Sacramento Administrative Unit

100 Howe Ave., Suite 185-N
Sacramento, CA 95825
Main: 916.488.9955 TTY: 800.719.5798

Catherine Blakemore - Executive Director

Catherine Blakemore is the Executive Director of Protection & Advocacy. She previously worked for PAI as its Director of Litigation and the Managing Attorney of the Los Angeles office. Before coming to PAI, Catherine was an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Disability Rights Legal Center. Catherine received her J.D. in 1977 from Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles. Her work as an attorney specialized in the area of special education and she continues to work as one of the counsel in the Chanda Smith vs. Los Angeles Unified School District.

Since becoming the Executive Director, Catherine has worked to change the face of PAI from mostly a white non-disabled organization. Over 10 years staff with disabilities have been hired at all levels of the organization and the staff now reflects the ethnic and language diversity of California. As a result PAI’s advocacy is richer, and more responsive to the needs of all Californians.

Clarisa Anderson - Human Resources Specialist - Benefits Administrator

Stephanie Arriero - Human Resources Specialist - Recruiter

Katana Austin - Accounts Payable Specialist

Joanie Bockus - Staff Accountant

Stephanie Burkett - Payroll Specialist II

Maxine Dalaza - Administrative Assistant

Maricris Dela Cruz-Britton - Human Resources Assistant

Chris Epperson - Computer Support Specialist

Haydee Gutierrez - Receptionist

Cathy Harton - Executive Assistant

Taiko Ishikawa - General Accountant

Beth Leach - Human Resources - Director

Jesse Magano - Computer Support Specialist

Cara Nguyen - Office Manager

Sharon Parker - Payroll Specialist I

Vonzell Pierson - Help Desk Technician

Dalena Quan - Administrative Assistant

Milanka Radosavljevic - Finance Director

Trisha Wallace - MIS Assistant

Dennis Whitcomb - MIS Director

Los Angeles Regional Office

3580 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 902
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2512
Main: 213.427.8747; TTY: 800.781.4546

Maria Iriarte Abdo - Associate Managing Attorney

Rosa Alas - Office Manager

Brigitte Ammons - Senior Advocate

Kimberly Baker - EJW Fellow

Kimberley Baker is a Staff Attorney and McDermott, Will & Emery Equal Justice Works Law Fellow working in the Los Angeles PAI office. Kimberley's fellowship is geared toward providing legal services to African-American and Latino youth with disabilities who are at-risk of entering the juvenile delinquency system.

As a graduate from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, Kimberley’s dedication to working with youth from under-served communities has been a life-long commitment. Her experience in this area includes service as a Co-Executive Director of the Street Law Foundation, parole board representation as a Certified Law Student Intern with the University of Southern California Post-Conviction Justice Project and internships with Protection & Advocacy, Inc. and the Alliance for Children’s Rights. Prior to law school, she worked as a fifth grade teacher in South Los Angeles.

Kevin Bayley - Staff Attorney

Suzi Bernais - Information and Referral Advocate

Suzi proudly became a member of the PAI Los Angeles office way back in 1989. As part of L.A.'s Support Staff team, she gets to wear many hats, but the main "hat" is as a legal secretary. Suzi is also the local help desk/MIS Liaison for the Los Angeles office. Prior to joining PAI, she enjoyed a varied and interesting 15 years of living and working in London. A rich experience was gained from such diverse jobs as working with the American Chamber of Commerce, Christie's Auction House, a surgical supplies company and an antiques shipping company.

Marisol Cruz - Legal Secretary

Paul Duryea - Senior Investigator – IU

Matthew Fishler - PAIMI Advocate

Advocates for rights in psychiatric facilities, deinstitutionalization and access to community-based services.

Carlos Garcia - Legal Secretary

Marilyn Holle - DD Senior Attorney

Rebecca Hoyt - Legal Secretary

Rebecca Hutton - Legal Secretary

Ricardo Jauregui - Senior Investigator, Investigations Unit

Ricardo has been with PAI since 2004. He is currently assigned to the Investigations Unit. Prior to coming to PAI, Ricardo was a criminal defense investigator and the owner of Ricardo Jauregui & Associates – Investigations. Ricardo retired from the Glendale Police Department in 1993 with the rank of Sergeant. He earned his BS degree in Criminal Justice from Cal State Los Angeles, and his MPA from Cal State Northridge.

