Staff
Moire Balsam, Esq.
Staff Attorney; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Moire Balsam, Esq., joined VRLC in 2021 as a staff attorney in the Boston office. She provides direct representation to sexual assault survivors in education matters. Prior to joining VRLC, Moire worked as an Assistant District Attorney for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and served as a domestic violence prosecutor in district court. She is a graduate of Fordham University at Lincoln Center and Boston College Law School. In her spare time, Moire volunteers as a Special Education Surrogate Parent.
Joelle Bueno
Paralegal/Intake Specialist; Massachusetts
Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Maura Crossin, Esq.
Assistant Director of Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Maura Crossin, Esq., has been working with survivors of gender-based violence in a variety of capacities for over 16 years. Maura recently joined VRLC’s Training and Technical Assistance Team in early 2023. Prior to that transition, she was the Senior Attorney and Program Director for the Victim Rights Center of Connecticut, which became a program of The Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence in 2018. There she provided holistic, trauma-informed legal services to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking, in criminal, civil and family courts, addressing issues including housing, employment, education, immigration, compensation and benefits. Maura earned her J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law, graduating cum laude, with a double concentration in criminal and family law. Maura began her career as a lawyer representing minor victims of Sexual Assault and child abuse as a Guardian Ad Litem before accepting a position as an associate attorney at the Victim Rights Center of CT in 2015. Prior to law school, Maura earned her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Connecticut. She then worked as a Family Violence Victim Advocate for the YWCA Domestic Abuse Services for several years before she decided to further her knowledge of the law at Quinnipiac University. Maura is admitted to practice law in Connecticut.
Mary Darcy
Program Manager; National Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Before joining VRLC’s Portland office in 2012, Mary Darcy worked as an acquisitions editor at two small presses, taught undergraduate courses on gender studies and queer theory, managed child nutrition programs for a countywide food bank, and was briefly a bookseller at Powell’s City of Books. Her two passions—feminism and books—led her to earn a BA in international and women’s studies from Humboldt State University, and later an MA in writing and book publishing from Portland State University.
Katrina Eberly, Esq.
Senior Attorney; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Katrina Eberly, Esq., joined Victim Rights Law Center in 2018 as a staff attorney in the Western Massachusetts office. She provides direct representation to sexual assault victims in Western Massachusetts with a focus on education, safety, and privacy matters, as well as working with minor victims. Prior to joining VRLC, Katrina worked in child welfare, both as a social worker and then as a lawyer. She received her Bachelor of Social Work from Creighton University and her J.D. from the Boston University School of Law.
Charissa Flege, Esq.
Senior Attorney; National Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Nora Grais-Clements, Esq.
Senior Attorney; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Nora Grais-Clements, Esq., joined Victim Rights Law Center in March 2018 as a Staff Attorney in the Western Massachusetts office. She provides direct representation to victims of sexual assault in Western MA with a focus on housing, safety, and privacy matters, as well as working with victims with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Prior to joining VRLC, Nora worked as a staff attorney at the Committee for Public Counsel, in the Children and Family Law Unit, representing low-income clients in child welfare matters. She has a background in social justice work, immigration, and domestic violence advocacy. Nora received her B.A. from Smith College and her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and Connecticut and is fluent in Spanish.
Maddie Henshaw-Greene, Esq.
Staff Attorney; Massachusetts
Tiffany Hester, Esq.
Senior Education Attorney; National Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Tiffany Hester, Esq., joined Victim Rights Law Center in early 2024 as a Senior Attorney on the Training and Technical Assistance team. She provides training and technical assistance to legal advocates and attorneys who work with youth survivors of gender-based violence on legal issues arising in K-12 education settings. Before joining VRLC, Tiffany worked for the Kansas State Department of Education, where she provided support, training, and technical assistance to K-12 staff, parents, advocates, and attorneys regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. She earned her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law and her B.A. in justice studies from Fort Hays State University.
Kayla Hogan-Daly, Esq.
Staff Attorney; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Kayla Hogan-Daly, Esq., joined Victim Rights Law Center in December of 2022 as a Staff Attorney in the Boston office. She provides direct representation to survivors of sexual assault with a focus in K-12 education, safety, and privacy matters; as well as providing criminal justice advocacy. Prior to joining VRLC, Kayla worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk and Essex County with a primary focus on domestic violence cases. She received her B.S. from Suffolk University and her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.
Stephanie Holt, Esq.
