Staff
Mary Ann Scali
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ebony Howard
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
Jimmonique Rodgers
Director of Operations
Amy Borror
Sr. Youth Policy Strategist
Tiera Brown
2022-2024 Gault Fellow
Stephen Goldmeier
Justice Systems Manager
Sarah Johnson
Sr. Youth Defense Counsel
HyeJi Kim
SENIOR YOUTH DEFENSE COUNSEL
Alana Meyer
Youth Defense Counsel
Mary Ann Scali
Mary Ann Scali serves as the Executive Director of The Gault Center, where she works with youth defenders and advocates dedicated to promoting justice for all children by ensuring excellence in youth defense. After working as a summer law clerk for the National Juvenile Defender Center in 1996, Mary Ann became the deputy director in 2000 and the executive director in 2017.
In partnership with The Gault Center team and youth defense leaders, Mary Ann delivers youth defense training and technical assistance, conducts state-level youth defense assessments, and facilitates cross-disciplinary reform efforts aimed at developing resources and policies to strengthen youth defense and access to justice for all youth.
Prior to joining The Gault Center, Mary Ann defended youth in the juvenile division of the Office of the Public Defender in Baltimore City, MD; spent two years teaching high school in Pohnpei, Micronesia; served in the Jesuit Refugee Service in Rome, Italy; and taught Baltimore City boys at the Baraka School in Nanyuki, Kenya. Mary Ann holds a JD and MSW from Loyola University Chicago, where she was a CIVITAS Childlaw Fellow.
Ebony Howard
Ebony Howard is the Deputy Director for The Gault Center, where she works to serve youth defenders and advocates so that they may seek justice for children and adolescents and provide excellence in youth defense.
Prior to joining The Gault Center, Ebony was a Senior Supervising Attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she developed, implemented, and managed litigation and policy campaigns to combat injustice and systemic racism in the criminal and juvenile legal systems. She also defended individuals charged with federal crimes in District Court as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Northern District of Alabama. Ebony serves on the boards for Redemption Earned, an Alabama-based organization that assists incarcerated people seeking parole, and Youth Towers, a Birmingham, Alabama-based organization dedicated to supporting homeless youth ages 19 to 26.
Ebony graduated from Howard University and Georgetown Law. While at Georgetown, Ebony was a student attorney in the Juvenile Justice Clinic, where she represented young people before the District of Columbia Superior Court.
Ebony lives with her husband and two sons in Birmingham, Alabama, where she spends her days listening to Beyoncé and convincing her children to attend Howard University.
Jimmonique Rodgers
Jimmonique is the Director of Operations for The Gault Center. In this role, she manages the organization’s operations, including all remote operations, finance, and human resources, to ensure The Gault Center maintains effective and efficient financial and operational systems.
Before joining The Gault Center, Jimmonique served as interim director and deputy director for the State of Georgia’s indigent defense agency, the Georgia Public Defender Council (GPDC). The agency has more than 900 state employees and contracted private attorneys representing clients in 43 of the state’s 49 judicial circuits.  Prior to working at the agency executive level, Jimmonique led its statewide appellate division, working with staff and contract appellate attorneys to zealously represent both adult and youth clients in post-conviction proceedings.
Jimmonique is a proud graduate of Fayetteville State University and North Carolina Central School of Law. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University, focusing on youth justice, correlates of delinquency, and justice system policy.
Amy Borror
Amy Borror is the Senior Youth Policy Strategist at The Gault Center, where she manages the organization’s policy and communications portfolios.
Prior to joining The Gault Center, Amy worked as a youth defense consultant; spent 13 years at the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, where she led the agency’s Policy & Outreach Division and managed its legislative and media efforts; and worked at the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio General Assembly. Amy earned her BA magna cum laude with college and departmental honors from the University of Toledo.
Amy, her wife, and their numerous rescue dogs and cats call Columbus, Ohio home.
Tiera Brown
Tiera Brown is the 2022-2024 Gault Fellow at The Gault Center. Prior to joining the Gault Center, Tiera worked at the Colorado State Public Defenders Office, assisting with the defense of youth with felony and misdemeanor cases, and at the Colorado Juvenile Defender Center, where she represented young people in their expungement and deregistration hearings through CJDC’s Believe in Youth program and worked on legislative policy efforts related to youth restitution, fines, and fees.
Tiera serves on the Coalition for Minority Youth Equity, which aims to address racial and ethnic disparities in the youth justice system; she is a founding board member of BSWC LCA, an organization providing on-the-ground support and resources to sex workers and victims of trafficking; and she is a volunteer for LYRIC, Learn Your Rights in the Community, an organization composed of passionate attorney volunteers donating their time to empower Colorado youth to exercise their constitutional rights.
