Selene Almazan, Esq. (MD) has been a member of COPAA since its inception in 1998.  Selene was on the Board of Directors from 2003-2014.  She has represented students and families for nearly 30 years.  Selene is a former Supervising Attorney for the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland where she represented children in the foster care system, including representation in special education matters. For nearly 23 years, Selene represented parents in special education matters with a primary focus on least restrictive environment (LRE) issues at the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education.  Since September 2014, Selene has been the Legal Director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) where she supports the work of the Amicus Committee as well as works on federal and local policy issues.  Since May 2015 Selene maintains a private practice focusing on parent and student representation in special education matters, including LRE. She represents families at IEP team meetings, state complaint proceedings, mediations, due process hearings, suspension/expulsion proceedings and federal court proceedings, including matters involving violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. She has extensive experience training families, teachers, school administrators, attorneys and advocates on legal issues related to special education law as well as disability discrimination issues.

Jennifer D. Laviano, (CT) holds a B.A. in English Literature from Skidmore College and earned her J.D., cum laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law. Jennifer Laviano is an attorney in private practice in Connecticut who focuses on the representation of children and adolescents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Her representation includes attendance at IEP team meetings and mediation and zealous advocacy in litigation in due process hearings and federal court. Attorney Laviano is a regular presenter, locally and nationally, on the Civil Rights of students with disabilities, and is the co-author of the popular book, Your Special Education Rights: What Your School District Isn't Telling You.

Mayra Lira is the Supervising Staff Attorney for Public Counsel's Education Rights Team. She oversees a team that combines legal advocacy with social work support to address racial and economic inequalities and confront the school to prison pipeline and the opportunity gap for students of color. Her practice includes direct representation of families with children with disabilities and youth who are system-involved in all stages of special education advocacy and students facing expulsion and school pushout. Mayra leverages what the team learns in individual cases to inform policy reform efforts at the local and state level. 

Selene Almazan, Esq. (MD) has been a member of COPAA since its inception in 1998.  Selene was on the Board of Directors from 2003-2014.  She has represented students and families for nearly 30 years.  Selene is a former Supervising Attorney for the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland where she represented children in the foster care system, including representation in special education matters. For nearly 23 years, Selene represented parents in special education matters with a primary focus on least restrictive environment (LRE) issues at the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education.  Since September 2014, Selene has been the Legal Director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) where she supports the work of the Amicus Committee as well as works on federal and local policy issues.  Since May 2015 Selene maintains a private practice focusing on parent and student representation in special education matters, including LRE. She represents families at IEP team meetings, state complaint proceedings, mediations, due process hearings, suspension/expulsion proceedings and federal court proceedings, including matters involving violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. She has extensive experience training families, teachers, school administrators, attorneys and advocates on legal issues related to special education law as well as disability discrimination issues.

Ellen has more than thirty years of experience with litigation and legal writing, both as an attorney and as a professor of legal writing. She is admitted to the bar in Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island, as well as six federal district and circuit courts. She has worked as a civil rights and disability rights attorney since 1986 when she joined the New York City Commission on Human Rights. She served as Deputy Director and then Director of the Equal Employment and Public Accommodation Division, where she oversaw the intake and investigation of discrimination complaints. She then joined New York Lawyers for the Public Interest as a staff attorney in its disability rights unit. Her work there included Burr v. Sobol, which established compensatory education as a remedy for special education and also attorneys’ fees for administrative hearings under IDEA. When NYLPI established its Disability Law Center, Ellen became Director. Under her leadership, NYLPI filed four of the first ADA Title II complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice, including a case that resulted in making the Empire State Building’s observation deck accessible. In Florida, she worked for Legal Services for Greater Miami for a year and then worked for the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities (now Disability Rights Florida). There, her work included special education cases as well as class action lawsuits, including Prado-Steiman v. Bush, which resulted in a settlement that required Florida’s Medicaid program to improve and expand its Home and Community based Waiver program for people with developmental disabilities. After moving to Rhode Island, she taught legal writing at Roger Williams University School of Law and now has a private practice that includes special education. She often works with the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, the Disability Law Center of Massachusetts, Rhode Island Legal Services, and the Rhode Island Disability Law Center, both on individual cases and on systemic law reform work including special education. Ellen is a member of the COPAA amicus committee and has co-authored many amicus briefs for COPAA

Andrew Feinstein, Esq. (Connecticut) - Andrew has represented children with disabilities as an attorney for the past 20 years. For the past eight years, he has practiced out of Mystic, Connecticut. He now has an office in Manchester, Connecticut, as well, with two lawyers in it. He co-chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee of COPAA and is an adjunct professor in the School of Education of both Central Connecticut State University and Southern Connecticut State University. Attorney Feinstein was graduated from Wesleyan University in 1972 and the New York University School of Law in 1975. He completed the Senior Manager in Government Program at the Kennedy School, Harvard University, in 1983. He has served as a professional staff member of the House Committee on Armed Services and Chief Counsel of the House Civil Service Subcommittee.

