Staff

This is a list of the full-time staff of the EJC.  We also have many capable interns and volunteers who play a vital role in delivering justice to low-wage workers in our community.

Barbra Kavanaugh

Executive Director

Barbra joined the EJC staff on September 6, 2011. Barbra comes to us with decades of experience as a litigator and an advocate for equality for all people. Barbra’s previous experience includes serving as an elected member of the City Council of Buffalo (NY) where she championed living wage legislation. In addition, she served for more than a decade with Neighborhood Legal Services in Buffalo and for several years as New York State Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Buffalo office.
bkavanaugh@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext.13

Laura Brown

Legal Services Director

Laura Brown joined the D.C. Employment Justice Center as the Legal Services Managing Attorney in September 2008. She has overall responsibility for managing the EJC’s Workers’ Rights Clinic. Prior to coming to the EJC, Laura was a staff attorney at Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities in Washington D.C. Laura has also worked as an associate at the law firm of Woodley & McGillivary, a Washington D.C.-based law firm specializing in federal wage and hour cases and union representation, and as a staff attorney/business agent with UNITE HERE Local 25, the hotel and restaurant employees’ union in D.C. As a student at Santa Clara University School of Law, Laura both volunteered and clerked at the Workers’ Rights Clinics of the Employment Law Center in San Francisco, the program on which EJC’s legal services program was modeled. Laura is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars.
lbrown@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext.12

Ari Weisbard

Advocacy Manager

Ari Weisbard joined the EJC in August of 2011. Ari came to the EJC from the Service Employees International Union, where he worked to promote responsible federal contracting practices and to make it easier for workers to gain a voice at work by joining unions. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, he co-chaired the Jews United for Justice “Invest in D.C.” campaign last Spring, working with several local organizations to pass a D.C. budget that protected vital safety net programs from $25 million of devastating cuts.
aweisbard@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext. 23

Lisa Guerra, Esq.

Wage & Hour Advocacy Attorney

Lisa Guerra joined the Employment Justice Center as the Bilingual Staff Attorney in May of 2009. Before the EJC, Lisa worked as a migrant farmworker attorney, law clerk, and outreach paralegal in Washington State, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. At the EJC, she litigates state and federal wage & hour cases on behalf of District of Columbia workers, predominantly immigrant workers. Lisa also collaborates with other local worker and religious organizations to educate and advocate on behalf of workers with various DC government agencies, the DC City Council and the DC Attorney General’s Office. Lisa is a graduate of Vermont Law School.
lguerra@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext. 25

Sally Abrahamson, Esq.

Bilingual Staff Attorney/Abogada

Sally Abrahamson joined the Employment Justice Center as the Bilingual Staff Attorney in July of 2011. Prior to joining the EJC, Sally was a law clerk to the Honorable Frank Montalvo, U.S. District Judge in the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division. In addition to serving as Judge Montalvo’s law clerk, she drafted speeches and papers in Spanish on topics ranging from arbitration to due process in support of Judge Montalvo’s position on the Committee on International Judicial Relations. During law school, Sally interned at the Legal Aid Justice Center and the Government Accountability Project. She also received the Dean’s Award for Professional Responsibility – Outstanding Student in the Clinical Program for her work with the Washington College of Law Domestic Violence Clinic. Sally is a member of the District of Columbia and Texas bars.
sabrahamson@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext.16

Janaki Spickard-Keeler

Development & Operations Manager

jskeeler@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext.15

Rachel Nadas

Clinic Manager

rnadas@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext.18

Naomi Iser

Legal & Policy Associate
2011-12 AVODAH Service Corps Fellow

niser@dcejc.org; 202-828-9675 ext.11