Tiera graduated from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, where she was a student attorney in the Criminal Defense Clinic, and from Boston College.
Tiera lives in Denver, Colorado with her son and their growing collection of over 50 houseplants.
Stephen Goldmeier
Stephen Goldmeier is the Justice Systems Manager at the Gault Center, where he works on implementing and improving processes, technology, and systems to serve the Center’s staff and our national network of youth defenders.
Before joining the Gault Center, Stephen worked both as a public defender and as a technology and systems expert. He spent five years as an appellate public defender at the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, where he litigated cases involving both adults and youth in courts ranging from local municipal courts to the Ohio Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He then worked in the Policy and Outreach department of that office, leading the design and deployment of a unified state-wide data-collection and case-management system. After that, he worked for the Bronx Defenders and the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at Southern Methodist University, managing many aspects of large-scale research, process-improvement, and technology projects.
Stephen has taught nationally about a wide variety of subjects, including legal writing, storytelling, systems design, data collection, and forensic science. He also serves in a leadership role in the Indigent Defense Research Association and works with many local activism and organizing groups.
Stephen received his bachelor’s degree in secondary education, with minors in chemistry and physics, from Otterbein University, and he graduated from DePaul University’s College of Law with a certificate in intellectual property law.
Stephen lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his cat, Lucky. He spends most of his time riding his bike around town, trying new restaurants, and visiting various local parks to look at birds.
Sarah Johnson
Sarah Johnson is Senior Defense Counsel for The Gault Center, where she manages the provision of training and technical assistance to the youth defender community.
Prior to joining The Gault Center, Sarah was the Director of Specialty Practices, Director of Youth Defense, and head of the Children’s Defense Team for the Missouri State Public Defender System. Sarah began her work as a public defender in 2009 in St. Louis, representing both children and adults in the St. Louis Area. In 2017, Sarah became the Director of Youth Defense and Policy, and in 2019, the Children’s Defense Team (CDT) opened its doors. The CDT is a specialized group of attorneys, mitigation specialists and support staff that represent children in delinquency proceedings in the St. Louis and Kansas City Area. Sarah has served on several statewide workgroups across her career as a public defender, looking at ways to raise the level and practice of youth defense and advocacy in Missouri.
Sarah graduated from Saint Louis University as an undergraduate and law student. While at Saint Louis University, Sarah played for the women’s soccer team, where she was a member of the first women’s team at the university to make it to the NCAA tournament! In law school, Sarah participated on the moot court team, trial team, and criminal defense clinic, where her dreams of advocating for individuals was realized.
Sarah lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband, two children and silver lab. In her free time, Sarah loves to be outdoors: running, hiking, and camping with her family and friends.
HyeJi Kim
HyeJi Kim is a Senior Youth Defense Counsel at the Gault Center, where she works to strengthen children’s rights by ensuring that every child facing juvenile court stands with a zealous attorney fighting on behalf of the child. HyeJi focuses on developing policy and legal strategies to fight against the effects of structural racism in juvenile court systems and on transforming probation conditions to uphold positive youth development and racial justice. To that end, HyeJi engages in training, technical assistance, and policy advocacy for youth defenders to heighten a child’s right to counsel across the country.
Prior to joining the Gault Center, HyeJi worked as an Attorney for the Child (AFC) in child welfare and juvenile delinquency proceedings at the Legal Aid Society in New York City. As an AFC, HyeJi worked on an interdisciplinary team to directly advocate for the expressed wishes of young people, including those who are caught between the intersection of the family regulation and juvenile delinquency systems. Before working at the Legal Aid Society, HyeJi worked as a fellow at the Gault Center, where she focused on national reform efforts around supervision fees and youth probation orders.
HyeJi graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and summa cum laude from the George Washington University.
HyeJi grew up in Oregon and now lives in Brooklyn and is an avid fan of vegan ice cream and Korean cooking.
Alana Meyer
Alana S. Meyer is Youth Defense Counsel at The Gault Center, where she ensures youth defenders have the tools and resources they need to provide zealous advocacy for all children.
Prior to joining The Gault Center, Alana was the George Barrett Social Justice Fellow Attorney at The Children’s Law Center. In this position, she created and implemented a strategic plan to identify and provide education advocacy to children with disabilities in Kentucky’s detention centers and alternative schools. Following her fellowship, Alana was a public defender specializing in youth defense at the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. She occupied several positions including front-line defender for kids in juvenile and adult court, appellate attorney for juvenile appeals, and civil litigator on conditions of confinement for youth in long-term facilities and detention centers. Alana was also a part of the youth defense training team where she developed and presented training for all new and existing public defenders throughout Kentucky.