Ms. Scavongelli is a a staff attorney and has been with the EdLaw since 2012 when she joined the project as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. Ms. Scavongelli graduated Northeastern University School of Law. A recipient of a Rappaport Fellowship at the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate and a recipient of a Hennessy Fellowship at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, Ms. Scavongelli brings a wide range of experience to the Project. In addition to serving EdLaw, Ms. Scavongelli is on the board of Bottom Line, an organization that is dedicated to helping disadvantaged students get into college and on the board of CASA, an organization that recruits, trains and supports volunteers who advocate for abused and neglected children before the Suffolk County.

Sarah is a partner in Reisman Carolla Gran & Zuba LLP. Sarah brings experience in both complex civil litigation and education to her advocacy on behalf of individuals with disabilities and their families. Before joining RCGZ, Sarah worked in the Special Education practice group at a mid-sized law firm and at a business litigation firm in Philadelphia where she developed sophisticated negotiation, counseling, and dispute resolution skills. She now concentrates her practice on vindicating the rights of students in schools, especially students with disabilities, and on related efforts to obtain appropriate services and supports for individuals with disabilities in the community. Sarah assists individuals in supporting their adult children, relatives, and friends through guardianship, powers of attorney and other legal relationships, as appropriate. Sarah represents parents in New Jersey and Pennsylvania mediations and due process hearings, original actions and appeals in the United States district courts, and appeals and arguments before the Third Circuit.

Before practicing law, Sarah taught students of all ages in a wide range of classrooms, from students entitled to special education in an urban public school to general education students at an independent day school. As an attorney, she has broadened her understanding of the needs of her clients by obtaining additional education training, including intensive training in the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction.

Professional and Community Associations

Sarah is an active member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (“COPAA”), a national independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of attorneys, advocates and parents. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of special education law through speaking engagements, both locally and nationally, with parents, attorneys and education professionals. Sarah has led many full-day pre-conference programs and breakout sessions at Council of Parent Attorney and Advocates Conference, spoken at Lehigh’s Special Education Law Conference and Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Exceptional Children Conference and gathered for personal conversations with local parent groups.

Sarah’s additional public service focuses on the well-being of women, children, and those who may be marginalized in the community. In 2020, along with other dedicated volunteers, she worked with municipal leaders to found the Township of Harrison Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisory Board, providing guidance to the Township on related issues and spearheading initiatives to make the town a more welcoming, safe, inclusive place to live, work and visit. Before that, for more than fifteen years, Sarah served on the boards of Community Treatment Solutions and Legacy Treatment Services, nonprofit mental and behavioral health providers for youth and adults throughout the community. She has been a Girl Scout troop leader and girls’ youth soccer coach, and she served as President of the Board of the Mullica Hill Women’s Triathlon Club.

Admitted to Practice

Sarah is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey.

Education

Sarah received her J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 2002 where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities, President of The Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale, and Director of the TRO Project for Battered Women. She earned a B.A. degree summa cum laude in the Honors Program at The College of New Jersey in 1999, where she majored in English and minored in Psychology, with studies in Elementary Education.

Michael J. Eig, the founder and owner of the firm, Michael J. Eig and Associates, has been practicing special education law and advocacy in the metropolitan D.C. area since 1975. His educational background includes degrees in cultural anthropology and education from Brandeis University (1970), a Masters in Education and Social Policy from Harvard University (1972), and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center (1975).

A former public school teacher, Mr. Eig has combined his interest and training in education with a commitment to special education law, and advocated on behalf of disabled children and their families for the past forty-eight years. He has served as counsel and/or amicus in special education cases before federal courts, including the Supreme Court. He was counsel in Schaffer v. Weast, before the Supreme Court, class counsel in the landmark Mills v. D.C. Board of Education, amicus in Smith v. Robinson and North v. D.C., and served as plaintiffs' counsel in Doyle v. Arlington School Board. He has participated in countless IEP meetings and Due Process Hearings since the 1970s and has lectured and written extensively in the area of special education law, including authoring the current article on Education of the Disabled in the Dictionary of American History.

Rich Weinfeld is Executive Director of Weinfeld Education Group, WEG. www.weinfeldeducationgroup.com, a group of special education consultants, dedicated to helping all students reach their potential. For the past 20 years, Rich has directed the work of WEG, and served as an expert witness and advocate for appropriate services for students with special needs throughout the United States.

Rich began his career teaching elementary school and then spent 14 years working with emotionally disturbed students, and 6 years directing a program for students with learning disabilities, physical challenges, and autism spectrum disorders. His career in public school education culminated with 6 years as the director of programs for gifted students with disabilities.
Rich has co-authored 6 books and many articles on a variety of special needs topics, including “Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties” and “School Success for Kids with High Functioning Autism”; taught a course on Gifted Students with Disabilities at Johns Hopkins; created and taught a course on advocacy; and provided training for a wide variety of professionals and parent groups.

Paula A. Rosenstock holds a B.A. in psychology from Tufts University, magna cum laude, and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. She was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 2003, the District of Columbia Bar in 2005 and the Maryland Bar in 2014.

Ms. Rosenstock has spent nearly her entire legal career practicing special education law in the Washington D.C. area. She provides support and guidance to parents seeking to secure appropriate educational services for their children through the IEP process, administrative due process appeals and in federal court. Prior to law school, she worked in several schools and programs for children with disabilities.

Meghan M. Probert holds a B.A. in History and Spanish from Saint Michael’s College, cum laude, and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. She has worked in special education law since 2012, providing support and guidance to parents seeking to secure appropriate educational services for their children through the IEP process, administrative due process appeals and in federal court.

