Staff

DIRECTORS

Executive Director
Benjamin E. Johnson

Director, Immigration Policy Center
Mary Giovagnoli

Director, Legal Action Center
Melissa Crow

Director, International Exchange Center
Lois C. Magee

Director, Finance & Operations
Wilma Linares

Director, Communications
Wendy Feliz Sefsaf

STAFF

Legal Action Center
Emily Creighton, Staff Attorney
Geena Jackson, Legal Assistant
Mary Kenney, Senior Staff Attorney
Beth Werlin, Deputy Director

Immigration Policy Center
Walter Ewing, Senior Researcher
Michele Waslin, Senior Policy Analyst
Ben Winograd, Staff Attorney

International Exchange Center
Samya Behary, Program Specialist
Kimberly Lindsay, Senior Program Specialist

Community Education Center
Claire Tesh, Community Education Center Manager

Communications Department
Seth Hoy, Online Communications Manager

Fundraising and Development
Jessica Goddard, Fundraising and Development Assistant
Megan Hess, Fundraising and Development Manager

BIOGRAPHIES

Samya Behary, Program Specialist
202-507-7500, ext. 7508

Samya Behary is a Program Specialist with the International Exchange Center. Prior to joining the center, Ms. Behary worked with the Immigration Council’s Community Education Center and the Immigration Policy Center as a communications intern. She spent six months abroad in Nairobi, Kenya where she worked in a school in Kibera. Ms. Behary has also attended the United States International University and traveled throughout the country. She received her B.A. in Public Communication with a minor in International Relations from American University in 2009.

Melissa Crow, Director
202-507-7500 ext.7523

Melissa Crow is the Director of the Legal Action Center. Ms. Crow served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, and previously as a Senior Policy Advisor, in the Office of Immigration and Border Security at the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to joining DHS, she was a partner with Brown, Goldstein & Levy in Baltimore, Maryland, where she developed a thriving immigration practice and undertook litigation to protect immigrants' rights in the workplace. As the past co-chair of the Worksite Enforcement Committee of the local AILA chapter, she played a critical role in responding to immigration raids in Maryland under the Bush Administration. Before entering private practice, Melissa served as Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy during the 2007 debates on the U.S. Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill. She also spent a year as the Gulf Coast Policy Attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. She has taught in the Safe Harbor Clinic at Brooklyn Law School and the International Human Rights Clinic at Washington College of Law.

Emily Creighton, Staff Attorney
202-507-7500 ext.7505

Emily Creighton is a staff attorney at the Legal Action Center. She has represented amicus curiae in federal court litigation and contributes to the work of the Council Litigation Clearinghouse. Ms. Creighton joined the Immigration Council in 2006. She received her law degree from American University Washington College of Law in 2006. Prior to law school, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine.

Walter Ewing, Senior Researcher
202-507-7500 ext.7507

Walter Ewing, Ph.D., is the Senior Research Associate at the Immigration Policy Center. He has authored or co-authored 20 reports and opinion pieces for the IPC and has published articles in the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, Stanford Law and Policy Review, and Immigration Law Today. Before joining the IPC, he was an Immigration Policy Analyst at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Program Director of the National Citizenship Network at Immigration and Refugee Services of America. Mr. Ewing received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School in 1997 and his B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1987.

Mary Giovagnoli, Director, Immigration Policy Center
202-507-7500 ext.7511

Mary Giovagnoli is the Director of the Immigration Policy Center. Prior to joining the IPC, Ms. Giovagnoli served as Senior Director of Policy for the National Immigration Forum and practiced law as an attorney with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security—serving first as a trial attorney and associate general counsel with INS, and, following the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, as an associate chief counsel for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Ms. Giovagnoli specialized in asylum and refugee law, focusing on the impact of general immigration laws on asylees. In 2005, Ms. Giovagnoli became the senior advisor to the Director of Congressional Relations at USCIS. She was also awarded a Congressional Fellowship from USCIS to serve for a year in Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s office where she worked on comprehensive immigration reform and refugee issues. Ms. Giovagnoli attended Drake University, graduating summa cum laude with a major in speech communication. She received a master’s degree in rhetoric and completed additional graduate coursework in rhetoric at the University of Wisconsin, before receiving a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School. She spent more than ten years teaching public speaking, argumentation and debate, and parliamentary procedure while pursuing her education.

Megan Hess, Fundraising and Development Manager
202-507-7500 ext. 7517

Megan Hess is the Fundraising and Development Manager at the American Immigration Council. Megan was most recently the Director of Annual Giving at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Prior to that she served as the National Finance Director for Senator Blanche Lincoln for several years. She was previously the Campaign Coordinator at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and was the Fundraising Director at the New Democratic Network (NDN).

Seth Hoy, Online Communications Manager
202-507-7500 ext. 7509

Seth Hoy is the Online Communications Manager at the American Immigration Council. Prior to joining IPC, Mr. Hoy worked at an academic publishing company and more recently as a staff writer/reporter for a city paper in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he covered multiple beats. Mr. Hoy has also volunteered as an educator in China and the Marshall Islands through Harvard University's WorldTeach program. In addition to teaching students, Mr. Hoy organized and staffed professional development workshops for local educators. He received his B.A. in English with a minor in German from Boston College in 2003.

Benjamin E. Johnson, Executive Director
202-507-7500

Benjamin Johnson is the Executive Director of the American Immigration Council (formerly the American Immigration Law Foundation) in Washington, D.C.  The Immigration Council was established in 1987 as a tax-exempt, not-for-profit educational, charitable organization. The Immigration Council is dedicated to strengthening America by honoring our immigrant history and shaping how Americans think and act towards immigration now and in the future. The Immigration Council has developed four programs areas designed to address the core issues of immigration policy, law, education, and cultural exchange: the Immigration Policy Center; Legal Action Center; Community Education Center; and International Exchange Center.