Alana graduated from Vanderbilt Law School, where she was the Garrison Social Justice Scholar for her class and was awarded the Damali K. Booker Award for her keen dedication to legal activism. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Sociology.
Alana grew up in South Florida and now lives in Lexington, KY with her husband, daughter, and bulldog. She enjoys traveling, yoga, and running after her toddler.
Board
Mariela Romero
CHAIR
Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh
CO-VICE CHAIR
Hank Stewart
CO-VICE CHAIR
Kenneth Schmetterer
TREASURER
Michael Pinard
SECRETARY
Randy Hertz
MEMBER AT-LARGE
Anastacia Johnson
MEMBER AT-LARGE
Patti Lee
MEMBER AT-LARGE
Mariela Romero
Mariela Romero is Chair of the Gault Center’s Board of Directors. She is a multilingual, passionate journalist, writer, producer, and public relations professional with more than 30 years in broadcasting. Before creating her own company, she worked for Univision as regional director of Community Empowerment in Atlanta, Raleigh, and Philadelphia, where she developed content for special programs as the anchor, writer, and producer of the award-winning regional news magazine Conexión Fin de Semana. Mariela also worked for CNN en español radio and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Mariela was the first Latina to serve as President of the League of Women Voters of Gwinnett County and has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including the Hispanic Organization Promoting Education, The Boy Scouts of America–Metro Atlanta, The Media Education Foundation of Georgia, Community Foundation of Northeast Georgia, and Corners Outreach. In addition to 27 Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts–Southeast region, Mariela has been inducted into the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Most Influential Latinos Hall of Fame and recognized with the Latin American Association’s Olga C. de Goizueta Award. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, she holds a degree in Journalism from Universidad Católica Argentina and a degree in Social Communications from Universidad de Belgrano.
As world-renowned playwright, poet, and intellectual Bertolt Brecht wrote: “Injustice is human, but more humane, the struggle against injustice!” This phrase is a guiding principle in my life, and it is also why I feel so honored to support as board member, the work of The Gault Center.
Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh
Antoinette Kavanaugh, Ph.D., ABPP is Board Certified in Forensic Psychology, is the former Clinical Director of the Juvenile Justice Division of the Cook County Juvenile Court Clinic, served as a clinical professor at Northwestern University’s School of Law for ten years, is a Lecturer at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, is an alumnus of the American Psychological Association’s Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology, and is a Fellow for APA’s Division 42, Psychologists in Independent Practice.
Dr. Kavanaugh has authored several peer-reviewed articles and routinely educates lawyers and psychologists on issues related to obtaining and conducting forensic evaluations, adolescent development, and the impact of racism and discrimination on mental health. In private practice since 1999, she evaluates youth and adults for civil and criminal state and federal cases. Dr. Kavanaugh and Dr. Thomas Grisso co-authored Sentencing Juveniles in Adult Court, which details a developmentally sensitive approach to conducting de facto life or Miller sentencing evaluations.
I joined The Gault Center Board because of their devotion to educating those in the legal system about how youth and adults are fundamentally different.
Hank Stewart
Mr. Hank Stewart is an Emmy Award winning author, philanthropist, activist, and Poet Laureate. Celebrating more than 25 years as an artist, Hank’s talent has afforded him unique opportunities to recite his work to the mother of the civil rights movement, Mrs. Rosa Parks, and to First Lady Michelle Obama. He has written and performed commercials for The McDonalds Corporation and WAGA-Atlanta Black History, which resulted in 2007 Emmy, Promax, and Gabby awards.
Hank has an appreciation and respect for civil rights legends and their sacrifices, and cherishes the opportunities he has had to sit at the feet of Dr. Joseph Lowery, Mrs. Xernona Clayton, Ambassador Andrew Young, Dr. C.T. Vivian, Dr. Charles Steele, Congressman John Lewis, Attorney Janice Mathis, Dr. Thomas Todd, and his mentor Dr. Cameron Madison Alexander.
Along with Gwen Mason, Hank co-founded The Stewart Foundation in 2006, a youth leadership organization, and developed A Leader of Tomorrow (A.L.O.T.), where they have impacted thousands of young people and students. Hank has registered thousands of voters and helps reshape local, state, and national elections.
Kenneth Schmetterer
Ken Schmetterer is a partner in DLA Piper’s litigation group with extensive experience before administrative bodies, including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the American Arbitration Association. His commercial litigation experience includes the prosecution and defense of an array of fraud, breach of contract, insurance coverage, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, and tortious interference claims, among others, on behalf of a wide spectrum of businesses cutting across many industries.
Ken has extensive experience in shareholder and director disputes, securities broker-dealer raiding cases, investor disputes against broker-dealers, insurance coverage claims, trade secret misappropriation claims, securities fraud and other claims brought under federal securities acts and consumer class action disputes.