Ms. Probert has a longstanding passion for working with children and adults with disabilities. She served as President of the St. Michael's chapter of Best Buddies, an organization creating opportunities for one-to-one friendships for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as engaged with representatives from around the country at the Best Buddies National Leadership Conference in 2003.

Amy Langerman is a licensed attorney in the State of Arizona and a special education consultant in San Diego County, California. She is also a parent of a child with special needs. Amy's unique collaborative style working with IEP teams in California often results in parents, teachers and administrators leaving the room saying “That was the best IEP meeting I have ever attended”.

Amy graduated with honors from the Arizona State University College of Law and worked for 20 years as a civil litigation attorney, handling complex medical malpractice, employment discrimination and insurance cases. Amy served as president of the Arizona Trial Lawyers association and headed its amicus curiae (friend of the court) committee for 20 years. 

Roy Atwood is an experienced and successful trial attorney. Roy spent many years with large regional and international law firms, including 14 years as a Trial Practice Partner at Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the world. In 2013, Roy took early retirement from Jones Day and opened the firm of Atwood Gameros LLP.

This move to his own firm allowed Roy the opportunity to pursue a passion he has had for many years of representing families of students with special needs in securing their rights to a free and appropriate education. As the parent of a son with special needs, Roy knows how intimidating the process can be of obtaining the educational opportunities students with special needs require. Now, he brings his expertise as a trial lawyer and first-hand knowledge of the special needs of students with disabilities to the service of those who are not receiving the services to which they are entitled. Since beginning his special education practice, Roy has participated in two Fifth Circuit appeals and one Seventh Circuit appeal, including two in which the primary issue was attorneys’ fees.

Roy has been recognized as a Best Lawyer in Dallas by D Magazine and as a Texas
SuperLawyer each year since 2009 and as a Best Lawyer in America each year since 2014. U.S. News and World Report has recognized Atwood Gameros, LLP as a Best Law Firm each year since 2014.

Jonathan S. Corchnoy has been practicing law for over 37 years in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and now has opened an office in Sarasota, Florida. He is licensed to practice law in Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, is a member of The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA). Prior to coming to the Philadelphia area after graduating from law school, he clerked with the United States Department of Justice, Tax division. He is a 1981 graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., and Allegheny College, in Meadville, PA. He spent his youth growing up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

He is active in special education, personal injury, and elder law issues. He has had both six and seven figure verdicts. He has successfully litigated special education Due Process hearings, Incapacity hearings, and insurance disputes regarding a variety of issues. He has been involved in appellate litigation before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the U. S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

He is active in helping parents of special needs children receive a free and appropriate public education as well as plan for their future personal and financial independence. He currently is a member of the Legal Services for Exceptional Children Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the School Law Committee of the New Jersey Bar Association. He helps teach professional continuing education courses for Lorman Education Services. He is a volunteer AARP Driver Safety Instructor. He is the father of a gifted child and a special needs child.

He also is involved in helping middle income clients develop affordable estate plans so that they may maintain their independence.

Dorene Jackson Philpot of Philpot Law Office PLLC practices in Michigan, Indiana, and Texas, in the area of: Special Education Law, representing children with special needs and their parents.

Ms. Philpot is the recipient of the national 2012 Diane Lipton Award for Outstanding Educational Advocacy from COPAA (Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates). She is the author of "Do-It-Yourself Special Education Due Process: An Educational Guide" which is available at www.learningenabledpublications.com. She is admitted to the federal courts in the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana and the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas. She is also admitted to the Western District of Michigan.

Lindsay Appell is a Staff Attorney in Disability Rights California’s Youth Practice Group. Lindsay provides legal representation to students with disabilities fighting school pushout and the school-to-prison pipeline. She has represented many students in expedited due process proceedings to successfully drop expulsion proceedings. She also shares tools with students and families to empower them as self-advocates in the special education system.

Chelsea Helena is the Associate Supervising Attorney in Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County’s Education Rights Practice. Her work focuses on representing students and families in discipline, policing, and special education matters in Antelope Valley schools. Prior to becoming an attorney, she worked for five years as a public-school teacher in Atlanta, Georgia and got her master’s degree in early childhood education.

