Board of Directors

D Dangaran

D Dangaran is an assistant professor of law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law. They teach courses in Family Law, Constitutional Law (First Amendment), and Civil Rights. Their published scholarship explores prison abolitionist theory and legal claims centered on trans rights in prison, including disability law claims for gender dysphoria.

D joined the Board in Spring 2022 and has served as the co-chair of the National Trans Bar Association since Spring 2023. In 2024, they were named one of the Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.

D was previously the Director of Gender Justice at Rights Behind Bars, where they argued
numerous federal appeals and trial matters, specializing in using litigation and other advocacy to
help incarcerated trans people access necessary gender-affirming care. They are a first-generation
college graduate of Yale University and received their J.D. from Harvard Law School, where they were an articles editor on the Harvard Law Review. They clerked on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Rafael Langer-Osuna

Rafael Langer-Osuna is a partner at Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP where they focus on two distinct areas of commercial litigation. On the one hand, they try cases in state and federal courts for and against foreign sovereigns. On the other, they litigate disputes involving the internet, including data breach and data privacy matters, as well as cases arising from online defamation, the use of copyrighted materials on social media, hacking, and software licensing conflicts. Rafael is barred in California and Florida and has been admitted to practice before the Fifth and the Ninth Circuits as well as several district courts throughout the country.

Rafael dedicates a significant amount of time to studying and bettering the world around them. They maintain an active pro bono practice including drafting amicus briefs in impact litigation on behalf of the trans community, assisting the Transgender Law Center’s asylum efforts, extracting information from police departments regarding discriminatory policing practices, working for environmental groups, winning cases for local charitable organizations, and helping to improve gender equity.

In addition to serving as a board member with Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (the Bay Area’s LGBTQ bar association also known as BALIF), where they are Co-Chair of BALIF’s Programming and Community Activism Committees, Rafael also currently serves as a non-binary support group facilitator, the Vice President of the Western Cave Conservancy, and as an advisory board member for the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation. Rafael was born in Bolivia, grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has lived all over the country.

They earned degrees from Carnegie Mellon University (BA), UC Berkeley (MA in Education), and Duke (JD/MA in East Asian Studies) and studied in Hong Kong SAR and Nanjing, China. In their spare time, Rafael parents two teenagers, reads voraciously, practices Daoist arts, cooks vegan meals for friends, gardens, and surveys California’s caves and reefs.

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Shane McCammon

Shane McCammon is a senior litigation career associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP where she focuses on complex disputes in the financial services and commercial real estate sectors. Shane also dedicates a significant amount of time on pro bono impact litigation on behalf of queer individuals and veterans-rights organizations, and she is a co-chair of Orrick’s LGBTQ+ Attorneys Affinity Group.

Prior to joining Orrick in 2019, Shane served for more than 12 years as an active-duty JAG in the U.S. Air Force, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before separating from active service and joining the reserves. She was the first openly transgender member of the JAG Corps at the time she came out. During her time in the JAG Corps, Shane served primarily as a criminal defense attorney, representing servicemembers accused of crimes in felony-level jury trials. In all, Shane has served as lead counsel in over 100 trials and administrative hearings. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Shane worked for several years as newspaper reporter.

Shane has degrees from the University of Utah (B.A.), the University of Akron (J.D.), and George Washington University (LL.M.). She wrote her LL.M. thesis on the U.S. military’s then-existing ban on open transgender service, where she advocated for the reversal of the discriminatory policy.

Shane has lived all over the country and has spent nearly a decade of her life overseas, living in Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. She considers Salt Lake City, Utah, to be her hometown—although she has now lived in the D.C. metro area longer than any other place. Shane has four children, two of whom are now adults and the other two close behind. In her spare time, Shane enjoys writing, goofing around with her guitar and bass, going to live shows, cooking, and traveling.

Kristen Prata Browde

Kristen Prata Browde is a Family Law attorney based in Westchester County, New York. Kristen is a graduate of Fordham University Law School, where she also served as Writing and Research editor of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal. Kristen holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell University (B.A., Government & Philosophy – 1972).

She has written on a variety of legal topics, including First Amendment issues, authoring “Warning: Wearing Eyeglasses May Subject You to Additional Liability and other Foibles of Post-Diana Newsgathering – An Analysis of California’s Civil Code Section 1708.8” 10 Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal 697 (2000). She has also written on a variety of topics for American Lawyer Media’s publications. (These articles were written under her former name.)

Kristen, a current co-chair of the NTBA Board, is also President of the Boards of Directors of the LGBT Bar Association of New York. She serves as a director of Equality NY,and is also a Trustee of the AFTRA Retirement System. Kristen’s other life is in politics. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the New York State Council on Women and Girls, appointed by New York’s Governor Cuomo, and is a member of the Westchester County Women’s Advisory Board and the Chappaqua Central School District Financial Advisory Committee.

Kristen is also a candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for the New York State Assembly, seeking election in the state’s 93rd District. Kristen lives in Chappaqua, New York with one of her two sons; the other is in college in Europe.