Ken is extensively involved in pro bono work and serves as pro bono counsel, director, and volunteer for Umoja Student Development Corporation.
Michael Pinard
Michael Pinard is the Francis & Harriet Iglehart Professor of Law and the Co-Director of the Clinical Law Program at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. He teaches the Youth, Education, and Justice Clinic; Criminal Procedure II; and the Policing, Communities, and Law seminar. Michael has published several law review articles and op-eds on the criminal process, criminal defense lawyering, race and criminal justice, and the interconnections between the reentry of individuals with criminal records and the collateral consequences of criminal convictions. He is co-editor-in-chief of the Clinical Law Review and served on the Clinical Skills Committee of the ABA’s Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
Michael serves on the Leadership Council of the Public Justice Center (Baltimore) and on Maryland’s Access to Justice Commission. He has served as a board member of the Public Justice Center, an advisory committee member of the Maryland Reentry Partnership, and an advisory committee of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Michael received his JD from the New York University School of Law. He was a staff attorney with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City, a Robert M. Cover Clinical Teaching Fellow at Yale Law School, an Assistant Professor at St. John’s University Law School, and a Visiting Associate Professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
I joined the Board because of The Gault Center’s mission to support the urgent work of youth defenders throughout the United States, as well at its unrelenting commitment to hold accountable the systems in which too many of our children find themselves.
Randy Hertz
Randy Hertz is the Vice Dean of the NYU School of Law and the director of the law school’s clinical program. He has been at the law school since 1985, and teaches the Juvenile Defender Clinic, first-year Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and a simulation course titled Criminal Litigation.
Randy writes in the areas of criminal and juvenile justice and is the co-author with Professor James Liebman of Columbia Law School of a two-volume treatise titled Federal Habeas Corpus Law and Practice, and with Professors Anthony G. Amsterdam and Martin Guggenheim of NYU Law School of a two-volume manual titled Trial Manual for Defense Attorneys in Juvenile Court. Randy is also an editor-in-chief of the Clinical Law Review.
In the many years in which I have worked in the juvenile and criminal legal systems, I have learned so much – and I continue to learn – from the creative and innovative work that defenders and other advocates for youth are doing. I am very glad to be part of an organization like The Gault Center that can serve as a resource for them and can enlist the entire defender community in building on their cutting-edge ideas and materials
Anastacia Johnson
Anastacia Johnson is the Director of Talent Development at The RISE Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. She began her work in 2016 by designing RISE’s first Saturday school program, which successfully closed learning gaps and accelerated growth for participants. Soon after, she joined the team full-time as Student Life Manager, where she created and curated both academic and social-emotional programs aimed at ending the school-to-prison pipeline and promoting positive behavior. She then served as Assistant Principal for three years.
In urban education since 2011, Anastacia has co-founded a girls mentoring program; taught English, math, and science in the United States and in the Middle East; started an educational consulting business; and authored curricula. In recent years, her work has expanded to include nonprofit and faith-based leaders, supporting those whose desire is to deepen their transformational impact and serve by meeting the expressed needs of their community.
Anastacia is a graduate of Spelman College and Mercer University, where she studied Psychology (BA) and Education Leadership (MEd). She is married to Richard A. Johnson Jr. and is the mother of Richard A. Johnson III.
During my ten-year career as an educator in predominantly Black spaces, I have become painfully aware of the intersectionality of race and class; specifically, how this intersectionality often precedes and predicts how young people will be engaged by local authority. As a professional practice and ethical commitment, I seek out ways to influence and improve these interactions. When I learned of a potential opening on the Board of The Gault Center, I jumped at the opportunity to bring my professional acumen, personal conviction, and curiosity to the work. I work toward addressing inequity in the juvenile legal system, while I learn more about processes and trends in youth defense, and leverage my resources to amplify the message that will deepen the impact of The Center.
Patti Lee
Patti is a Deputy Public Defender and the managing attorney of the Juvenile Unit in San Francisco, where she has been practicing in the juvenile court since 1981. Patti served for 20 years as the President of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, a nonprofit established to preserve the integrity of the juvenile legal system by ensuring that each child in California receives a vigorous defense that affords all the statutory and constitutional protections guaranteed by state and federal law.
Patti is a member of San Francisco Mayor, London Breed’s, Blue Ribbon Task Force to reform the San Francisco juvenile legal system; she is the Chairperson for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Working Committee to Close Juvenile Hall; she formerly was on the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee of the Judicial Council, Center for Families, Children and the Courts; and she was a core member of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice
Mary Ann lives in Baltimore with her husband, their children, and their rescue puppy, Cosmo.