EBSC has a vibrant team of lawyers, paralegals, advocates, volunteers, and allied organizations who help advance our mission.
Our Staff
Executive Director
A native of Ireland, Sr. Maureen Duignan joined EBSC in 1984 working with migrants in detention and has been Executive Director since 2000. She has earned many awards for her work with immigrants, including the National Award from the National Guatemalan Council. She speaks Spanish and French.
Email Sister Maureen.
Michael co-founded EBSC’s Asylum Program in 1992. He has mentored thousands of law students and pro bono attorneys over the years. An expert on the treatment of indigenous peoples in Guatemala during the civil war, he is author of two books and numerous articles and was honored by the Dalai Lama.
Email Michael.
Managing Attorney
Kaveena started as a legal intern at EBSC in 2003. After earning a BA from Brown University and a JD from UC Hastings, she clerked at the LA Immigration Court through the Attorney General’s Honors Program and was a staff attorney at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As Managing Attorney, she supervises all aspects of EBSC’s legal program.
Email Kaveena.
Coordinator, CDE Program
A Salvadoran refugee, Manuel joined EBSC in 2006. He organizes free informational workshops on a range of immigration topics and provides referrals for housing, jobs, and education. He also directs our organizing efforts. For an excellent article on Manuel, click here. Manuel became a U.S. citizen in 2008.
Email Manuel.
Assistant Director
Lisa joined EBSC in 2018 and brings a wealth of experience in program and organizational management. Her background is in planning and operations in the international humanitarian sector and she is delighted to be providing operational and administrative support to EBSC.
Email Lisa.
Development Director
Lisa is passionate about supporting community-based organizations to obtain funding and support for their vital programs. Lisa started as a volunteer at EBSC and began working as Development Director in 2017 and ASV Director in 2018. She has an MA in Cultural Anthropology and speaks Spanish, Russian and French.
Email Lisa.
Financial Manager
Miriam, a native of Guatemala, joined EBSC in 2016 as a contractor providing support in bookkeeping, administrative and financial planning staff and Board of Directors. She is proud to serve an amazing organization and its dynamic employees, whose hearts are in helping the immigration community.
Email Miriam.
Office Administrator & Refugee Rights Advocate
Passionate about immigrant and civil rights, Cynthia received her BA at UCR with a major in Philosophy / Law and Society. She received her paralegal certificate from SFSU and began interning at EBSC in 2018. She has been the Office Administrator since April 2019. She loves to dance, run, and spend time with her family.
Email Cynthia.
Office Administrator
Juan came to EBSC in 2019 as interim office administrator where he is the first point of contact for clients. Born in Mexico, Juan received asylum in 2019 with EBSC’s help. Committed to LGBT advocacy, Juan has been active in the OLAS LGBT Sanctuary Project, providing community-building support to LGBT asylees.
Email Juan.
Staff Attorney
Veronica started volunteering at EBSC back in 2013 as a volunteer attorney. In 2014, she opened her own immigration law office that focused on low-cost representation primarily focusing on asylum court representation. As an immigrant herself, from Mexico, who went through the immigration court system, she can relate to the anguish and struggle that a lot of immigrants face trying to obtain legal status in the United States. Before joining EBSC she had worked for a little over a year at Immigrants Rights running their asylum court representation program. She currently works on affirmative and defensive asylum cases, U Visas, DACA/DACA renewals, family petitions, residency, and naturalization.
Email Veronica.
Staff Attorney
Alex started volunteering at EBSC in 2016 while completing his Law and Politics degree at Queen Mary, University of London. He then joined EBSC in October 2019 after completing an MA in international human rights law at Georgetown University. He primarily helps clients apply for affirmative asylum, residency and citizenship applications.
Email Alex.
Staff Attorney
Angela has been a staff attorney at EBSC since 2015. She represents asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors. She is very grateful to work with the supportive and dedicated staff at EBSC and to serve the immigrant community.
Email Angela.
Staff Attorney
Jaime received his JD with honors and a public interest law concentration from JFK University School of Law. He was awarded a fellowship with the National Center for Lesbian Rights and practiced as a tenant attorney before moving into immigration law. Prior to joining EBSC, Jaime was a pro-bono attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative.