Mr. Johnson has studied and worked in the immigration field for more than 15 years.  He has written extensively on immigration law and policy and has been an invited to present testimony on immigration issues before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.  He is a frequent guest commentator on television and radio, with appearances on CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, Fox News, BBC World News, National Public Radio and other television and radio programs.

A native of Arizona, Mr. Johnson was the co-founder and legal Director of the Immigration Outreach Center in Phoenix.  Prior to becoming involved in immigration issues he was a public defender and civil litigation attorney in San Diego, CA.  He earned a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law and studied International and Comparative Law at Kings College in London. 

Mary Kenney, Senior Staff Attorney
202-507-7500 ext.7512

Mary Kenney is the senior staff attorney with the Legal Action Center. Ms. Kenney was counsel in Ngwanyia v. Ashcroft, a national asylee adjustment class action. She has litigated cases at the Board of Immigration Appeals and in various federal courts around the country. Prior to joining the American Immigration Council, she spent seven years as the Executive Director for the Texas Lawyers' Committee, a statewide immigrant and refugee rights project. She also was a legal services attorney for eleven years. Ms. Kenney received her J.D. degree from Antioch School of Law.

Kimberly Lindsay, Senior Program Specialist
202-507-7500 ext.7513

Kimberly Lindsay is a program specialist with the International Exchange Center. Before joining the Immigration Council, she completed an internship with the U.S. Department of State in the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Austria. Ms. Lindsay received her B.A. in International Studies from American University in 2007.

Lois C. Magee, Director, International Exchange Center
202-507-7500 ext.7515

Lois C. Magee was named Director of the American Immigration Council’s International Exchange Center in January 2006. Ms. Magee has been affiliated with a number of citizen exchange organizations including the International Christian Youth Exchange, AFS Intercultural Programs, and the YMCA International Branch. She has worked with and written on J-1 visa programs for over twenty years. Ms. Magee holds a Master's degree in International Administration from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT.

Wilma Linares, Director, Finance and Operations
202-507-7500, etx. 7519

Ms. Linares comes to the Council with more than fifteen years of experience in budgeting, financial analysis, financial reporting, project and accounting oversight in an international arena for commercial and non profit organizations, most recently at Casa de Maryland. She also has more than seven years of consulting experience for small and medium sized private companies in strategic and operational planning with an emphasis on financial and operational design, projections, implementation and monitoring. Ms. Linares has held finance and management positions at multiple non-profits overseas, with a focus on women's economic development. As the Council’s CFO, Ms. Linares supervises the entire financial and administrative operations of the organization that include accounting and audit oversight, contract, human resource, IT and site management.

Wendy Feliz Sefsaf, Communications Director
202-507-7500 ext.7524

Wendy Feliz Sefsaf is the Communications Director at the American Immigration Council. Previously, she worked as a consultant for New America Media, a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic news service and as a communications officer at the Open Society Institute’s DC policy office, where she helped shape their communications and media strategy. She is currently an adjunct professor at American University and Johns Hopkins University where she teaches a course in advocacy communications. Wendy holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from the New School University and an M.A. in Public Communication from American University.

Claire Tesh, Curriculum Center Manager
202-507-7500 ext. 7518

Claire Tesh is a former public school teacher and served as a Teacher Advisory Board Member for the American Immigration Council before joining the staff full-time as the Community Education Center Manager. She holds bachelors degrees in Journalism and Media Arts from the University of Arizona and a M.Ed. in Elementary Education and Post-Graduate Specialist in Curriculum and Instruction from George Washington University's Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Ms. Tesh has been the recipient of many grants and fellowships including the Master Teacher Program through the Fulbright Memorial Fund in Tokyo, Japan and the Washington Post Fellowship in Salamanca, Spain. Before entering the world of education, she worked in advertising and marketing.

Michele Waslin, Senior Policy Analyst
202-507-7500 ext. 7521

Michele Waslin, Ph.D., is Senior Research Analyst at the Immigration Policy Center. She has authored several publications on immigration policy and post-9/11 immigration issues. Ms. Waslin appears regularly in English and Spanish-language media. Previously, she worked as Director of Immigration Policy Research at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and Policy Coordinator at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. She received her Ph.D. in 2002 in Government and International Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and holds an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Political Science from Creighton University.

Beth Werlin, Litigation Clearinghouse Attorney
202-507-7500 ext.7522

Beth Werlin is the Deputy Director and Litigation Clearinghouse Attorney at the Legal Action Center. The Litigation Clearinghouse serves as a national point of contact for lawyers conducting or contemplating immigration litigation. Ms. Werlin joined the Immigration Council as a NAPIL Fellow in 2001 and was a staff attorney from 2003 until 2005. She has represented plaintiffs and amicus curiae in immigration litigation in the federal courts and before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Ben Winograd, Staff Attorney
202-507-7500 ext.7514 (bwinograd@immcouncil.org)

Ben Winograd is a Staff Attorney at the Immigration Policy Center. He focuses on legal issues related to the enforcement of immigration law, including the rights of respondents in removal proceedings and federal collaboration with state and local governments. He received his J.D. cum laude from Georgetown Law in 2010.  He worked as a reporter before and during law school, and has written for the Associated Press, SCOTUSblog, and The Wall Street Journal. He also worked as a freelance journalist in Arizona covering border and immigration issues. Mr. Winograd is admitted to practice law in California; his practice is limited to cases in federal courts and before the immigration agencies.