Melissa K. Waugh (she/her/hers) is a skilled attorney in practice for over twenty years. She has practiced special education law for the last thirteen years. Melissa represents parents at IEP meetings, in mediation, with state and federal complaints, in due process hearings, and in federal and state litigation. Her representation includes matters arising under the IDEA, the ADA, Section 504, and Title IX. Melissa graduated cum laude from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree with a focus in biology, chemistry, and physics. Melissa received her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center in 2000. While attending law school, Melissa served on the Houston Journal of International Law as Articles Editor, the Student Bar Association as 1st Vice President & Section Representative, the Honor Court as a Justice, the Health Law Organization, and the Public Interest Law Organization. She also won first place in the Tom Newhouse Mediation Competition. Melissa also holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Texas-Health Science Center. Melissa and her husband, Lt. Col. Bryan "Marty" Waugh (Ret.), are the parents of two amazing children who happen to have special needs. After adopting their children from foster care in 2010 and being exposed for the first time to special education and IEPs, Melissa quickly realized how complicated this area of the law is and the dire need for more attorneys representing the interests of parents of children with disabilities in our schools. Melissa started her own law firm to assist families of children with disabilities and has served as a Guardian ad Litem for children in court. She joined Belkowitz Law, PLLC in 2018. Melissa regularly presents to parent and professional groups and has served as faculty for COPAA, the Institute for Special Education Advocacy at William & Mary Law School, VPLC Annual Statewide Legal Aid Conference, the University of Richmond School of Law Special Education Symposium, and the National Business Institute. She is a long-time member of COPAA, and a member of the Special Education Advisory Committee (“SEAC”) for Loudoun County Public Schools. Melissa is licensed to practice law in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Jennifer D. Laviano, (CT) holds a B.A. in English Literature from Skidmore College and earned her J.D., cum laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law. Jennifer Laviano is an attorney in private practice in Connecticut who focuses on the representation of children and adolescents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Her representation includes attendance at IEP team meetings and mediation and zealous advocacy in litigation in due process hearings and federal court. Attorney Laviano is a regular presenter, locally and nationally, on the Civil Rights of students with disabilities, and is the co-author of the popular book, Your Special Education Rights: What Your School District Isn't Telling You.

Since 1999, Mr. Goodmark has dedicated a majority of his practice to representing families, teachers and students in their pursuit of equality, fairness and justice in Georgia’s schools.  Mr. Goodmark provides full service legal representation in all types of education law proceedings ranging from appearances at educational planning meetings to representing clients in complex federal litigation.

In addition, Mr. Goodmark works with a variety of stakeholders to ensure that students with disabilities in the most vulnerable circumstances, including court involved youth and those with mental illness or developmental disabilities, received their federally mandated right to free, appropriate public education.  Working within the educational, juvenile justice and child welfare systems, Mr. Goodmark has presented to a multitude of stakeholders about the impact of the state and federal education laws on Georgia’s youth with disabilities.

Mr. Goodmark also commits a portion of his practice to securing and enforcing the constitutional rights of Georgia’s citizens.  Mr. Goodmark has represented and secured positive outcomes for many clients seeking relief for the unlawful intrusion on their constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.  From students unlawfully detained while at school, to teachers illegally terminated after exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, Mr. Goodmark has worked to ensure access to justice through the both state and the federal court system.

CRAIG GOODMARK AT A GLANCE

•    Education Law Attorney•    Represents Families, Teachers and Students with Disabilities•    Focus on Special Education Matters in Georgia•    Constitutional/Civil Rights Practice for Georgia’s citizens•    Student/Educator First Amendment Claims•    Fourth Amendment Search/Seizure Claims•    Open Records/Open Meetings Act Issues

Amy Bonn Esq. is a Nebraska attorney providing legal representation to families of children with disabilities in special education matters. Amy is a summa cum laude graduate of Creighton University School of Law, where she was a member of the board of editors of the Creighton Law Review. She is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in Nebraska. 

Amy is also a proud parent of children with developmental disabilities. She completed a ten-month traineeship in disability advocacy and leadership at the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, where her research focus was on parental advocacy in special education.

Tabitha A. Mancini is the Director of Winston Online, Winston Preparatory School’s online campus. Also under Tabitha’s directon is Winston in College, offering academic support services to college students with LDs. Tabitha has held the position as the Director of Disability Services at the university level, was an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Connecticut for six years teaching graduate classes in the area of disability services in higher education, and most recently, the Director of Outreach and Partnerships at Landmark College helping to develop and expand their Online High School Dual Enrollment program for students with LDs and ADHD. 

Tabitha regurly presents on the topic of transition to college and online learning for students with learning disabilities. In addition to her involvement with the disability community, her activism has largely centered on accommodations for students with disabilities and equal access to intellectual materials in college libraries for students with disabilities.

Destiny Huff, MS, LPC, CPCS is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapist, and Special Education Parent Advocate. Destiny is also a military spouse, mother of two neurodivergent children, and a late diagnosed member of the neurodivergent community! Destiny has presented at the Licensed Professional Counselor of Georgia Association Conference, the Louisiana Counseling Association Conference, and the Autism in Black 3rd Annual Conference. Destiny will be presenting at the upcoming Military Children Education Coalition Summit, as well as The Black Collective Network Advocacy Conference!

Destiny has been in the mental health field for 15 years with degrees in Psychology and Social and Community Services. Destiny has worked with children, adolescents, and adults in the community setting, school setting, juvenile justice setting, children’s advocacy center and now in private practice. Destiny became a special education parent advocate after navigating the special education system and having to advocate for her own child which led to a diagnosis for her child, as well as a late diagnosis for Destiny. Destiny is passionate about helping her mental health clients navigate life stressors and provides a safe space for them to process those stressors, while helping special education parents advocate for their child at the IEP table in a neuro-affirming way.

Celeste Winders is a non-attorney advocate and COPAA SEAT 2.0 alumni. She is the co-founder of the national Title VI advocacy organization Save Your VI and parent of four BIPOC children - three with IEP’s. Celeste has over 30 years working in the disability and BIPOC community advocating for equity and justice. In 2023 after over a decade of fighting for the rights of disabled and BIPOC students in Sonoma Valley public schools, Celeste was elected by her community to serve on the local school board after a long, hard fought and won election where she was elected to her seat by eleven votes. In addition, Celeste sits on the Executive Cabinet of the NAACP Sonoma County Chapter. Her work with the NAACP is primarily focused on education and the rights of Black students in public education. Together with the chapter president and other cabinet members, she provides direct advocacy and support to Black families whose children are experiencing racism and Title VI violations in Northern CA schools.