Anna Levine - Attorney

Anna Levine joined PAI as a staff attorney in 2005. Her work focuses on serving adults with mental and developmental disabilities, through direct representation in administrative proceedings and in state and federal court, as well as through policy and legislative work, outreach, and training in areas related to her clients’ legal and service rights. Prior to joining PAI, Anna spent two years as a Skadden Fellow at Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc., where she implemented a project asserting entitlements to community-based resources on behalf of individuals with mental disabilities undergoing a revolving door of institutionalization and release. She received her J.D. in 2003 from Yale Law School.

Pamila Lew - PAIMI Staff Attorney

Rita Lindgren - Legal Secretary

Rose Ortega - Information and Referral Advocate

Sage Reeves - Registered Legal Services Attorney

Siyon Rhee - Asian Advocate (PT)

Mary Rios - Information & Referral Advocate

Mariano Rodriguez - PT Bilingual Receptionist

Esperanza Romero - Administrative Assistant/Secretary

Barbara Silva - Deputy Director

Hillary Sklar - Staff Attorney

Michelle Uzeta - Associate Managing Attorney

Carmen Varela - PADD/Multi-Cultural Affairs Advocate

Jerri Ward - PABSS Advocate

Jenny Williams - Law Clerk

Oakland Regional Office

1330 Broadway, Suite 500
Oakland, CA 94612
Main: 510.267.1200  TTY: 800.649.0154

Kim Swain - Managing Attorney

Kim Swain is the Managing Attorney in PAI's Oakland Regional Office, overseeing the legal unit which provides intake, referral, direct representation to clients, engages in policy work and provides outreach and training to consumers and the community at large.

Kim received her J.D. in 1981 from King Hall School of Law, University of California at Davis. Her practice specialties include civil rights, rights to community services and housing for people with disabilities. Kim focuses on deinstitutionalization litigation where she worked on both the Coffelt case (involving the provision of community options for over 2000 individuals at the state developmental centers) and litigation against the State and San Francisco on behalf of class members at Laguna Honda Hospital. She has extensive experience and knowledge regarding Olmstead implementation in California, including advocating for improvements to the Home and Community-Based Waivers under Medi-Cal. Kim is also an adjunct professor at UCD Law School co-teaching the Disability Civil Rights class. She was previously a staff attorney at Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley.

Evelyn Bello-Grant - Legal Support Staff

Sujatha Branch - PADD Staff Attorney

Sujatha Jagadeesh Branch is a staff attorney in the Oakland office who specializes in community integration for people with developmental disabilities. Previously she was a specialist in subsidized child care at the Child Care Law Center.

Sujatha received her J.D. in 1993 from Columbia Law School, New York.

She is currently counsel in Capitol People First v. Department of Developmental Services, a class action case filed in state court that challenges the needless institutionalization of thousands of people with developmental disabilities. Her practice specialties include a range of government benefits programs, including child care subsidies, Medi-Cal, and In Home Supportive Services.

Dan Brzovic - Associate Managing Attorney

Yuen Chiang - Multi-Cultural Affairs Advocate

As the Multicultural Affairs Advocate, Yuen coordinates outreaches to the community and provides direct advocacy to clients. She is fluent in Cantonese and Spanish, conversational in Korean and Mandarin. She comes to PAI with extensive outreach experience to the Chinese and Latino immigrant communities from her previous work.

Yuen has worked as a program coordinator for a family resource center in the Excelsior District of San Francisco, as an English teacher for 6th-8th graders in Mexico, and for the Commission on Human Rights, also in Mexico, where she educated indigenous women about their constitutional rights.

Yuen has a BA in cultural anthropology from SF State, with a minor in Asian American studies. In school, she researched, cowrote and published an article on the impact of the Korean war on veterans, and in 2005, was awarded an IEE scholarship to study in Korea. Yuen is currently pursuing her masters in Public Policy at CSU East Bay.

