of Northern New Jersey. Before moving to New Jersey, she led the development activities at the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She graduated from Hofstra University on Long Island in 2003 with a degree in Public Relations, spending a few years post graduation in public relations before switching to non-profit work. She is pursuing a Master's in Communication from Hofstra. She lives across the river in Hoboken, NJ and spends three mornings a week teaching Spinning and Boot Camp. -
Jessica Stuart (jstuart@probono.net)
Associate Product Manager
Jessica joined the Pro Bono Net team in August 2008, working first as LawHelp Program Associate and now as Associate Product Manager for Pro Bono Manager. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net, Jessica lived in Los Angeles and worked for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in their Digital Marketing department, participating in various projects ranging from CMS development to marketing programs involving social networking. In 2003, Jessica earned her B.A. in Communication Processes from the University of Connecticut. She lives in New York City. -
Brett Suwyn (bsuwyn@probono.net)
Senior Programmer
Brett joined Pro Bono Net in August 2005 as a Senior Programmer. Brett has been developing Internet applications for over ten years and is an advocate for the use of formal development practices, decoupled design patterns, and web standards. He lives in New York City. -
Jillian Theil (jtheil@probono.net)
LawHelp Program Associate
Jillian joined Pro Bono Net in August 2011. Previously, she worked as a staff associate at the Center for Genetics and Society. She has also collaborated with women's advocacy organizations on projects examining the social, legal and ethical questions raised by new assisted reproductive technologies. She earned her B.A. summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles. Jillian is based in San Francisco. -
Pam Weisz (pweisz@probono.net)
Director of Communications & Corporate Sponsorship
Pam joined Pro Bono Net in July 2007 as Director of Corporate Sponsorship. Prior to joining Pro Bono Net, Pam worked in business development and strategic planning roles at media companies including the Associated Press and Showtime Networks. Before going to graduate school she spent several years working as a journalist. Pam has an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from Stanford University. She lives in New York City. -
Jim Wiegand (jwiegand@probono.net)
Director of Technology
Jim joined Pro Bono Net in January 2011 as the Director of Technology. Jim brings over 17 years of experience implementing internal and external applications, including high-transaction systems, web-based financial systems and cloud-based technologies. He has worked for a wide range of companies, which allows him to bring a variety of experience and processes to Pro Bono Net. He lives in the New York City area.
