After graduating from Yale, I worked on a qualitative study of schools that successfully met the needs of immigrant children at the Yale Center for Child Development and Social Policy. I also worked at an international, white-shoe, corporate law firm near Wall Street. Later, I worked at Boston Medical Center, addressing social determinants of health as a paralegal. Finally, I went to the University of Wisconsin Law School with a full-tuition scholarship/fellowship.

After law school, I worked at Legal Action of Wisconsin (LAW), representing individuals in their disability and public benefits cases. I also coordinated the pro bono program. In 2021, I left Legal Action to be the founding Director of the Eviction Defense Clinic (EDC) at the Economic Justice Institute at the University of Wisconsin Law School. It was a joy to finally be able to represent undocumented individuals (LAW is barred from representing certain individuals without permission to be in the United States) and teach about racial tropes like the welfare queen and Trump’s characterization of immigrants as criminals. I could have stayed in the ivory tower of the academy, but I realized people without permission to reside in the United States need bilingual and bicultural lawyers.

In 2022, I founded the Peoples Law Center | Centro de Derecho de la Gente (PLC). Last year, the firm represented people in over 300 cases with two bilingual and bicultural attorneys. The Peoples Law Center partners with Tenant Resource Center, The Eviction Defense Clinic, Legal Action of Wisconsin, and Community Justice, Inc. as a coalition of organizations called the Eviction Diversion and Defense Partnership, to provide free legal help for people facing eviction in court with federal pandemic funding. Tenants that don’t have authorization to be in the U.S. are particularly vulnerable. Predatory landlords operate with impunity, exploiting this population financially and often provide substandard housing.

The Peoples Law Center | Centro de Derecho de la Gente (PLC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit and a civil legal aid law firm. We believe housing is a human right. The PLC serves marginalized individuals and people without permission to be in the U.S. facing housing instability or eviction. PLC provides high-quality legal representation in housing and eviction matters, in a culturally responsive, inclusive, and antiracist manner. Our mission is to increase access to the legal system by providing marginalized, low-income people with the necessary support to meaningfully participate in the legal system, addressing the inherent power imbalance. We provide access to the legal process by helping clients understand their rights collaboratively, allowing them to make informed decisions.

The Visionary: Afra Smith amplifies lived experience and empowers financial freedom through The Melanin Project.

The Public Servant: Jesus Rivera works to bring needed representation as the only minority and openly LGBTQ+ member on the School District of Cambridge Board of Education.

The Advocate: DeShanda Williams-Clark is a trailblazing advocate for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, sexual exploitation, and crisis in the Milwaukee community.

The Defender: Erica Lopez is the Executive Director and Staff Attorney at the Peoples Law Center | Centro de Derecho de la Gente (PLC).