With her advocacy business partner Mindy Luby, Celeste co-owns Strategic Education Advocacy providing direct advocacy services and parent training. SEA’s business model is one that is founded on justice work and ensuring that advocacy services are accessible to all, especially students where disability intersects with race and gender

Mindy Luby is a non-attorney advocate, dyslexia specialist, certified Barton tutor, and parent of 3 children with disabilities. She is a regional leader for Decoding Dyslexia, a member of COPAA, Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, National Down Syndrome Society, and American Cancer Association Cancer Action Network. She is currently serving a two-year appointed term on the Northern California Office of Administrative Hearings Special Education Advisory Committee. Mindy was an integral part of the grassroots movement that brought the California Dyslexia Law, AB 1369 (2015-2016). Heading the lobbying effort in Sacramento, AB 1369 was the first dyslexia law in the state of California. She has lobbied at the state, local, and national level for education, civil rights, and cancer related legislative initiatives. She is the co-founder of Strategic Education Advocacy and works with families across the US, helping parents and children to understand the processes of special education, disability, and the intersectionality of special ed and race and gender.

Diane Smith Howard manages the NDRN team that works on community integration for people living in institutions, such as, prisons, hospitals, residential treatment centers, migrant shelters. Her individual work focuses on conditions for children and youth with disabilities in institutional systems, with a concentration on those who are members of multiple protected classes. Diane also provides training and technical assistance to the P&As, and advocates on these issues within the Administration, on the Hill, and in the courts, through NDRN’s work on amicus briefs.

Diane holds a B.A. with honors from Colby College, and a J. D. from Wayne State University Law School. She has represented individual clients and handled systemic cases at the P&As in Maine and Michigan. She has classroom teaching experience at the graduate, undergraduate, and high school level. Diane’s passion for this work is rooted in a family connection to children and adults with disabilities, LGBTQ and foster and adopted children and youth.

Maria E. Blaeuer is an attorney whose practice focuses on education law, with a particular emphasis on special education, disability and school discipline matters. She is admitted to practice law in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Mari is currently the Director of Programs and Outreach at Advocates for Justice and Education (AJE) in the District of Columbia. AJE houses the Parent Training and Information Center and the Family-to-Family Health Information Center for DC. AJE provides training and individual support, including representation, to parents in DC about all aspects of the education decision-making process, and supports access to appropriate health services in schools and the community. She has participated in IEP meetings as a student, parent, teacher and most recently, as an attorney on behalf of students and parents.

In addition to representing parents and children in disputes with school systems about special education, school discipline, Title IX matters and residency, she has also provided training to special educators and other professionals in Washington, DC, Chicago, IL and Boston, MA on how to use the IDEA’s procedural requirements to build stronger relationships with families, avoid due process and improve student outcomes. She has also participated in the training of court-appointed attorneys in the District of Columbia and previously presented at COPAA.

Maria is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and Howard University School of Law. She is a native of the DC region and lives near Montgomery County, Maryland’s agricultural preserve with her husband, children and a significant menagerie of animals.

Akela Crawford joined AJE in 2023 as the Director of Legal Services, where she manages AJE’s legal services work. Akela has over 13 years of legal experience and has spent most of her legal career providing legal services to the DC Community. In 2012, Akela served for over three years as a compliance case manager with DCPS, ensuring that DCPS carried out its legal obligations under IDEA., including educating and training school-based staff on understanding and implementing special education laws and policies. Before joining AJE, she was a supervising attorney at the Neighborhood Legal Services Program. She provided program management and supervised staff attorneys, paralegals, and loaned pro bono attorneys in various housing matters at the administrative and court levels. Akela also first volunteered as a pro bono attorney and then served as a full-time staff attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless (WLCH), where she represented tenants and tenant associations and provided legal assistance in public benefits, subsidized housing, shelter and street rights matters. Also, while working in private practice, Akela provided legal advice and representation in domestic relations matters, bankruptcy, and small business matters.

Akela also brings to AJE her lived experience and expertise in navigating DC’s education system as the mother of a child with special needs in the DC public school system. She graduated from North Carolina Central University and North Carolina Central University School of Law and is an active member of the DC Bar.

Melinda Andra, Esq. is the Director of the Kathryn A. McDonald Education Advocacy Project at the Legal Aid Society. Melinda taught middle and high school for 10 years before attending law school. After attending Northwestern University School of Law, Melinda worked as a staff attorney in the Juvenile Rights Practice of the Legal Aid Society, representing children appearing in Manhattan Family Court. Melinda has been a special education practitioner for 

Joel Pietrzak, Esq. is a Staff Attorney in the Civil Practice, Education Law Project at The Legal Aid Society. He earned a Masters in Special Education through the New York City Teaching Fellows program, and after three years of teaching, he decided to go to law school with a focus on Child and Family Advocacy. To that end, he was accepted at Hofstra Law as a Child and Family Advocacy Fellow where he primarily focused on issues surrounding the School to Prison Pipeline and early identification of children in need of special education and related services (“Child Find”). After law school, Joel worked for three years at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP where he worked as a contract attorney and also represented numerous pro bono clients. In 2017, Joel (thankfully) left ‘Big Law’ and came to The Legal Aid Society’s Education Law Project. Joel’s practice has a particular focus on suspensions and disciplinary matters and he regularly collaborates with ELP colleagues on such matters.