Raymond Wendell

Raymond Wendell is a partner at Crosner Legal in Los Angeles, where he represents workers and consumers in class and representative actions. Prior to joining Crosner, Raymond spent ten years practicing civil rights and class action law at Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho in Oakland, California. He has helped secure multimillion-dollar settlements on behalf of warehouse workers, truck drivers, airline passengers, medical workers, and people with mobility disabilities. He is licensed to practice in California and Washington and regularly speaks and publishes on topics ranging from employment law and discovery practice to diversity and inclusion in the legal field. Raymond is a 2013 cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Raymond is currently the Secretary of NTBA. A board member since 2019, he has helped organize a variety of events, including Trans Law Institute. He formerly chaired the mentorship program. In his spare time, Raymond enjoys biking, camping, and studying languages.

Jen Jenkins

Jen Jenkins is Policy Counsel in the Systemic Advocacy & Law Reform Unit with Legal Aid DC. Jen works to bring about systemic change for Legal Aid’s client community (typically at or below 200% of the federal poverty line) and marginalized communities as a whole in DC.

Prior to joining Legal Aid, Jen was a policy advocate with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), a semi-autonomous state agency that uses income from land taken from the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom to benefit Kānaka Maoli. The need for an office dedicated to the well-being of all Hawaiians was born out of activism in the 1970s to right past wrongs suffered by Native Hawaiians for over 100 years.

Before Jen’s formal policy roles, they lead a statewide legislative effort to allow for ‘X’ gender-neutral markers and self-attestation of ones’ gender on Hawai‘i IDs. The law has been effective since July 2020. Jen has been active in many legislative efforts since then and is committed to liberatory systems change. Jen is a member of Law for Black Lives and serves on the board of Whitman Walker Health. They received their B.A. from the University of Hawai’i – West O‘ahu and their law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law at UH Mānoa.

Jessie McGrath

Jessie McGrath has been a prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office since 1988. She’s currently the Deputy-in-Charge of the District Attorney’s Asset Forfeiture Section, the largest such dedicated prosecutorial unit in California. Ms. McGrath has tried many serious felonies throughout her career including special circumstances murder. Her first murder trial involved the murder of a trans woman who was shot to death on Sunset Boulevard in 1988.

Prior to her assignment in the Asset Forfeiture Section, Ms. McGrath has worked in several specialty assignments. Her areas of expertise include consumer protection, cyber-crime, narcotics and juvenile law. She helped create and build what is now the Cyber Crimes Division. Ms. McGrath received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

She is the parent to five amazing kids, including two who have already graduated law school and one who is currently in law school at USC. Ms. McGrath sits on the Board of Directors of APLA Health (formerly AIDS Project Los Angeles) and TransCanWork, Los Angeles based non-profits that are working to make the lives of transgender and LQBTQ+ persons better.

Riley Robertson

Riley Robertson is an attorney at Jones Day based out of Los Angeles, California. Their practice primarily focuses on representing hospitals, health systems, and other healthcare providers in a wide range of commercial disputes, including disputes concerning reimbursement and payment by commercial and government-sponsored payors, qui tam actions, and continuing access to services. Riley also supports health care clients by advising them on regulatory compliance considerations, with a particular passion for assisting clients in developing trans-inclusive policies. They maintain an active pro bono practice advocating for equitable access to justice for the trans community.

Riley received their J.D. from the University of Virginia, where they graduated as a member of the Program in Law and Public Service. While in law school, they served as a programming chair of UVA’s chapter of the Lambda Law Alliance and were a Peer Advisor for 1L and LL.M. students. They spent their summers at the Legal Aid Justice Center and at Jones Day and a semester studying international business law in Madrid, Spain. Prior to law school, Riley worked in nonprofit development through the Episcopal Service Corps. They have a B.A. in Theater Studies from Yale College and spent much of their pre-law life as a lighting designer and production manager.

Riley is also a trained trauma-informed yoga instructor, an avid comic book collector, and a Level 14 Warlock in their weekly D&D campaign.

Beck Zucker

Beck Zucker currently serves as Special Counsel to the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives Edwina G. Richardson. In this role, he assists with the Office for Justice Initiatives’ efforts to improve access to equal justice for all New Yorkers through its work that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion as a bridge to belonging in the courts; supports problem-solving, alternatives to incarceration, and family courts; and access to and equal justice initiatives.

Previously, Beck clerked at the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department. Before that, Beck served as a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society in the Bronx where he represented tenants in Bronx Housing Court.

Additionally, Beck is a commissioner on the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission. He also sits on the boards of the National Trans Bar Association and Miss Major Middle School (a proposed public charter school in New York City focused on providing inclusive education for trans, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and allied students and families).

Pelecanos

Pelecanos (they/them) is trans, non-binary, neurodivergent, Greek American, and the parent of an awesome kid named Konnor. Currently, they are the Daniel H. Renberg Fellow at Lambda Legal, the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization working for full recognition of LGBTQ+ people’s civil rights. Their work encompasses litigation, education, and policy advocacy. They also serve on the Colorado LGBTQ+ Bar Association Policy Committee and the Out Boulder County Advocacy and Public Policy Committee.

