INTAKE AND DATA COORDINATOR

Daniela or “Dani” (she/her, ella) is the Intake and Data Coordinator at VAAP, where she is working to build a coordinated, statewide intake and referral system for immigration legal services in Vermont. She brings a background in operations, logistics, and product ownership in the tech sector, with experience designing efficient, scalable systems. Daniela is passionate about making intake a welcoming and reliable first point of access—grounded in trust, clarity, and care. She also supports Spanish-speaking immigrants across Vermont through interpretation and translation and brings a personal connection to this work as the daughter of an immigrant.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR & LAW CLERK

Devon Ayers (she/her, ella) is a graduate of the Vermont Law Office Study Program pending admission and brings decades of experience in worker rights, legal advocacy, organizational development, and systems-level policy work. At VAAP, she supports the legal team by ensuring internal systems run smoothly, sustainably, and in service of the mission. She dedicated the previous decade to work at Vermont Legal Aid, where she launched and led a first-of-its-kind ombudsman pilot for adults with intellectual disabilities and traumatic brain injuries, designing intake and data systems, developing policies, and building cross-sector partnerships. A committed workplace equity advocate, Devon played a key role in organizational culture initiatives and co-organized VLA staff’s successful union vote with AFT Vermont in 2024. Her background in cooperative living, labor organizing, and housing justice fuels her belief that strong, values-aligned operations are essential to effective legal advocacy.

PRO BONO DIRECTOR & SENIOR STAFF ATTORNEY

Margaret or “Maggie” (she/her, ella) has been a practicing attorney in Vermont for 15 years, also licensed in Massachusetts and the District of Vermont. Maggie's background has been entirely in civil legal services providing advice and legal assistance in the areas of housing, consumer and benefits to Vermonters. Maggie's career highlights included the design and expansion of rent escrow clinics to five Vermont counties, training lawyers and community partners on all aspects of eviction law and serving as a board member and past president of the Chittenden County Bar Association. Maggie joins VAAP as a Practice Development Fellow to pivot to immigration legal work while prioritizing the belief that all people deserve access to a lawyer when interacting with the legal system is not a choice. She plans to further help VAAP build out volunteer and pro bono engagement as well as community relationships in support of its mission.

ADVOCACY DIRECTOR & SENIOR STAFF ATTORNEY

Erin (she/her, ella) brings deep experience in immigration law practice, legal education, and public leadership. She has represented immigrants and asylum seekers in direct legal practice, taught and supervised immigration law at Vermont Law & Graduate School, and most recently served as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Burlington, where she led complex organizational and policy initiatives. Erin’s career spans frontline legal advocacy, doctrinal teaching, and systems-level leadership—strengthening both individual representation and community access to justice. “[Leaving the Mulvaney-Stanak administration] was not an easy decision, but at this moment for our country and community, I feel called to return to immigration law,” Erin told Seven Days.

IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS FELLOW & LAW CLERK

Coming soon!

PROGRAM AND OUTREACH COORDINATOR

Maja (she/her, ella) joined VAAP in September of 2024 as a volunteer interpreter, before becoming part of the staff in August of 2025. Maja studied geography, politics and philosophy and has worked with a variety of progressive organizations in Europe, including various organizations advocating for Latin American immigrant workers in the UK. Maja is thrilled to be deepening her knowledge of the immigration legal system and continuing to advocate for Vermont's migrant communities. Catch up on Congresswoman Balint's 2025 ICE oversight visit to Vermont’s Northwest State Correctional Facility, for which Maja served as a Spanish/English interpreter, here.

IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS FELLOW & LAW CLERK

Catalina (she/her, ella) is a 2025 graduate of Vermont Law and Graduate School, class of 2025, and a 2025-27 Katzmann Justice Fellow at the Immigrant Justice Corps. Originally from New Jersey, Catalina now calls Vermont home. Her passion for immigration rights stems from her undergraduate studies in World Religion and Arabic as well as her own Colombian community and roots. In law school, Catalina worked as a Peggy Browning Fund Fellow at Migrant Justice/Justicia Migrante and as a student clinician and intake specialist at the Center for Justice Reform Clinic. Catalina hopes her experience as a VAAP legal fellow will allow her to expand her work protecting the rights of immigrant workers facing injustice while extending her advocacy to safeguard the vulnerable undocumented community in Vermont.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & SUPERVISING ATTORNEY

Jill (they/them, elle/ellx) is an immigration attorney licensed in New York, Vermont, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont. Since becoming VAAP’s first paid staff member in January 2024, Jill has grown the start-up organization into a team of nine direct service-providing advocates representing VT noncitizens statewide. Under Jill’s leadership, VAAP has welcomed Vermont’s first-ever Immigrant Justice Corps fellows and now serves as IJC’s first “rural infusion” pilot site; helped launch the FY26 Vermont Immigrant Legal Defense Fund and raise over $1M for whole-sector sustainability; supported advocacy for Vermont’s first state appropriations for immigration legal aid; piloted Vermont’s first universal representation models for noncitizens in ICE detention; developed one of the country’s earliest Immigration Habeas practice models to scale; and grown the organization’s budget to $1.4 million. Previously, Jill taught doctrinal and clinical immigration law at Vermont Law and Graduate School and refugee and immigrant service provision at the University of Vermont School of Social Work. Their life’s work is helping Vermont to develop and sustain an immigration legal services infrastructure commensurate with its progressive history and humanitarian values.

IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS SENIOR FELLOW & STAFF ATTORNEY

Bria (she/her, ella) joined VAAP following two years of practice experience as an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Maryland’s Chacón Center for Immigrant Justice. A dedicated immigration attorney barred in Massachusetts and Vermont, as a senior IJC fellow at VAAP she has represented clients in a wide range of affirmative and defensive matters before USCIS, immigration courts, and federal district court, including detained work and cases involving criminal-immigration issues. Before law school, Bria worked for four years as an educator in the Winooski and Colchester School Districts and the Shader Croft School, and she previously served as a legal intern with Association of Africans Living in Vermont and as a leader with Community Voices for Immigrant Rights. She is excited to return to Vermont to help strengthen VAAP’s legal practice and expand its pro bono and fellowship pathways, while providing zealous, community-rooted representation statewide.