Pamela Cohen - PAIMI Attorney

Pamela Cohen is a staff attorney in PAI's Oakland office. She represents adults with psychiatric disabilities on a range of issues including discrimination, conservatorships, forensic mental health issues, and institutional conditions. She has previously been an appellate defense attorney and a staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health law in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Columbia Law School in 1987.

Barbara Dickey - Senior PADD Attorney

Barbara Dickey, a Senior Attorney at PAI, has over 20 years of experience in civil rights litigation and appellate advocacy.

Barbara was a partner at Ryu, Dickey & Larkin in Oakland, a woman-owned law firm that specialized in class actions and individual representation in employment cases. She also worked for Saperstein, Seligman, Mayeda, Larkin & Goldstein where she litigated federal class action employment discrimination cases.

While living in Boston, Barbara was an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office working primarily on civil prosecutions of hate crimes. At the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, Barbara argued a landmark case on sexual harassment before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, College-town, Div. Of Interco, Inc. v. MCAD, 400 Mass.156 (1987). She received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service as a member of the AIDS Discrimination Task Force.

Joey Gallardo - Bilingual Receptionist

Elissa Gershon - PAIR Staff Attorney

Elissa Gershon is a Staff Attorney in PAI's Oakland office. She is lead counsel in the class action lawsuit, Chambers et al. v. City and County of San Francisco, which involves deinstitutionalization of residents of Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco. She also works on issues related to increasing and improving opportunities for people with disabilities to live in the community, including Medi-Cal Home and Community Based Waivers. Elissa received her J.D. in 1993 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and has worked at PAI since 1997.

Ellen Goldblatt - DD Senior Attorney

Ellen Goldblatt has been a senior attorney at PAI since 1985 and has a brother-in-law with a developmental disability. As major focus of her work has been ensuring that people have the opportunity to move from and avoid placement into institutional settings and instead can live in homes in the community, participate in social and economic life, work and play in inclusive settings. In order to achieve these goals, Ms. Goldblatt has worked on litigation, legislation, in stakeholders’ meetings and with the media. She has been lead counsel in Coffelt v. DD, which resulted in the movement of over 2000 people to the community and improved person-centered planning, and in Capitol People First v. the Department of Developmental Services, which seeks to ensure that such efforts continue. In the policy arena, Ms. Goldblatt’s recent work includes the efforts to revamp day services through SB1270 and enhance California’s system of evaluating the quality of community services to focus on actual life outcomes for the persons’ served.

In 2006 and 2007, Ellen has helped to improve coverage in the California press and media on how people with developmental disabilities can make successful transitions from institutions into community living.

Erin Katayama - Legal Support Staff

After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2004, Erin joined PAI’s Oakland office. She supports the Capitol People First case, the Investigations Unit, the Director of Communication, and the Director of Litigation.

Regina Kendricks - Senior Office Manager

Regina has been employed at PAI's Oakland office since July 1, 1991, and has many years of administrative, secretarial, supervisory, and managerial experience. She oversees the daily operations of the office and is responsible for the hiring and direct supervision of office support staff. She has assisted with and/or served as the Logistics Coordinator for various agency-wide trainings and projects, and works closely with managers and directors throughout the agency.

Eunice Lee - Admin/Intake Assistant

Ellen McElvany - Legal Secretary

Charis Moore - Staff Attorney (IU)

Charis Moore has been a staff attorney in the Oakland office of Protection & Advocacy since 1998. She currently works in the Investigations Unit, where she does abuse and neglect investigations involving people with disabilities, with a focus on systemic reform. She also supervises the Multicultural Affairs program for the Oakland office. From 1991 to 1997, she was a housing attorney at Contra Costa Legal Services Foundation in Richmond (now Bay Area Legal Aid). After graduating from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1988, Charis was awarded the Felix Velarde Munoz Law Graduate Internship at the Employment Law Center (1998-1989) and the Fred Korematsu Civil Rights Fellowship at the Asian Law Caucus (1990-1991). Charis was an adjunct professor at John F. Kennedy Law School from 1996 to 1997, where she co-taught classes in housing law. Prior to coming to PAI, she also worked with the Pro Bono Veterans Consortium, representing veterans with disabilities. She has a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Leslie Morrison - Director, Investigations Unit

Leslie Morrison is the Director of PAI's Investigations Unit. She is a recognized expert in behavioral restraint and seclusion, most recently publishing a report discussing restraint and seclusion of children with disabilities in CA schools. Leslie consulted on California legislation (SB 130, codified in Health and Safety Code §§ 1180 et seq.) mandating safeguards to protect individuals from injury and death caused by the use of restraint. She has also worked to develop and implement system reform to ensure an adequate response by abuse response and to provide crime victims with disabilities equal access to the criminal justice system.