Deputy Director, Operations
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Stephanie Friends Holt, Esq., is VRLC’s Deputy Director of Operations. Stephanie represents rape and sexual assault victims throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with a focus on employment law, privacy, safety, and criminal justice advocacy. She also manages VRLC’s statewide pro bono and low bono projects to help ensure that survivors have access to necessary legal representation throughout the Commonwealth. Through these projects, Stephanie recruits, trains, and mentors volunteer and low bono attorneys. She began her work with VRLC in 2013 as an active volunteer attorney and soon thereafter joined our team. Stephanie is a graduate of Virginia Tech and University of Illinois College of Law.
Shara Jones, Esq.
Senior Attorney; Oregon
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Shara Jones, Esq., is a Senior Attorney at VRLC’s Portland, Oregon office. She began her work with VRLC in 2009 as a law clerk. Shara currently represents rape and sexual assault victims throughout Oregon in a wide range of legal areas, including education, privacy, safety, and housing. As an attorney on VRLC’s Training and Technical Assistance Privacy grant, Shara provides individual consultations and trainings addressing the privacy needs of SA survivors. She has J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School. Prior to joining VRLC, Shara was in private practice.
Katelyn Kindberg, Esq.
Staff Attorney; Oregon
Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Ellen Leuchs
Director of Development
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Ellen Leuchs oversees VRLC’s fundraising initiatives and leads the organization’s Development vision. She brings decades of nonprofit experience in western Massachusetts and New York City, most recently providing philanthropic consulting to mission-driven organizations and philanthropists, and serving as Vice President of Philanthropic Services at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Ellen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College of Columbia University.
Stacy Malone, Esq.
Executive Director
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Stacy Malone, Esq., is the Executive Director of Victim Rights Law Center. She joined VRLC in 2004 as a volunteer attorney, where she provided free legal assistance to sexual assault survivors on employment, safety, privacy, and other legal needs. After serving on the VRLC’s Board of Directors in various leadership positions, Stacy was appointed Executive Director in 2010. She oversees the organization’s strategic direction. Stacy partners with the Office on Violence Against Women, the Office for Victims of Crime, and other local and national organizations to train a wide range of audiences to improve the response to sexual violence. Stacy serves on the Massachusetts Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking and the Advisory Boards for the Massachusetts Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program and the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission Sexual Assault Response Unit. Stacy is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Boston University School of Law. She is a recipient of several awards, including Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly’s Circle of Excellence Award and the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance Leadership Award. Stacy has been featured in local and national media outlets and her essay, “The Power of Survivor-Defined Justice,” is in the anthology Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World, released in January 2020.
Austin Martell
Accounting Specialist
Pronouns: he/him/his
Shannon Masden
Assistant Director of Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Shannon Masden has a background in social work, community organizing, civil rights policy implementation, and trauma-informed violence prevention work. For the 10 years prior to work at VRLC, she worked on multiple college campuses overseeing campus-wide responses to identity-based discrimination and harassment with particular focus on gender-based harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and disability based harm. Her work included policy development and implementation, conducting and overseeing investigations, hearing oversight, alternative resolution procedures, and implementing state and federal regulations. She has worked directly with trauma survivors in a variety of settings from domestic violence shelters to criminal courtrooms, as well as individual and family counseling. As a community organizer, she worked on a variety of campaigns including initiatives to end police brutality and predatory lending, increases to minimum wage and paid sick days, national immigration reform, LGTBQ equality, and the healthcare.
Cornelius McGarry
Chief Financial Officer
Pronouns: he/him/his
Cornelius McGarry is the Finance Director for Victim Rights Law Center. Cornelius is based in Boston and oversees the financial operations of all VRLC locations, which includes budgeting, financial reporting, compliance, and long-range strategy & planning. Cornelius has dedicated his career to meeting the financial and organizational needs of non-profit groups. He has previously worked in leadership roles at Boston Collegiate Charter School and AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. As a steward of the financial health of the organization, Cornelius takes pride in maintaining a strong fiscal foundation to support the important work of VRLC.
Kiah Murphy, Esq.
Staff Attorney; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Kiah Murphy, Esq., joined Victim Rights Law Center in September 2022 after graduating from Seton Hall University School of Law. Kiah earned a B.A. in International Development from Clark University, and a Master’s in Human Rights Law from the University of Cape Town. Prior to joining VRLC, Kiah worked in the nonprofit sector doing gender-based violence work. She is interested in intimate partner violence, transformative justice, and intersectional feminism.