Email Jaime.
DOJ Accredited Representative
Shiori, an immigrant from Japan, began volunteering at EBSC in October 2012 while working on her bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. At EBSC, Shiori coordinates our DACA and Public Charge programs, organizes free citizenship processing workshops, and works on family petition cases.
Email Shiori.
Coordinator, LGBT Asylum Program
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Cristina’s passion for immigrant rights came from bearing witness to the obstacles her own family faced. Cristina joined EBSC in 2017 and works primarily with LGBT asylum seekers. She also coordinates the OLAS-LGBT Sanctuary Project. Cristina started as a volunteer in 2013 while attending UC Berkeley, where she earned a BA in Sociology.
Email Cristina.
Refugee Rights Advocate
Esmeralda began volunteering at EBSC in 2018 while working on her Paralegal Studies certification at San Francisco State University. In early 2019, she joined EBSC as a paralegal assisting asylum clients. She received her bachelor’s degree in International Relations at San Francisco State University.
Email Esmeralda.
Refugee Rights Advocate
Brenda began volunteering at EBSC in 2016 and joined as a staff member in 2017. In 2018 she received her bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare and a minor in Spanish Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Brenda is a DACA Recipient and is very grateful to be able to co-coordinate the DACA program at EBSC. She’s also the Coordinator of the Naturalization Program and works with beneficiaries of Asylees.
Email Brenda.
Refugee Rights Advocate
Cristina volunteered at EBSC and joined as staff in 2017. Raised in LA, she comes from a family of resilient Salvadoran immigrants. Witnessing the lack of low-cost legal help available to her community prompted Cristina to pursue a career in immigration law. She earned a B.A. in Legal Studies and a B.A in Latin American Literature from UC Berkeley.
Email Cristina.
Refugee Rights Advocate
Yuko began interpreting for EBSC in 2012 while completing an MA in Latin American studies at UC Berkeley. As a paralegal, she assists unaccompanied minors and LGBT asylum applicants from Brazil. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. She received her BA in Liberal Arts from Soka University of America.
Email Yuko.
Refugee Rights Advocate
Liliana became passionate about immigrant rights while growing up in the border town of San Ysidro. After earning her BA in Political Science from UCLA in 2014, she moved to the Bay Area and volunteered for EBSC as an asylum interpreter. In 2016, she became a paralegal for unaccompanied minors.
Email Liliana.
Refugee Rights Advocate
Jasmine began volunteering for EBSC in 2019 while working on her undergraduate studies. Raised in the Bay Area, she is the daughter of first-generation Mexican immigrants. In 2020, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies and Education Studies at Brown University before returning to the Bay Area. As a paralegal, she works primarily with the DACA team.
Email Jasmine.
Refugee Rights Advocate
Esmeralda was born in Guatemala and migrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1997. She grew up in Oakland, California, and is part of the Maya Mam community. Esmeralda faced many obstacles in life because of her immigration status. She has gained courage and knowledge from these obstacles, and now works at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant as a paralegal and Mam interpreter focusing on residency, after starting as a volunteer in 2020. Esmeralda also facilitates the Maya Mam Women’s Group.
Email Esmeralda.
Support Services Program Manager
Owen’s history of working with the Latin American immigrant community goes back to 2002, when he got involved in advocacy for farm workers in Upstate New York. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2009, he has worked as a program manager for the East Bay Community Law Center and a financial counselor for the Mission Economic Development Agency. In 2021, he received a master’s degree in nonprofit administration, focusing on the application of the trauma-informed approach in nonprofit agencies. Owen is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Brazilian Portuguese.
Email Owen.
Board
- Bill Balderston – Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
- Sister Maureen Duignan, Executive Director – Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
- Sarah Barry Fike – St. Joseph the Worker
- Margaret Fine – Community Member at Large
- Maria La Boissiere – Haiti Education Program
- Minda Hickey – Community Member at Large
- Eduardo Martinez, Chair – Richmond City Council Member
- Glenda Pawsey – St. John’s Presbyterian Church
- Ada Recinos, Treasurer – Community Member at Large
- Alex Schafran – Community Member at Large
- Andrea Valverde – Community Member at Large
- Roberta Weisbard, Vice-Chair – Community Member at Large