Before joining PAI, Leslie worked as in-house counsel at several acute care hospitals running their risk management, corporate compliance and quality improvement programs. She is also recognized as an expert in issues regarding the increased victimization of persons with disabilities and inadequacies in the abuse reporting and response system to such crimes.

Leslie received her JD from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1995 and her Masters in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing from Boston College in 1986.

Fred Nisen - PAIR/Equal Access Staff Attorney

Fred is a member of the State Bars of California and Nevada. From 1997 to 1999, he was a rights attorney for the Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center (NDALC), Nevada’s protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities. At NDALC, he dealt with various aspects of disability rights law. Since 1999, he has worked for Protection & Advocacy, Inc. (PAI). Since June of 2000, He has been a staff attorney in PAI’s Oakland Legal Office. His focus is mainly on housing and public benefits.

Crystal Padilla - PAIR/PAAT Advocate

Allison Ponder - Legal Assistant

Yesenia Roman – Intake and Referral Advocate

Yesenia is the Information & Referral Advocate at the Oakland office of PAI. She has worked here for the past eight years. She received her A.A. in Liberal Arts in 1995 from Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California and her B.A. in Speech Communications with an emphasis in Political Rhetoric from San Francisco State University in 1997. She is fluent in English and Spanish and enjoys working with clients.

Stephen Rosenbaum - Staff Attorney

Stephen specializes in the rights of students with disabilities and institutionalized persons, and has received advocacy awards from various developmental disability organizations. Formerly a staff attorney with Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and California Rural Legal Assistance, he has litigated a number of impact cases in federal and state court on behalf of immigrants and persons with disabilities, and has represented many individuals in mediation and administrative hearings. Steve is also a Lecturer in Law at his alma mater, Boalt Hall (mental health law, social justice skills and civil rights litigation) and has taught disability rights at Stanford Law School. Since 2003, Steve has served as a trainer at the Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates (COPAA) annual conference and has conducted many workshops for parents (in English and Spanish), school professionals and hearing officers and administrative law judges, including the Seattle University IDEA Academy. He served as an expert reviewer for the Project SEAT lay advocacy curriculum.

Steve has sat on advisory committees of the California special education hearing office, Berkeley school district, UC-Berkeley Disability Studies and National Disability Rights Network, and on the COPAA amicus curiae committee. He has written several journal articles on education, disability, immigration and international human rights, and is a regular speaker at academic and professional conferences and in media appearances. As a recipient of State Department grants, Steve has given lectures to jurists, journalists and non-governmental activists in francophone Africa on issues ranging from mediation to pro bono assistance. In 2002, he was awarded a Harvard Law School Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship. Stephen is also the father of a young man with intellectual and developmental disabilities who is a regional center client.

Robin Rosenzweig - Administrative Legal Secretary II

Robin is an Administrative Legal Secretary II in the San Diego regional office of PAI. Prior to joining PAI, she held a variety of legal secretarial, paralegal and office managerial positions over the past 20 years, including working abroad as a foreign patent filing specialist in Germany for 3 years. She was raised in the Bay Area with a strong family background and commitment to civil and disability rights, and attended UC Santa Cruz where she majored in music/voice. She enjoys the opportunity to combine her legal/office skills with her dedication to helping people by being a part of PAI.

Dara Schur - Director of Litigation

Dara Schur is the Director of Litigation, working with the legal staff at PAI’s four regional offices in Sacramento, Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Her practice specialties include civil rights, housing and disability law. Among other things, Dara’s housing work has resulted in the addition of many hundreds of accessible, affordable housing units in California and has kept many people with disabilities from losing their homes.

