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Spring 2021 Staff Updates
Posted on Apr 15 2021
A big ILCM welcome to our newest staff, Jon Lipp, Arleth Pulido-Nava and James Rasmussen!
Jon is our new development associate. Jon hails from North Dakota and has experience working in diverse roles in nonprofits. He was a Volunteer Coordinator, Center Director, and then Finance Coordinator for three summers at the Appalachia Service Project, a fellow with the Barry Foundation in Fargo, and a grant making consultant.
Arleth is our part-time receptionist with Paola. She is a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and will be attending Mitchell Hamline School of Law this fall semester!
James is our second Archbishop John Ireland Justice Fellow sponsored by Ramsey County and the University of St. Thomas. James will be working in the Pro Bono unit, including on naturalization and DACA cases out of Ramsey County. James is a 2020 University of St. Thomas School of Law graduate. He has worked with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid in their federally sponsored Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic where he assisted Minnesota’s most vulnerable taxpayers secure COVID-19 relief. James has also worked with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services on general poverty law matters and volunteered with the Wisconsin Public Defender.
The ILCM Board also elected a new board member.
Chang Lau is himself an immigrant from Taiwan and has devoted his career to criminal defense. He is an appellate public defender at the Minnesota Public Defender’s Office and has become familiar with the issues facing immigrants both as a result of his own personal experience, as well as his professional experience in criminal defense. He has had the opportunity to work on criminal/immigration issues on appeal and post-conviction for criminal defendants who are not U.S. citizens and, over the years, has consulted with ILCM’s public defender advisor regarding criminal/immigration matters. Chang began his career in California, working first at a private firm before moving to a county Public Defender’s Office. In 2010, he moved to Minnesota. He joined ILCM’s Board because, “often, immigrants, like criminal defendants, are viewed and treated by society in ways that render them voiceless. I myself have been made to feel small and unable to speak because of how I was treated as someone from another country. I would hope that representation, advocacy, and education not only provide immigrants with a voice, but also with the opportunity to change certain perceptions of the immigrant population.”
We also continue our search for a Director of Finance and Operations and two Lutheran Volunteer Corps positions. For more information or to apply, please visit our Careers page.