Michael Connolly is a shareholder at McAndrews Law Offices and was named Supervising Partner of Special Education in 2018. With twenty years of experience, he represents parents of children with special needs in a variety of education matters at administrative hearings and state and federal court. He has assisted parents in disputes involving their public school related to issues such as eligibility and identification, programming and placement, tuition reimbursement, discipline, bullying, and discrimination.

He also lectures across the state and nationally to parents, educators, and attorneys on special education and other education law related topics. Throughout his legal career, Mr. Connolly has been an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Legal Services for Exceptional Children Committee, where he served as Vice Chair from 2002 through 2003 and as Chair from 2003 through 2006. In his roles as Vice Chair and Chair, he played an active part in helping to shape the Bar Association’s position on legal issues impacting students with disabilities as well as planning one of the Commonwealth’s preeminent legal conferences in the area of special education. Mr. Connolly continues to be an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and its Legal Services for Exceptional Children’s Committee.

Mr. Connolly began his career in education law upon graduation from law school as an associate with a District of Columbia law firm representing parents in special education matters. He later became a partner in a law firm located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where he spent nearly a decade representing school districts throughout state. Most recently, prior to joining McAndrews Law Offices, Mr. Connolly was a founding partner at another education law firm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he spent seven year representing parents and students in educational matters.

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Kimberly A. Caputo, Esquire has been practicing in the area of special education since 1999 where she has been responsible for handling all aspects of administrative due process involving students with disabilities under IDEA and Section 504. Having spent over 25 years in the School District of Philadelphia as both a special education attorney and special education administrator, Kim has a unique perspective on all facets of the educational process having handled hundreds of matters involving identification, early intervention transition programming, related services, discipline, placement (private tuition and residential), and transition services.  She has developed and provided extensive training opportunities on IDEA and Section 504 issues and developments in the law to audiences ranging from educators, administrators to students, parents and attorneys.

She is on the advisory board of the Urban Special Education Leaders of Tomorrow program at Drexel University and she is a frequent guest lecturer at local colleges, universities, parent groups and organizations.

Miriam Nunberg has over 25 years of experience in the field of education, as an attorney, activist, special education teacher, parent and as the co-founder of the Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School. She currently advocates for parents of students with disabilities in navigating the IEP and 504 processes, and is a Senior Fellow in New York Law School’s Education Law and Policy Institute. Miriam’s work integrating the middle schools of her Brooklyn school district was featured in the New York Times/Serial podcast Nice White Parents. She also was Of Counsel to the Law Firm of Elisa Hyman - a special education and civil rights practice in New York City. Miriam served as a staff attorney in the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for 14 years, where she handled civil rights investigations in educational institutions, including an extensive caseload involving the rights of students with disabilities.

Samantha C. Pownall directs the Education Law and Policy Institute and teaches clinical legal and experiential learning courses at New York Law School. Her scholarship and instruction focus on administrative hearings, advocacy campaigns, special education law, school liability, holistic client representation, juvenile justice, civil rights and constitutional issues in education law. She began her legal career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), where she led a project that provided legal representation to low-income students who had been arrested or suspended from school, and published a report on stop-and-frisk and the school-to-prison pipeline in New York City. At the NYCLU, she also coordinated First Amendment protest monitoring, and advocated for reproductive freedom, sex education, marriage equality, and immigration reforms. She clerked for the Honorable Sterling Johnson Jr. in the Eastern District of New York and litigated special education cases as Of Counsel to the Cuddy Law Firm.

Laura Kaloi, MPA - With over twenty-five years of DC-based experience, she is an accomplished public affairs executive with keen interest and demonstrated results in Prek-16 education and health policy. Laura creates partnerships, alliances and opportunities for clients to expand and strengthen their policy prowess, funding capacity, leadership, visibility and organizational effectiveness on key priorities. Laura has worked for health and education-focused nonprofit organizations as a senior executive as well as the private sector. As a nationally recognized policy expert and child advocate, she has led and consulted on successful initiatives with the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, and with the White House. Throughout her career, she has successfully influenced PreK-16 education, career and technical education, disability and workforce laws. With a focus on vulnerable children and adults, Laura is recognized for her policy and advocacy successes in early learning, early literacy, education assessments and accountability, elementary and secondary education. Laura is a published writer and enjoys public speaking, especially when she is training new advocates to find the power of their story. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Utah and a Master in Public Administration from Brigham Young University, Romney Institute of Public Management where she currently advises MPA candidates and serves on the Executive Advisory Board. Laura is a volunteer mentor to young women ages 12-18, proud public high school varsity basketball parent, avid reader and especially loves to harangue her family into watching musicals.