Dara received her J.D. in 1979 from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. Before coming to PAI, she was a housing law specialist for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and worked for a number of legal services agencies and a civil rights firm. Dara currently sits on the Board of Directors of The Impact Fund and regularly trains advocates and attorneys on public interest issues and litigation skills.

Suzanne Scott - Legal Support Staff

Suzanne is on PAI's Oakland Regional office's Support Staff team as a litigation secretary since September 1997, (which merely states how she earns her living). However, as a person with a disability since birth, she has been actively involved in the disability community since the early 1970's, working at the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley; DREDF, and now PAI.

Christopher Walters - Legal Assistant

Brendan White - Legal Assistant

Elizabeth Zirker - Borchard Fellow - Staff Attorney

Elizabeth Zirker is a staff attorney in the Oakland office of PAI. She was a 2005-2006 Borchard Fellow in Law and Aging at PAI.

Elizabeth graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall) in May 2004. Elizabeth earned an MFA in painting from the California College of the Arts in 2000.  Her primary focus is on the PAI class action, Chambers et. al v. City and County of San Francisco, an ADA/Olmstead de-institutionalization case. In addition her practice areas include rights to Medi-Cal benefits, access to community and institutional services, and individual rights advocacy.

Sacramento Regional Office

100 Howe Ave., Suite235-N
Sacramento, CA 95825
Phone: 916.488.9950  TTY: 800.719.5798

Pet Alcairo - Legal Secretary

Pet has been a Secretary at PAI for the last 7 years. She worked in the Oakland office for two years and 5 years in the Sacramento office. She was a Corporate Legal Secretary for Bechtel Corporation from 1987 to 1996. Previously, she was a secretary to a Vice President of Crocker National Bank.

Pet received her AA degree from the City College of San Francisco. She can speak Tagalog fluently.

Jose Arroyo - Administrative Assistant/Intake/Receptionist

Tho Vinh Banh - Attorney

Jonathan Elson - Attorney

Vanessa Franco - Attorney

Suzanna Gee - Associate Managing Attorney

Nakida Gooden - Collaborative Projects Assistance

Todd Higgins - Advocate

Norma Huerta - Receptionist/ Intake

Mike Kluk - Senior Attorney

Michael Kluk is a Senior Attorney in the Sacramento office of Protection & Advocacy, Inc. He specializes in conducting litigation that involves public benefits such as Medi-Cal, IHSS and the Adoption Assistance Program and in special education cases. He also represents people with disabilities on appointed appeals involving commitment and dependency proceedings. He graduated from the UC Davis School of Law, King Hall, in 1981 and began working at Protection and Advocacy shortly after.

Norma Lianci - Information and Referral Advocate

Terry Lindsay - Advocate

Pang Moua - Legal Secretary

Tina Nickle - Office Manager

Christina (Tina) Nickle is the Office Manager for the Sacramento Legal Unit. She joined PAI in 2007 after 10 years as a litigation paralegal and 9 years as a service administrator at a federal research laboratory. She received her B.A. in Management and Paralegal Certificate from St. Mary’s College.

Tina oversees office operations and activities, supervises the legal secretarial/administrative staff and participates in PAI outreach. Her inspiration for moving to PAI was her daughter’s work as a behaviorist and clinical supervisor for children with autism. Tina is grateful to PAI for the opportunity to support meaningful work that impacts/ improves the quality of lives.

Leilani Pfeifer - Multicultural Affairs Coordinator

The Multicultural Affairs Coordinator coordinates training activities to identified communities and participants throughout Sacramento catchment area. She markets the services of PAI to community leaders in target communities of color in order to develop strategies to ensure people who have disabilities and their families have equal access to services.  She also assists with organizational development and planning including the planning and development of PAI’s Advocacy Plan and other Statewide projects.

Phyllis Preston - Native American Advocate

Phyllis Preston is the Native American Affairs Advocate for PAI’s regional offices in Sacramento and San Diego. Phyllis provides direct representation and coordinates training to the Native American communities. Previously, she served as director for the Indian Child Welfare Act programs for two tribal governments.

Phyllis advocates in the area of special education and disability rights providing legal clinics at Feather River Tribal Health, Southern California American Indian Resource Center, and training to Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association.

Phyllis serves on the Board of Directors for the Indian Child Welfare Advocates and the Capitol Area Indian Resources, Inc. She is a member of the California Indian Law Association.

