About Us

Mission & History

Founded in 1969 by Latino law students from Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley, Centro Legal de la Raza is a comprehensive legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of immigrant, low-income and Latino communities through bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy.

By combining quality legal services with know-your-rights education and youth development, we promote access to justice for thousands of individuals and families each year throughout the East Bay region of Northern California.

Our Staff


Nancy Hanna

Shartsis Friese Public Interest Fellow / Staff Attorney

Nancy graduated from Stanford Law School where she participated in the Stanford Community Law Clinic representing clients in wage and hour claims before the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement, criminal record expunctions, and eviction defense.  In addition to her work at the law clinic, Nancy also interned at a plaintiff-side employment law firm, worked on public benefits cases in the county of Los Angeles on behalf of children in the foster care system, and volunteered for Bay Area Legal Aid focusing on U Visa and VAWA immigration petitions.  Prior to entering law school, she worked  as a legal assistant to Julie Sparks, an immigration attorney in Los Angeles.  Nancy completed her undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies and Politics at Pomona College.  As our newest Shartsis Friese Fellow, Nancy will work with our housing and employment team to combat issues like wage theft and unlawful evictions.  Centro Legal would like to thank the law firm of Shartsis Friese LLP for supporting Centro Legal and making Nancy’s fellowship possible. 


spacer Esmeralda Izarra
Information & Resource Specialist  

Esmeralda was born and grew up in Lima, Peru. She was always interested in working with people, especially people who need help. In college, she studied Humanities and Social Sciences and got her degree in Sociology. She was also a volunteer for several years with a Catholic organization in Peru that helps infants and children who are orphans and who are infected with HIV. Being a Peruvian immigrant, Esmeralda has felt proud and happy to work at Centro Legal de la Raza since 2003. Esmeralda believes that this job helps her to better understand and appreciate who she is as a person and what she really wants to do in the United States. She is encouraged to continue her education and continue helping our community. Indeed, from working at Centro Legal de la Raza, she has learned that “in this country we have the freedom to exercise our rights in spite of the fact that many of us may come from a country in which often there is a lack of ability to exercise or enforce your rights.”  


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Skadden Fellow/ Staff Attorney  

Michelle is Centro Legal’s 2010-12 Skadden Fellow. Michelle graduated from Harvard Law School in 2009, Development Studies at University of Cambridge in 2004, and Harvard College in 2003. Prior to attending law school, Michelle taught English at an alternative school in the Mississippi Delta through Teach for America. Michelle will use her background as a teacher to develop her fellowship project, which includes teaching an introduction to law class at Melrose Middle School in Oakland and providing a general legal clinic for students and parents at Melrose. As a way to prepare for her legal clinic, Michelle will also be working as an attorney on housing, employment, and immigration cases.  


spacer Kyra Lilien
Immigration Attorney  

Kyra oversees Centro Legal’s immigration program and provides direct representation to individuals and families. Prior to joining Centro Legal, Kyra worked at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis in San Francisco. Although her practice focused on transactional law, she devoted a large portion of her time to pro bono cases and received the Kirkland & Ellis Pro Bono Service Award in 2009. Kyra graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law in 2006. Prior to and during law school Kyra remained committed to social justice issues, particularly refugee rights. She has worked as research fellow at the International Criminal Court and a court monitor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  


spacer Jennifer Miller
Development & Communications Fellow

Jennifer is thrilled to be part of Centro Legal, and working for justice with an amazing group of staff and volunteers. Jennifer has done grassroots fundraising for California Peace Action, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), San Francisco Women Against Rape, and in support of the legal team defending the rights of families impacted by the femicides in Chihuahua, Mexico. As an Americorps volunteer, she led environmental education projects for youth and volunteers in Fruitvale, and at St. Elizabeth Elementary School. She became involved in the immigrant and day labor communities in Oakland while co-teaching ecological landscaping classes to day laborers, and co-organizing a worker owned cooperative for former day laborers. She recently participated in the march against SB 1070 in Arizona with U.S. for All of Us, a national coalition of white people standing up for immigrant rights. Jennifer received a B.A. in Sociology from UC Berkeley.