Pelecanos grew up in Missouri and moved to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado Boulder (2008-2011), where they studied Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Integrative Physiology, and Neuroscience. After undergrad, they went galivanting around the world for several years to learn about humanity. For four years, they lived nomadically and learned about the cultures in Central and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Pacific while raising their child.
Upon their return, Pelecanos took up employment as an immigration law paralegal.

Outside of work, they led the board of Trans Youth Education and Support, a statewide nonprofit supporting the parents and caretakers of trans, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming youth. During that time, they also contributed to the Boulder Police Oversight Task Force, working to instate independent oversight and educate police on the diverse needs of the community. To better understand policy, they interned with Representative Brianna Titone, Colorado’s first transgender state legislator.

Naturally, their advocacy led to law school. They attended the University of Denver Law School (2020-2023) specializing in constitutional rights and remedies, where they graduated with honors. During school, they facilitated community building as president of OUTlaws, taught and mentored law students, and helped create pathways into the judiciary for diverse students. They interned at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the Tenth Circuit, the Colorado State Supreme Court, the ACLU of Colorado, and Lambda Legal. Pelecanos continues to build strong community relationships in all three branches of government and with grassroots organizations, both in Colorado and nationally, to further the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

Whit Washington

Whit Washington (they/them) is a Black bi-racial non-binary attorney and lecturer based in New York City. Whit’s legal practice focuses on the rights of trans folks in carceral settings and LGBTQ family formation. Whit’s scholarly work explores the relationship between anti-Black and gender based discrimination, the US carceral system, the evolution of criminal law, and the impact on the US economy. Whit is exited to work with the NTBA and support community building between practitioners in the field.

Charlie Ferguson

Charlie Ferguson (they/them) is a law clerk for the United States district court. After their clerkship, Charlie will spend the rest of their career advocating for the liberation of all transgender people and those living with HIV/AIDS.

Prior to changing careers, Charlie was the Director of an LGBTQ+ community center in their home of Brooklyn, NY. From 2017-2021, they also served as the Vice President of Collegians for the National Council of Gamma Rho Lambda, an all-inclusive LGBTQ+ Greek organization. Their work advocating for LGBTQ+ youth led them to the legal field as a tool for movement work.

Charlie received their J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where they were an Executive Editor for the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the President of Penn Carey Law Lambda, the Research Director for the Transgender Empowerment and Advocacy Project, and a clinic student in both the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic and Legislative Clinic. They interned for the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project, Lambda Legal, the HIV Law Project, and the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. They have published multiple articles on transgender civil rights.

Charlie also received a M.S. in Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, an M.A. in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the City University of New York Graduate Center, and their B.A. from the University of Texas.

In their free time, Charlie is a long-distance runner, vegan baker, and a big fan of their corgi, Bevo.

Joana Chai-C.A.

Joana is an organizer, public policy advocate and rising legal professional with Chinese-Jamaican (Hakka-Afro) and Jewish-Argentine (Ashkenazi) roots, from the Verdugo foothills of Los Angeles/Glendale, unceded Tongva/Kizh and Fernandeño Tataviam territories.

Her work throughout the years has touched on the issues of family policing, sex work decriminalization, trans justice, anti-militarism and international solidarity. She’s currently a policy staffer with the ACLU of Southern California where she supports coordination of movements in the sex work decrim and family policing ecosystems primarily through her participation in coalitions Decrim Sex Work California, Reimagine Child Safety, and the California Family Integrity Coalition. With her ACLU team, she also engages in legal watchdog work to monitor the conditions of trans folks incarcerated in LA county jails.

She is a former staff member of Dissenters and Translatin@ Coalition. Her undergraduate studies at the Claremont Colleges were focused at the intersection of Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Media Studies. In her spare time, she enjoys going to DIY live music and rave events, learning new bachata moves and more.

Maxime Matthew

Maxime (mack-SEEM) Matthew is a fourth-year associate in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Litigation Group, where they work on litigation and arbitration, antitrust, and intellectual property matters as well as bank and crypto investigations. Maxime also maintains a robust pro bono practice, which has included fighting Arkansas’ transgender healthcare ban in partnership with the ACLU (Brandt v. Rutledge) and co-leading the firm’s work with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund’s Name Change Project.

Maxime is an active member of the firm’s LGBTQ+ Network as well as the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York and the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, including as a member of the BiLaw Caucus and the Trans in BigLaw Networking Group. They previously presented at Lavender Law as part of the “Trans in Big Law Survival Guide.”

Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Maxime won the University of British Columbia’s most prestigious undergraduate designation, the Wesbrook Scholar. Among their other accolades, they won a country-wide essay contest, the submission of which was published in the Canadian Journal of Family Law (If More Mormons Attended University, Would Canada be Okay with Polygamy? 35 Can. J. Fam. L. 1 (2023)). A strong believer in community care, Maxime ran a low-income legal clinic during law school and advocated for LGBTQ2+ students as the Co-President of OutLaws. Before law school, they worked at a boutique family law firm in Vancouver.

In their spare time, Maxime helps organize an LGBTQ+ book club and is an avid theatergoer. Maxime has seen over 120 shows in London’s West End and on New York’s Broadway, including Hamilton three times, and their office walls are covered with Playbills.

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