Nelson Mar is a senior staff attorney at Bronx Legal Services. His practice includes Education Law with prior experience in Social Security Disability, labor/employment and community economic development law. Nelson was co-chair of the Education committee of the NYS Bar Association’s Task Force on Racism, Social Equity and the Law. He previously served as the coordinator for the Legal Services NYC’s citywide Education Law Task Force and chaired the Education Law Committee of the New York County Lawyer’s Association (NYCLA). Nelson was a member of the Mayor’s School Safety Community Partnership Committee and previously a subcommittee member of Mayor de Blasio’s School Climate Leadership Team which produced significant recommendations on improving school climate in New York City’s public schools.

Over the last 25 years Nelson has represented hundreds of families in education law issues with a focus on the intersection of students with disabilities and student discipline in the hopes of disrupting the schools to prison pipeline. This focus culminated in Nelson initiating TH et. al. v. Farina et. al., 13cv8777 (SDNY), a groundbreaking federal lawsuit challenging the practice by NYC schools of sending students to hospital emergency rooms for disruptive behaviors. Nelson is a proud product of the NYC public school system and received a dual degree JD & MSW from the University at Buffalo and his BA from Binghamton University.

Rasheedah Brown-Harris (she/her/hers) is a paralegal with the Education Law Unit focused on Healing Centered Schools. In that capacity she plays a leading role in that initiative. Prior to joining Bronx Legal Services, Rasheedah played a leadership role in the Healing Centered Schools Working Group. She is a mother of a 13 year old public school student and a community builder. Rasheedah has many years of experience as a parent leader, family advocate and an equity in education champion in the New York City public school district through her significant involvement with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), School Leadership Team (SLT), District Leadership Team (DLT), Community Education Council (CEC), Presidents’ Council, and Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council (CPAC).

Rasheedah is also a parent participant of NYC’s Critically Conscious Educators Rising program, and is a National CRSE (Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education) Fellow through NYU Metro Center supporting the efforts toward dismantling racism and unpacking biases in schools. Rasheedah has also participated in the national healing centered engagement.

Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of the influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost and Found, and Raising Human Beings. He is the originator of the model of care described in those books, now called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS). Dr. Greene was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 20 years, and is now founding director of the non-profit Lives in the Balance, which provides a vast array of free, web-based resources on the CPS model. He has appeared in a wide range of media, including The Oprah Show, Good Morning America, The Morning Show, National Public Radio, Mother Jones magazine, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and the Boston Globe. Dr. Greene lectures and consults widely throughout the world and lives in Portland, Maine.

Amy Bonn Esq. is a Nebraska attorney providing legal representation to families of children with disabilities in special education matters. Amy is a summa cum laude graduate of Creighton University School of Law, where she was a member of the board of editors of the Creighton Law Review. She is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in Nebraska. 

Amy is also a proud parent of children with developmental disabilities. She completed a ten-month traineeship in disability advocacy and leadership at the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, where her research focus was on parental advocacy in special education.

Carrie Watts has over 20+ years of experience working for students on accessing educational rights, developing educational goals, obtaining appropriate supports and accommodations, and advocating within the context of IEP meetings and beyond. I have experience developing and teaching workshops related to self-advocacy training for students going to college or other post-secondary educational opportunities. I have an in-depth understanding of how to review student records, assessments, educational documents, and medical information to understand a student's disability and needs. My educational background is extensive and includes not only a graduate level degree (J.D.) but also a graduate level certificate in dispute resolution, where I learned and developed critical advocacy skills and counseling techniques. I have always sought to expand my education and training, actively seeking out and participating in conferences, trainings, and continuing education related to disability rights and education.  I have an understanding of the transition related needs of students with disabilities as they prepare to access accommodations in higher education. I am well known as a passionate advocate for my students, which is driven by the fact that I believe in promoting inclusion, diversity, and equity across educational experiences for all students.

My experience also includes non-profit boards, volunteering with various types of organizations, collaborating with community organizations and agencies, strategic planning, leadership, management, and team-building. As a person with a disability, I also have a unique perspective, empathy, and personal experience when working with and counseling students and their families. As an experienced advocate, my goal is to empower students to reach their own educational goals.

While earning her master’s degree in psychology at Pepperdine University, Jane worked in a reading research program utilizing the then new therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). She worked with the young adult population diagnosed with autism who were housed at Camarillo State Hospital in California. ABA was important research as it is the “go to” service for helping address behavior issues for children on the autism spectrum but the environment was frightening. It was everything horrible you could imagine about mental institutions in the 1970’s.

Moving forward 20 years later when her son was diagnosed with Autism at age 3, I was terrified. Immediately I traveled back in time to that horrible place and was determined that her child would never end up there.  I plugged into a supportive network that strengthened her resolve to give her child the best opportunities available. Her team developed a therapeutic approach that has resulted in her child being mainstreamed in the public school system. It was not easy. There were many obstacles, including the passage of time. She made full use of the expertise of my advocates.

Along the way advocating for her son meant suing their local elementary school for services. She won but did not make a lot of friends in the process. Next, they had to go to court for important communication services from our Regional Center and won that case too. In fact that was the first time that her son testified on his own behalf, he was learning to self-advocate. 

It became abundantly clear what she was destined to do with all her education and experiences so after practicing law for over 20 years, specializing in bankruptcy, she plunged into the area of representing other parents faced with similar obstacles when advocating for their own children. She understands the fear, confusion, and hopelessness of these parents. What professionals and educators are telling them can be depressing. Jane works to educate and empower parents to not settle for the limitations imposed by others on their children. Helping parents become active participants and advocates for the future of their children has not only been her career since 2001 but it is my true passion.