Izabella Pereira
Paralegal/Intake Specialist; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Izabella Pereira joined Victim Rights Law Center in June 2022 as a recent graduate from Fordham University, where she earned a B.A. in Political Science and Latino & Latin American Studies. Prior to joining VRLC, Izabella worked with the New York State Division of Human Rights, processing workplace discrimination complaints. The majority of her background before that focused on immigrant rights and aiding asylum seekers. Following her dedication to human rights work, she was led to VRLC and has now joined us as a paralegal.
Michelle Ponce
Legal Assistant, Oregon
Pronouns: she/her/ella
Erika Rajković
Development and Operations Manager; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Erika Rajković joined VRLC in 2013, and currently serves as the Development and Operations Manager. Prior to joining VRLC, she worked with numerous nonprofits throughout New England in various capacities, including day-to-day administration, bookkeeping, teen mentorship, event management, grant writing, and donor relations. Erika is also a professional classical singer, and holds degrees from Syracuse University and the Longy School of Music.
Stella Rivera
Campus Grant Coordinator; National Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Tiffany Robertson-Brown
Finance Manager
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Carol Schrader, Esq.
Senior Attorney; National Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Carol Schrader, Esq., is a senior attorney on VRLC’s Training and Technical Assistance team. Carol has advocated for survivors of gender-based violence throughout her career. She was a Harvard Divinity School student intern, board member and safe home provider in East Boston; a legal intern with the National Whistleblower Law Center, Federal Defender Office, Jamaica Plain Legal Services, and Greater Boston Legal Services while attending Northeastern University School of Law; a legal aid attorney in Cleveland and Portland; the executive director of a nonprofit working to end domestic violence and sexual assault through school-based programs in Portland; the manager of the Oregon Department of Justice Crime Victims’ Rights Compliance Project and Victims’ Rights Section; a staff attorney and program manager for the National Crime Victim Law Institute; and a fiscal manager for the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center.
Alexia Tomlinson, Esq.
Staff Attorney; National Training and Consultation
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Alexia Tomlinson, Esq., joined Victim Rights Law Center in 2023 as a staff attorney on the Training and Technical Assistance team. Prior to joining VRLC, Alexia was a Justice for Victims Fellow with the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at Villanova University, where she provided direct legal services to survivors of sex trafficking and provided training and technical assistance to those responding to the commercial sex trade. She received a J.D. from Penn State Dickinson School of Law and a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College.
Emily Veatch
Legal Assistant; Oregon
Amanda Walsh, Esq.
Deputy Director, External Affairs
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Amanda Walsh, Esq., is VRLC’s Deputy Director, External Affairs. In this capacity, she is responsible for spearheading the organization’s communications and policy initiatives. She has trained thousands of attorneys, campus administrators, advocates, and law enforcement professionals through VRLC’s Training and Technical Assistance Program. She oversees VRLC’s education practice, and is a Title IX and campus gender-based violence expert. From 2015-2017, Amanda was the Title IX Program Officer at Brown University. She was responsible for implementing Brown’s sexual and gender-based harassment and violence policy and complaint procedures, building Brown’s flagship Title IX Office, and overseeing all related complaint investigations. Amanda is a graduate of Northeastern University and Roger Williams University School of Law.
Tiara Williams
People and Culture Manager
Pronouns: they/them/she
Kelsey Worline, Esq.
Managing Attorney; Massachusetts
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Kelsey Worline, Esq., joined VRLC as a staff attorney in early 2013. Kelsey represents rape and sexual assault victims throughout Massachusetts in a wide range of legal areas, including privacy, safety, housing, financial stability, and remedies specific to minors. As an attorney on VRLC’s national Training and Technical Assistance grant, Kelsey provides individual consultations to Legal Assistance to Victims grantees and conducts trainings on a number of topics including the civil legal response for sexual assault victims, identifying and addressing the housing needs of sexual assault survivors, working with minor survivors of sexual assault, and safety planning with non-intimate partner sexual assault victims. She received her B.A. from Bowling Green State University and her J.D. from Boston University School of Law. Prior to joining VRLC, Kelsey worked with Shelter Legal Services, first as an AmeriCorps Attorney and later as a Staff Attorney, representing homeless and indigent individuals in the Boston area with a focus on assisting veterans.