Sean Rashkis - Attorney

Sean Mark Rashkis is a staff attorney with Protection & Advocacy, Inc. (PAI) He specializes in mental health law and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Sean provides legal advice/advocacy for patients at Napa State Hospital and Coalinga State Hospital, as well as individuals with mental disabilities residing in the community. He also provides advice on reasonable accommodations under the ADA and discrimination.

Taymour Ravandi - Attorney

Taymour Ravandi has specialized in disability law since 1995. For the first six years, he worked on a special project to expand access to assistive technology. In this period, he helped making augmentative communication a Medi-Cal benefit, enhanced access to independent mobility for nursing home residents, edited a manual on programs and laws addressing assistive technology, and commented on state legislation. Since 2001, he has concentrated his professional focus on special education and laws affecting public benefits. In 2005, he added advocacy on voting rights to his field of work. He also has substantial knowledge on many other related areas including anti-discrimination laws.

Laura Reich - Legal Secretary

Kathleen Rossow - Legal Secretary/Reader

Stuart Seaborn - Associate Managing Attorney

Stuart Seaborn began working with PAI in 2002 as a staff attorney in the Los Angeles office and is currently an Associate Managing Attorney in the Sacramento office. He graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 1998 and is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Previously, Stuart investigated allegations of health-care privacy and civil rights violations as an Equal Opportunity Specialist for the office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services in San Francisco. He also represented low-income workers during a brief stint as an Associate at Holguin & Garfield, APLC, a labor law firm in Los Angeles. Stuart spent the first three years of his legal career as a trial attorney at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on the prosecution of international bid-rigging and price fixing conspiracies.

Layla Sharief - Administrative Assistant II

Lori Shepherd - Collaborative Projects Director

Michael Thomas - Senior Advocate

Michael’s area of expertise is Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

His Job duties focus on assisting SSDI and SSI beneficiaries enter, return to or advance in the work place. This includes notifying beneficiaries of employment support services available to them such as the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), Employment Networks (EN) and other employment services through the Ticket to Work program.

His job duties also encompass educating people with disabilities, their family members, and the community and government agencies on a beneficiary’s rights under the Social Security Act (The Act). He also represents clients in all levels of administrative proceedings before SSA, DOR and in any capacity that may be a barrier to a beneficiary returning to work.

San Diego Regional Office

1111 Sixth Ave., Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92101
Main: 619.239.7861  TTY: 800.576.9269

Ngozi Agbo - Legal Secretary

Griselda Delgadillo - MCA Advocate

Lauren Giardina - Equal Access/ PAIMI Attorney

Ivan Guillen - Information & Referral Advocate

Ann Menasche - PAIMI Attorney

Ann has worked as a staff attorney at PAI’s San Diego office since 2002. She has 30 years of litigation experience in civil rights and public interest law. Since coming to PAI, Ann has developed expertise in affordable housing litigation, mental health, and disability discrimination in public benefits. She is also working to defend state disability rights access law from attempts to undermine them.

Andrew Mudryk - Director of Litigation for Southern California

Andrew Mudryk graduated from the George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. in 1989. From 2003 to 2006, he was the Director of Litigation and Advocacy for the Arizona Center For Disability Law, where he assisted in complex litigation and counseled cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Medicaid Act.

Earlier, Andrew operated a private practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan, specializing in employment discrimination, special education, and personal injury cases.

He serves on the Board of Directors for the Legal Aid Association of California.

Michelle Porche - Senior Advocate

Jonathan Stillman - Administrative Assistant/ Receptionist

Aleyda Toruno - Senior Advocate

Charlena Washington - Legal Secretary

Legislation & Public Information Unit

1029 J Street, Suite 150
Sacramento, CA 95814
Main: 916.497.0331  TTY: 916.497.0835

Margaret Jakobson-Johnson - Advocacy Director

Margaret Jakobson received her J.D. from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, in 1986. She has worked for PAI for 19 years.

