Meet Our Staff
Leadership Team
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Kate Walz
Kate is a 1996 graduate of DePaul College of Law and a 1993 graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She has spent the vast majority of her career working for nonprofit institutions dedicated to housing justice, criminal legal system reform, and civil rights. She has extensive high impact litigation, policy, and community-driven advocacy experience.
Kate previously served as the Associate Director of Litigation at the National Housing Law Project (“NHLP”), where she led the organization’s work concerning federally assisted housing preservation, crime-free and nuisance property ordinances, gender-based violence, and immigrant access to housing. Prior to joining NHLP, Kate was at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law for almost 20 years, serving as the Center’s Vice President of Advocacy, and before that, leading the housing team for several years. From 1998 to 2001, Kate served as Executive Director at First Defense Legal Aid, leading 24-hour police custody hotline through a period of significant growth and community engagement. Kate was an associate at Adamski and Conti from 1997 to 1998 and a staff attorney at Law Center for Better Housing from 1996 to 1997.
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Nicole Schult
Nicole became the Legal Director in June 2020. She joined UPLC as an Attorney in 2011. She coordinates our Social Security Program, handles most of UPLC’s tenants’ rights cases, and works on our prisoners’ rights cases. She graduated from Boston University Law School.
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Clearie McCarthy
Clearie returned to UPLC in April 2023 as Development Director. She leads UPLC's fundraising initiatives, and cultivates community engagement. Clearie graduated from Wayne State University's College of Fine, Performing and Communications Arts in 2016.
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Jim Garfield
Jim joined UPLC in June of 2023. With more than seven years in private litigation and governmental work, Jim now leads UPLC’s housing work, fighting to keep tenants in their homes. He also works heavily in UPLC’s outreach efforts to extend community engagement and education. Jim graduated from DePaul University College of Law.
Legal Team
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Eryn Mascia
Eryn joined UPLC in August 2023 as a staff attorney. Her work focuses both on tenants' rights and on Social Security disability benefits. Eryn has worked as a legal aid attorney since graduating from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 2021.
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Ian McCollum
Ian joined UPLC as an Equal Justice Works fellow in September 2022. He works on the Pre-Release Enrollment Project, which helps soon-to-be released imprisoned people in Illinois qualify for Social Security disability benefits. Ian graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 2022.
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Bryan Higgins
Bryan joined UPLC in 2024. They previously worked in housing justice throughout northern Illinois since graduating law school in 2020. Bryan manages the Hibbler Help desk which connects volunteer attorneys with Pro Se litigates looking for help navigating filing and litigating claims in federal court. Bryan graduated from University of Illinois: Chicago Law in 2020.
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Bridget Lenczewski
Bridget joined UPLC as a Housing Attorney in December 2024. She is dedicated to defending tenants' rights, representing clients in eviction and illegal lockout cases, and holding negligent landlords accountable for unsafe living conditions. Bridget earned her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2024.
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Marcus Owens
Marcus joined UPLC as a Northwestern Public Interest fellow in September 2024. His work focuses on Social Security disability benefits and prisoners’ rights. Marcus graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 2024.
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Shireen Jalali-Yazdi
Shireen joined UPLC in September 2024 as a legal fellow. Her work focuses on prisoners' rights, advocating to reduce imprisonment and demanding humane treatment for those who remain in Illinois' prisons. Shireen graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2024.
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Alyssa Meurer
Alyssa joined UPLC as a Larsen Justice Fellow in September 2024. She supports UPLC's prisoners' rights litigation, working on class actions, individual lawsuits, and community education to ensure the civil and human rights of people who are imprisoned across Illinois. Alyssa graduated from UC-Berkeley Law in 2024.
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Alan Mills
Alan began volunteering at UPLC in 1979 while attending Northwestern University School of Law. He later served as a staff attorney for two years before becoming Legal Director in 1992. In 2014, Alan was appointed Executive Director of UPLC, a position he held until February 2025. Under his leadership, UPLC established the largest docket in Illinois for civil rights cases filed on behalf of state prisoners. UPLC currently represents Illinois prisoners in six pending class action cases, continuing his legacy of advocacy for their civil rights.
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Sofia Cabrera
Sofia joined UPLC in October 2022. Their work focuses primarily on Social Security disability benefits, where they support clients through initial and reconsideration applications, conduct research, perform legal intakes, process medical records, and support attorneys at the hearing level. Sofia graduated from the University of Chicago in August 2020.
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Stanley Howard
Stanley originally joined UPLC as an intern in May 2024 after spending 39 years in Illinois prison- 16 of which on death row. He works on processing and responding to the massive amount of prison mail UPLC receives each week. Stanley has worked as a jailhouse lawyer, organizer, and social justice advocate for over 30 years. Click this link to purchase Stanley's book, Tortured by Blue: https://www.amazon.com/Tortured-Blue-Chicago-Police-Torture/dp/1982219483/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8.
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Oliver Levy
Oliver joined UPLC in October 2024. He is a paralegal for the housing team and manages the Hibbler Help desk, connecting volunteer attorneys with pro se litigates looking for help navigating, filing, and litigating claims in federal court. He graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Political Science & International Studies and lives in Rogers Park.
Operations and Outreach
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Aubrey Dvorak
Aubrey returned to UPLC in August 2023 as Social Worker. Her work is focused on providing mental health support to clients and staff, as well as referring folks to community organizations. Aubrey graduated from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at UIC in 2021.
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Maurice Hughes
Maurice joined UPLC in May 2023. He returned home in April 2022 after 27 years in prison. Maurice is deeply passionate about helping others—since getting out of prison, much of his focus has been spent advocating on behalf of those still inside. He is a graduate of the Future Leaders Apprenticeship Program, which prepares formerly imprisoned people for employment. In his role as Outreach Coordinator at UPLC, Maurice focuses on outreach and education for the community on issues surrounding housing rights and discrimination.
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Antonia Rojas
Toni has been at UPLC for over 25 years. She serves as the Office Coordinator, provides information and referrals to clients, and performs legal intakes. Toni lived in Uptown for many years.
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Reb Paris
Reb joined UPLC in April 2022. They are responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of UPLC, which keeps the organization running efficiently. Reb acquired a B.A. in Political Science from Concordia University in 2016 and completed a Paralegal Studies Certificate from Tulane University in 2022.
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Yazud Brito-Milian
Yazud joined UPLC in June 2023. After spending the summer as a Paralegal Intern, they joined the team as UPLC’s Development Assistant. They support UPLC's grant writing and reporting efforts, carry out donor stewardship, and maintain constituent records. Yazud graduated from the University of Chicago in June 2023, with a bachelor’s degree in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies.
2025 Spring Interns
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Maggie Bourke
Maggie is a third-year law student at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She joined UPLC as a 7/11 legal intern during the summer of 2024, where she collaborated with UPLC attorneys on cases involving prisoners' rights, Social Security disability, and tenants' rights. Maggie returns in 2025 as a spring extern, focusing specifically on prisoners' rights cases.
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Joshua Forrest
Joshua joined UPLC in September of 2024 through the Alvin H. Baum Internship Program. His duties include researching case law and drafting memorandum for the Social Security and prisoners' rights programs. Joshua is currently a 2L at the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he was named Best Oralist and Competition Winner for UIC Law’s 1L Moot Court Competition. He also serves as a first year orientation mentor and a 1L mentor for UIC's Black Law Student Association .
