Join national experts, longtime practitioners, and co-authors of the ILRC's VAWA Manual to learn the requirements for self-petitioning for immigration status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the process for applying, and practice tips for working with immigrant clients who have been abused by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member.

Presenters

Sall Kinoshita, Deputy Director - ILRC

Sally Kinoshita is the ILRC's Deputy Director based in San Francisco. She has worked at the ILRC since 2001 and currently manages a number of ILRC's programs, oversees the ILRC's marketing and grants work, and leads collaboratives of legal services providers, community based organizations and other sectors. She has co-authored a number of publications including The U Visa: Obtaining Status for Immigrant Victims of Crime (ILRC), The VAWA Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants (ILRC), Immigration Benchbook for Juvenile and Family Court Judges (ILRC), and Application of Protection Remedies for Victims of Domestic Abuse, Human Trafficking, and Crime under U.S. Law to Persons Physically Present in the U.S. Territories (Family Violence Prevention Fund).

Prior to working at the ILRC, Sally was a Staff Attorney at Asian Law Caucus and a consultant with ASISTA, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and Family Violence Prevention Fund/Futures Without Violence. During law school, she worked with the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic, Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights, ACLU of Northern California, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.

Sally is currently a member of the Leadership Council of Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC) and has served as a Federal Bar Association Immigration Law Section Advisory Board Member and Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVIIC) Steering Committee Member.

Sally earned her law degree from the University of California at Davis. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley, where she majored in sociology. She is admitted to the California bar and is conversant in Spanish.

Angel Graf, Supervising Attorney - Immigration Center for Women and Children

Angel Graf is a Supervising Attorney in the ICWC San Francisco Office. Prior to joining ICWC, Angel was an Attorney Advisor for the Executive Office of Immigration Review. She has also worked and interned for Life Span Center for Legal Services and Advocacy, the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, and World Relief Chicago's Immigrant Legal Services. Angel received her J.D., magna cum laude, from DePaul College of Law (2012) with a certification in Public Interest Law. While in law school Angel focused on issues involving gender, inclusion, domestic violence, and immigration. She also holds a B.A. from Elmhurst College (2003), a M.A. in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University (2006), and previously worked in international relations, inter-cultural communication, and international human rights.

Catherine Seitz, Legal Director - Legal Services for Children

Catherine Seitz joined the LSC team as Legal Director in July of 2015. She has a J.D. from U.C. Hastings and a B.A. in Latin American Studies from U.C. Berkeley. She has been working in the field of immigration law since 1990 starting out as a legal assistant and then a BIA Accredited Representative before her admission to the bar in December of 2001. Before joining Legal Services for Children, she worked at Bay Area Legal Aid, Canal Alliance, the International Institute of the East Bay, and Simmons & Ungar. She is bilingual in Spanish and English. She is co-author of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center's U Visa Manual and is an active member of the Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Outside of work, she loves spending time with her family and enjoying the outdoors with her border collie, Axel.