Her specialties are special education issues, developmental disabilities service system eligibility, and ADA litigation. She became the managing attorney of the Oakland office in 1999 until she moved to San Diego in 2001 to set up a new regional office, which she managed for five years. In 2006 she became PAI’s Advocacy Director and moved to the legislative unit in Sacramento, where she supervises that unit, our peer self-advocacy units, collaborative projects and our director of communication. She is the President of the Board of the National Disability Rights Network.

Over the years she has been on numerous disability-related organizations’ boards, including Through the Looking Glass, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, The Berkeley Center for Independent Living, the Access Center of San Diego, the Axis Dance Company and the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program. On a personal note, she has used a wheelchair for about 40 years and is a parent and a grandparent with a disability.

Evelyn Abouhassan - Senior Legislative Advocate

Evelyn Abouhassan is the Senior Legislative Advocate for PAI. She is responsible for management of the legislative and public policy activities of the organization, and works with management and LPIU staff to develop the organization's legislative platform and lobby the California State Legislature on issues that have a systemic impact on persons with disabilities. Evelyn has worked on disability issues for the last seven years and has been a lobbyist for the last six years. She works on policy issues affecting children with disabilities, issues related to persons with developmental disabilities, anti-discrimination issues, employment law, employment discrimination, and personal autonomy.

Deborah Doctor - Legislative Advocate III

Deborah Doctor, Legislative Advocate at Protection & Advocacy, Inc., has worked on long term care issues since the 1970’s, first as a social worker, then as co-designer and first case manager of an innovative non-institutional services program. She has a master’s degree from the University of San Francisco in Management and Disability Services.

From the mid-80’s to today, she has worked at long term care and disability civil rights organizations. She worked at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF) on development and research, was the executive director of the Santa Clara Bar Association Law Foundation, and the first executive director of the Public Authority for In Home Supportive Services in Alameda County.

Deborah has worked at PAI since 2001, focused on policy and legislation affecting the rights of people with disabilities to choose and live in the most integrated settings.

She brings a lifetime’s commitment to the present task of pushing California to implement the mandate of the Olmstead decision.

Barbara Duncan - Director of Communication

Barbara Duncan is a social issues journalist and disability media specialist. Before joining PAI in 2006, she designed and helped to implement communication and public education strategies for social change for the World Bank, the International Labour Organization, the African Decade of Disabled Persons and Rehabilitation International. She has also organized many disability film festivals and developed trainings about how to integrate disability imagery and content into communications programs.

Barbara’s work at PAI is focused on the organization’s interaction with the media, the web site, the annual report, and other tools to improve communications about disability issues.

Merle Levy - Administrative Assistant

Merle works in Sacramento’s Legislation & Public Information Unit as an administrative assistant and has been with PAI for seven years. She handles phone calls, travel arrangements, and purchasing for LPIU staff. Merle is also LPIU’s liaison to MIS, drawing on her experience with computers. In addition to her administrative skills, Merle is an accomplished graphic designer and a published journalist.

On her own time, Merle performs with a Readers’ Theater troupe, volunteers her time and design skills to service committees at her synagogue, and represents her Yiddish Club at annual international conferences. Merle also sings with a women’s choir, and enjoys all forms of artwork, knitting and crocheting.

Cara Nguyen - Office Manager

Sacramento

Brandon Tartaglia - Legislative Advocate I

As a transplant from upstate New York in 1996, Brandon underwent a transition and eventually found himself in a “California state of mind.” After several years working in unsatisfying vocations, he decided to further his education and earned a BA in Government at Sacramento State University. During his time at the university he worked for PAI as an intern through the university’s Sacramento Semester Program. It wasn’t long before he was hooked and decided that PAI was where he really wanted to work. After working in a temporary position, he was hired as a Legislative Advocate. He is honored to be a part of the legislative team and proud of what we do at PAI.

