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.

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.

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.

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 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 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

Phil Inglima is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group. He has litigated a broad range of criminal and civil matters in trial and appellate courts, with an emphasis on criminal frauds and parallel civil and regulatory enforcement proceedings.

Phil frequently conducts internal investigations for corporations, with recent efforts focusing on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Federal False Claims Act, and alleged procurement fraud, bribery, false statements, and environmental crimes. He counsels companies in the development and implementation of compliance programs, and guides clients through regulatory reporting and disclosure processes and congressional investigations. In high-stakes, high-profile matters, he has achieved outstanding results for a wide variety of corporate and individual clients over the past 25 years.

Phil’s background includes two years as a senior member of the Independent Counsel team appointed In re: Bruce Babbitt, and a clerkship for U.S. District Judge June L. Green. An alumnus of Georgetown University’s College and Law Center, Phil remains active in the University community, and has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law.

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 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