spacer Patricia Salazar
Legal Services Director  

Patricia joined Centro Legal’s staff in 2008. A daughter of Mexican immigrants, Patricia has worked extensively with underrepresented communities throughout her academic and professional careers. As a law student from 2003 to 2005, she was a volunteer for Centro Legal’s Workers’ Rights Clinic. Patricia previously worked at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., DLA Piper US LLP, and the Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County.  Patricia oversees Centro Legal’s housing and employment practices. She earned her JD from UC Berkeley School of Law and her Masters degree in Public Policy from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.  


spacer Bianca M. Sierra
Executive Director  

Bianca has worked at Centro Legal de la Raza since 2008 and was named Executive Director in April of 2009. Bianca holds a law degree from Stanford Law School and a BA in International Relations from Stanford University. In law school, Bianca participated in the education, immigration, and civil rights legal clinics and interned at two Bay Area legal service non-profit agencies, Public Advocates and La Raza Centro Legal. In addition, she served as co-chair of the Stanford Latino Law Students Association. Prior to joining Centro Legal de la Raza, Bianca worked as a corporate associate, first at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and then at Cooley Godward Kronish LLP. Although her practice focused on mergers and acquisitions and venture capital financings, Bianca remained committed to social justice issues.  Her pro bono work included obtaining asylum in the United States for a Tibetan monk and advising a non-profit organization that provides micro-enterprise grants to women in Africa. Bianca is a member of the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Northern California.  


spacer Juan Vera
Program Director, Youth Law Academy  

Juan oversees and coordinates all aspects of the Youth Law Academy, which now has 39 high school and 25 college student participants.  His previous experience includes working as a counselor at Castlemont High School in Oakland and the Assistant Director of Enrollment Development at Cal State East Bay. Juan received a Masters in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State in May 2010 and a BA in Ethnic Studies from UC Riverside in 2001.  


spacer Alan Weiss
Of Counsel  

Alan has broad legal and management experience spanning over 20 years, as a partner in a law firm, federal government attorney, and company executive responsible for legal and regulatory affairs.  He formerly served as Legal Advisor to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs. Alan joined Centro in 2006 as an attorney volunteer and started our consumer protection clinic. In 2008 he became Of Counsel to Centro while continuing to run the consumer protection clinic. Alan earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, and his undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.  He is a recipient of the Legal Aid Association of California 2007 Award of Merit for his work in consumer protection.  



   

Board of Directors

Paul R. Chavez, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights  
Juan Galvan, Chapman & Cutler LLP
Arnoldo García
Sonia Gonzales, California Bar Foundation
Timothy Griffiths, Legal Services of Northern California
Maria Sager, Boxer & Gerson, LLP
Ilyce Shugall, Van Der Hout, Brigagliano, & Nightingale, LLP
Stephen Taylor, Taylor & Company Law Offices, LLP
Joel Tena  
Roseann Torres, Law Office of Roseann Torres

 

Youth Law Academy Advisory Board

Jose Arredondo, Educator
Honorable Jacob Blea III
Honorable Cecilia Castellanos
Lucia Corral Peña, Corral & Associates
Honorable Leo Dorado
Patricia Durham
Frank Fernandez, Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons, Greenwood, Harley & Oberman Foundation
Felix Galaviz, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Noel Gallo, Oakland Unified School District
Romeo Garcia, ARISE High School
Arturo Gonzalez, Morrison & Foerster
Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Leo P. Martinez, UC Hastings College of Law
Beatriz Mejia, Esq., Cooley Godward Kronish LLP
Honorable Cruz Reynoso
Honorable Frank Roesch
David Silver, Think College Now
Rodrigo Sandoval, Youth Law Academy Graduate
Honorable Carlos Ynostroza
Maya Ynostroza, District Attorney Office of Alameda County

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