Office of Patients’ Rights

100 Howe Ave., Suite 210-N
Sacramento, CA 95825
Main: 916.575.1610

Michele Mudgett - Director

Sacramento
916-575-1610 X-8194

Griselda Alvarez - Office Manager

Sacramento
916-575-1610 X-8193

Lucas Campos - Patients' Rights Advocate

Coalinga State Hospital
559-934-3861

Sacramento
916-575-1610 X-8197

Maria Garcia - Assistant Patients' Rights Advocate

Metropolitan State Hospital

Kellie Hagstrom - Assistant Patients' Rights Advocate

Napa State Hospital
707-255-2680

Michael Hansen - Supervising Advocate Specialist

Napa State Hospital
707-255-2680

Kathy Kalem - Assistant Patients' Rights Advocate

Atascadero State Hospital
805-468-2165

Susan Kessler - Patients' Rights Advocate

Napa State Hospital
707-255-2680

Hal Kirklin - Supervising Advocate Specialist

Atascadero State Hospital
805-468-2165

Agnes Lintz - Patients' Rights Specialist

Sacramento
916-575-1610 X-8193

Judith Malone - Appeals Coordinator

Sacramento
916-575-1610 X-8192

Paula Mc Cord - Supervising Advocate Specialist

Patton State Hospital

Edahn Small - Patients' Rights Advocate

Metropolitan State Hospital

Deborah Smith-Alexander - Patients' Rights Advocate

Patton State Hospital

Priscilla Torres - Assistant Patients' Rights Advocate

Patton State Hospital

Peer/Self-Advocacy Unit

100 Howe Ave., Suite 200-N
Sacramento, CA 95825
Main: 916.488.7787  TTY: 916.488.7715

Margaret Jakobson-Johnson - Advocacy Director
Legislation and Public Information Unit, Sacramento

Sheryl Bradford - Administrative Assistant

San Diego

Rob Chittenden - Unit Manager

Eureka

Rob supervises senior coordinators or other unit staff as assigned. He is responsible for day to day operations of the Peer/Self Advocacy Unit, providing unit management and leadership. Rob also organizes and provides training and education to self advocacy groups (including clients in psychiatric facilities) on advocacy, legal rights, self-help, rights to benefits, patients’ and civil rights, and assists clients in resolving violations of their rights.

With the collaboration with the director of communication, Rob ensures that PSA web site information is current. He also works with the Executive Director, Advocacy Director, and Senior Coordinators, in areas such as preparation of reports, public presentations and trainings, the provision of information to PAI’s Board of Directors and Board Committees, and organizational development and planning including planning and development of PAI’s Advocacy Plan.

Martha Cook - Administrative Assistant

Eureka

Debi Davis - Trainer

Sacramento

Miriam Faris - Administrative Assistant

Sacramento

Karen Farr - Coordinator

Oakland

Robyn Gantsweg - Senior Coordinator

Los Angeles

Robyn has been with PAI since 2002 as the Senior Coordinator of the Peer/Self-Advocacy Program in the Southern California region. As part of her work, she provides direct services through self-advocacy groups, outreach, presentations and trainings for people with psychiatric disabilities. Her work at PAI includes the opportunity to supervise great staff members who inspire her every day. She also helps develop, organize and coordinate projects for new self-advocacy services - such as writing grant proposals and developing training materials for new staff.

Interested in learning more about the powers of the mind, Robyn obtained her PhD in Psychology in 2001. She planned to do research, but her experiences in school led her instead to become an active peer advocate - with the opportunity to educate others so that they have a better understanding of clients' experiences and culture.

Linda Kehoe - Coordinator

Wellness and Advocacy Center

Garnet Magnus - Coordinator

San Diego

Yvonne McGough - Administrative Assistant

Oakland

Michael McPherson - Coordinator

San Diego

Alicia Mendoza - Office Manager

Sacramento

Mark Olberg - Trainer

Eureka

Jenny Olson - Administrative Assistant

Sacramento

Senobia Pichardo - Trainer

Los Angeles

Gabby Poblete-Morales - Administrative Assistant

Woodlake

Sharon Schmidt - Trainer

Oakland

David Solis - Coordinator

Woodlake

Developmental Disabilities
Peer/Self-Advocacy Unit

100 Howe Ave., Suite 200-N
Sacramento, CA 95825
Main: 916.488.7787  TTY: 916.719.5798

Maria Marquez - Coordinator

Oakland

Yvonne McGough - Administrative Assistant

Oakland

Daniel Meadows - Coordinator

Sacramento

Alicia Mendoza - Office Manager

Sacramento

Jenny Olson, Administrative Assistant

Sacramento

Marinda Reed - Senior Coordinator

Sacramento