Amy Langerman is a licensed attorney in the State of Arizona and a special education consultant in San Diego County, California. She is also a parent of a child with special needs. Amy's unique collaborative style working with IEP teams in California often results in parents, teachers and administrators leaving the room saying “That was the best IEP meeting I have ever attended”.

Amy graduated with honors from the Arizona State University College of Law and worked for 20 years as a civil litigation attorney, handling complex medical malpractice, employment discrimination and insurance cases. Amy served as president of the Arizona Trial Lawyers association and headed its amicus curiae (friend of the court) committee for 20 years. 

Ronalda Tome-Warito, Diné (Navajo), is an advocate for Native American children with disabilities, with 20 years of experience working alongside parents, Native communities, and school districts. Ronalda specializes in special education law, the process, and parents' rights. She was the laad in structor in The National American Indian and Alaska Native MHTTC K-12 School Mental Health Program and Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPPA)  Sacred Seed course.   Sacred Seeds was developed specifically as an IEP advocacy training for AI/AN students. Ronalda also presented a three-session track, along with Susan Bruce, at COPAA's 2023 national conference entitled Sacred Seeds Blooming. She also worked with EPICS, a parent and community resource center dedicated to serving AI students with disabilities.

Ronalda is a powerful force in the arena of special education, networking, and mentoring parents in the process. Ronalda was inspired by her three children and the voice for parents in education.

Susan’s most relevant experience is as the mother of four, three of which are students with disabilities.  Susan’s next most relevant experience is as a ten year parent advocate and trainer with South Carolina’s former Parent Training and Information Center, PRO*Parents of SC.  Susan has trained over 5000 parents, attorneys and advocates during her tenure with PRO*Parent on virtually any topic that has to do with special education and civil rights law.  

Susan’s passion for assisting parents and extensive knowledge of the practical application of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act along with other laws applying to children makes her a fierce advocate for students.  The training she has received over the last ten years is second to none.  Susan has trained under some the nation’s leading advocates and attorneys.    

A former Board Member of COPAA (Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates) for over 4 years, including serving as an Executive Committee.   Susan has honed her skills by attending COPAA's national conference and was asked to present to over 6 COPAA conferences and was asked by COPAA to provide the two day advocate training at their preconference for over 3 years.  Susan also served as an instructor for COPAA's National Special Education Advocacy Training, SEAT.  She also served as a co-instructor for The National American Indian and Alaska Native MHTTC K-12 School Mental Health Program and COPAA's Sacred Seeds course, which was designed for AI / AN students.  

She has a certificate in  Special Education Advocacy from William and Mary School of Law and holds certificates in non-profit management from Duke and Winthrop Universities.  However, Susan believes that her expertise really lies in a specialized field that in all actuality can only be obtained by hands on experience and is not taught in any university setting.

Susan continues to hone her skills by continually training, she believes that a vital part of advocacy lies in staying abreast of  ever changing case law, scientific research and guidance from the US Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights.  

Susan is a published author, her articles on special education and Section 504  have been published by advocacy organizations all over the country.  

Michael Connolly is a shareholder at McAndrews Law Offices and was named Supervising Partner of Special Education in 2018. With twenty years of experience, he represents parents of children with special needs in a variety of education matters at administrative hearings and state and federal court. He has assisted parents in disputes involving their public school related to issues such as eligibility and identification, programming and placement, tuition reimbursement, discipline, bullying, and discrimination.

He also lectures across the state and nationally to parents, educators, and attorneys on special education and other education law related topics. Throughout his legal career, Mr. Connolly has been an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Legal Services for Exceptional Children Committee, where he served as Vice Chair from 2002 through 2003 and as Chair from 2003 through 2006. In his roles as Vice Chair and Chair, he played an active part in helping to shape the Bar Association’s position on legal issues impacting students with disabilities as well as planning one of the Commonwealth’s preeminent legal conferences in the area of special education. Mr. Connolly continues to be an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and its Legal Services for Exceptional Children’s Committee.

Mr. Connolly began his career in education law upon graduation from law school as an associate with a District of Columbia law firm representing parents in special education matters. He later became a partner in a law firm located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania where he spent nearly a decade representing school districts throughout state. Most recently, prior to joining McAndrews Law Offices, Mr. Connolly was a founding partner at another education law firm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he spent seven year representing parents and students in educational matters.

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Kimberly A. Caputo, Esquire has been practicing in the area of special education since 1999 where she has been responsible for handling all aspects of administrative due process involving students with disabilities under IDEA and Section 504. Having spent over 25 years in the School District of Philadelphia as both a special education attorney and special education administrator, Kim has a unique perspective on all facets of the educational process having handled hundreds of matters involving identification, early intervention transition programming, related services, discipline, placement (private tuition and residential), and transition services.  She has developed and provided extensive training opportunities on IDEA and Section 504 issues and developments in the law to audiences ranging from educators, administrators to students, parents and attorneys.

She is on the advisory board of the Urban Special Education Leaders of Tomorrow program at Drexel University and she is a frequent guest lecturer at local colleges, universities, parent groups and organizations.