EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

SUPERVISING ATTORNEY & PUBLIC ADVOCATE

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 eleven direct service-providing advocates supported by a $1.4M budget. Together, VAAP advocates handle dozens of removal defense matters in immigration and judicial courts each year and hundreds more limited-scope immigration legal matters—in addition to their robust pro bono mobilization, co-counseling and technical assistance, community legal education, and advocacy efforts. 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 $1M for whole-sector sustainability; supported advocacy for Vermont’s first 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 has also taught interdisciplinary refugee and immigrant service learning at the University of Vermont School of Social Work. They serve in leadership and advisory roles with AILA New England, AILA National, the Vermont Access to Justice Coalition, the Vermont Treasurer’s Task Force on the 2025 Transition, and the City of Burlington’s community safety planning efforts, among other regional and statewide initiatives. Jill’s work has featured widely from Vermont Public to Al Jazeera. They publish regularly in VTDigger, feature on public access programs hosted by CCTV and ORCA Media, and appear on podcasts including VPIRG’s Vermont Voice, VTDigger’s The Vermont Conversation, and UVM’s Social Work Lens. Jill is a proudly queer, Trans, nonbinary, neurodivergent, heritage Spanish-speaker originally from South Florida. They live Burlington’s Old North End with their brilliant spouse and beloved pup, Penny.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Devon Ayers (she/her, ella) is a graduate of the Vermont Law Office Study Program pending admission and brings over a decade of experience in legal advocacy, organizational development, and systems-level policy work. At Vermont Legal Aid, 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. At VAAP, she looks forward to supporting the legal team by ensuring internal systems run smoothly, sustainably, and in service of the mission.

STAFF ATTORNEY & SENIOR FELLOW

COMMUNITY LAWYERING & DETAINED DEFENSE MANAGER

Emma (she/her, ella) is an attorney licensed to practice in Vermont. She joined VAAP as a second year IJC fellow after a first year in San Diego. Emma graduated from American University Washington College of Law with a J.D. in 2023 and American University School of International Service with an M.A. in International Affairs: Refugees, Migration, and International Law and Policy. During law school, Emma worked with immigration firms and nonprofits in the DC area and was a student attorney at the American University Washington College of Law Immigrant Justice Clinic. Her work with VAAP focuses on developing our community lawyering and detained defense initiatives and on assisting unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings as a third year senior fellow in IJC’s unaccompanied children program.

STAFF ATTORNEY

SERVICE LEARNING MANAGER

Leah (she/her) is an attorney licensed to practice in Vermont. She originally joined VAAP in May 2025 on a part-time basis to drive VAAP's Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) practice in Vermont Family and Probate Courts. Now a full time staff attorney, her work with VAAP focuses on youth SIJS and asylum cases and managing all students and interns involved in VAAP’s service learning program. Following her first career as a professional actor, she pursued a law degree to have a more tangible impact on justice for queer and trans communities. She is a 2024 graduate of Vermont Law and Graduate School's J.D. and Restorative Justice programs. As a law student and clinician, her work focused on queer asylum and youth immigration relief, queer family law and policy, and advocating for housing and victims' rights. With gratitude to indigenous wisdom, she supports restorative practices as an alternative to legal systems when possible.

STAFF ATTORNEY & SENIOR FELLOW

PRO BONO & FELLOWSHIPS MANAGER

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 seeking Vermont admission, 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.

LEGAL ADVOCATE

IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS FELLOW

Catalina (she/her, ella) is a graduating lawyer from Vermont Law and Graduate School, class of 2025, and an incoming Katzmann Justice Fellow at the Immigrant Justice Corps, class of 2025-27. 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.

STAFF ATTORNEY (part-time)

PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT FELLOW

Erin (she/her, ella) is a part-time staff attorney and part-time solo practitioner with 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 administratoin] 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 in a statement.

STAFF ATTORNEY (part-time)

PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT FELLOW

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.

PARALEGAL

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Maja Klostermann (she/her, ella) joined VAAP in September of 2024 as a volunteer interpreter, and this September joined the staff as Legal Assistant. Maja studied geography and politics and has worked in 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 legal system and continuing to advocate for VT's migrant communities. Catch up on Congresswoman Balint's recent ICE oversight visit, for which Maja interpreted, here.

PARALEGAL (part-time)

CONTRACT INTAKE STRATEGIST

Liv Berelson (she/her, ella) joined VAAP in September as contract Intake Strategist, coordinating a new centralized immigration legal intake and referral system for Vermont. A UVM graduate with experience at RAICES, New Sanctuary Coalition, American Friends Service Committee, and Community Asylum Seekers Project in Brattleboro (VAAP's former fiscal sponsor), Liv is thrilled to help close the legal services gap for immigrants in Vermont as part of VAAP’s team. See her work featured in Braiding a New Life here!

Paralegal

Intake Coordinator

Dani Arias (she/her, ella) is the Intake Coordinator at VAAP, where she is working alongside Intake Strategist Liv Berelson 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.