Looking beyond Canada: the role of community workers and other trusted helpers in the justice ecosystem

Description

This session is the second plenary presentation for PLEAC’s 2023 annual conference and participates in Access to Justice Week.

Programs in the US, England, and across the globe are supporting “trusted intermediaries” – front-line workers assisting community members with law-related problems – in their essential role in the justice ecosystem. We will hear from leaders, activists, and researchers in Illinois, California, and England about the programs they’re leading and how they serve to advance on-the-ground justice.

The PLEAC Conference took place in Toronto, Ontario on October 25 and October 26, 2023. This annual conference brings together PLEAC Members and the Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Project organizations. We invite over 100 attendees to network, share information, and attend a multitude of workshops and plenaries, including opportunities to interact with each other throughout the conference.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Pilar Domingo is a Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute in the Politics and Governance Program, working on the politics of rule of law, access to justice, and legal empowerment. Her research focuses on questions of how societies find ways to resolve disputes in non-violent ways, advance human rights, and hold decision-makers and power-holders accountable, including in transitions from conflict and authoritarian rule.

Sacha Steinberger is the Founder and Co-Executive Director of Legal Link. Prior to Legal Link, Sacha litigated worker’s rights and civil rights cases and clerked for a Federal District Court judge. Before law school, Sacha was involved in community, labor, and electoral organizing, and draws on this background to use the law as a tool to help clients move out of poverty. Sacha received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, her B.A. from McGill University, and is a member of the State Bar of California.

Laura Mendoza is an immigration organizer at The Resurrection Project. In this role, she has led community navigator engagement to assist in the implementation of local strategies to improve the lives of immigrants at the local and state level. She is a DACA recipient from Puebla Mexico who obtained her bachelor's in social work at Northeastern Illinois University.

Charise B. Walker received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University where she majored in English and Criminal Justice with a minor in African American Studies. She has more than 30 years’ experience as an HR Professional working for Fortune 500 companies and she is a trained Certified Tax Accountant. She first joined Westside Justice Center as a volunteer in 2015 and later joined as an employee in 2020. In her current role as Director of Programs & Community Services, she oversees the legal services community navigator programs and financials. She is married to her high school sweetheart and together they have 3 beautiful daughters.

Dr. Tara Mulqueen is an Associate Professor of Law at Warwick Law School in Coventry UK and serves as codirector of Warwick Law in the Community (LinC), the school's program of community-based collaborative projects. She has been involved in designing, teaching, and researching public legal education for the past ten years in a variety of settings. She is currently leading a qualitative, local legal needs study in Coventry with trusted intermediaries.