Staff

Martha Bergmark
mbergmark@mscenterforjustice.org
Martha returned home to Mississippi in 2003 as the founding president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice. For the previous 15 years, she was a national advocate for equal justice under law in Washington DC, serving tenures as president and executive vice president of the Legal Services Corporation, which administers federal funding for legal aid programs, and as senior vice president for programs at the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, where she directed the NLADA/Center for Law and Social Policy's Project for the Future of Equal Justice. For the first 14 years of her legal career, Martha practiced civil rights and poverty law in Hattiesburg, Miss., where she was the founding executive director of Southeast Mississippi Legal Services (now Mississippi Center for Legal Services). She is a former Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and the 1990 recipient of the Kutak-Dodds Prize for her civil rights and legal aid work in her home state of Mississippi. In 2003, she was named the Stern Family Fund’s Public Interest Pioneer, an honor which came with a $200,000 grant to launch the Center. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Oberlin College, earned her law degree cum laude at the University of Michigan Law School and holds an honorary doctorate of public service from Millsaps College.
 
Bonnie Allen
ballen@mscenterforjustice.org
Bonnie is director of access to justice partnerships. She began her affiliation with the Center as a volunteer immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2005.  Bonnie serves on the clinical law faculty at the University of Maryland School of Law where she teaches Ethics and Professional Responsibility and the Mississippi Summer Recovering Communities Clinic. In addition, she provides programmatic support in launching LEAD, the law school’s new Leadership, Ethics and Democracy-Building Initiative funded by the Fetzer Institute.

Bonnie previously served as president of the Center for Law & Renewal, based at the Fetzer Institute. She also held the executive director position at Just Neighbors Immigrant Ministry, Inc. in Arlington, Va., and she co-directed the Project for the Future of Equal Justice based at the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington, D.C. Bonnie served as director of the American Bar Association Center for Pro Bono. After graduating from the University of Florida College of Law in 1984, Bonnie served as a judicial law clerk for the Second District Court of Appeal in Fla., and practiced law in the areas of civil litigation and government contracts in Tampa for seven years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Rhodes College and a master's in Theological Studies from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
 
Denise Antoine
dantoine@mscenterforjustice.org
Denise is a Legal Assistant with the Mississippi Center for Justice, a position she has held since August 2006. In her capacity with the Center, Denise provides critical organizational support for clinic outreach, client in-take and processing and general case management. Denise has a long history of providing support to non-profit organizations, including experience with Back Bay Mission, South Mississippi Legal Services Corp., the South Mississippi AIDS Task Force and Moore Community House in Biloxi, Miss. Prior to joining the Center, Denise also gained valuable legal experience working with Gillespie & Blessey Law Firm on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Denise is also an active volunteer with numerous organizations that promote healthy choices for teens and youth.
 
Whitney Barkley
wbarkley@mscenterforjustice.org
Whitney serves as a staff attorney in the Jackson office and focuses her work on foreclosure prevention efforts throughout the state. Prior to joining the Center, Whitney spent summers interning at the Equal Rights Center and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she worked on projects involving payday lending, fair housing and election protection. Whitney holds a Bachelors of Art in political science and communication from the College of Charleston and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was recognized as the UM Law and the Women’s Lawyers Association 2009 Woman Lawyer of the year. 
 
Courtney Choi
cchoi@mscenterforjustice.org
Courtney serves as a staff attorney in the Jackson office.  Her yearlong fellowship is funded by Harvard Law School.  Courtney holds a B.A. from Smith College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.  Between college and law school, she worked for four years at Teach For America's headquarters on the Growth Strategy and Development team.  In law school, Courtney worked extensively with an organization that represents tenants of public and subsidized housing.  She worked in the transactional law and child advocacy clinics, and also spent a summer working on predatory lending practices that target low-income communities.  For this work, she received the Edith W. Fine Fellowship, awarded to one woman in the graduating class who has demonstrated excellent leadership and commitment to public service.
 
Norman Chronister
nchronister@mscenterforjustice.org
Norman serves as administrative assistant in the Jackson office. Since coming on board in January 2005, Norman has provided invaluable support to communications, administration, grant preparation and policy advocacy functions. Prior to joining the Center for Justice, Norman spent his career serving in a variety of positions within state and federal government, including managing a Congressional office and service as public information officer to Gov. Ray Mabus. Norman lives in Jackson with his wife, Marlane, and their four Westies.
 
Lan Diep
ldiep@mscenterforjustice.org
Lan is an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Fellow with the Mississippi Center for Justice. He supports the work of a regional oil disaster legal advocacy team that provides outreach to communities affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. His position is jointly funded by the Mississippi Center for Justice, Legal Services of Alabama, and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. Lan is certain his year serving as an AmeriCorps Fellow will be a challenge and a learning experience of a lifetime and he looks forward to rising to meet the occasion. 

Prior to this, Lan graduated from the University of California, San Diego where he earned dual bachelor degrees in Political Science and History.  After college, he worked in Washington, D.C. as a Vietnamese-language international radio broadcaster. Lan earned his J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law where he specialized in international law and had the privilege of taking a class taught by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.  In addition to English, Lan is fluent in Vietnamese and serves as a civilian Vietnamese language consultant to the Department of Defense.
 
Kim Duffy
kduffy@mscenterforjustice.org
Kim leads the Center's educational campaign work. She attended the University of Mississippi where she graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work degree in 1985, and a Juris Doctorate degree in 1988. After graduation, she clerked for the Honorable United States District Judge Walter J. Gex, III, and the Honorable United States Magistrate Judge John M. Roper.

Upon leaving the federal court, Kim worked for several years as a staff attorney for South Mississippi Legal Services. For over a decade, Kim has been an advocate for children with disabilities. She also works for the Mississippi Parent Training and Information Center as a Parent Advisor for the Gulf Coast Region.
After the birth of her youngest son Noah, Kim founded the Gulf Coast Down Syndrome Society, an affiliate of the National Down Syndrome Society. The purpose of the organization is to build a supportive network for families and to promote acceptance and full inclusion of people with disabilities in our society.
 
Frank Farmer
ffarmer@mscenterforjustice.org
Frank is the Center’s pro bono counsel. In this role, Frank manages statewide and national pro bono recruitment and case management, as well the Center’s student public interest volunteer program. Frank is a native Mississippian who holds a B.A. from Rhodes College, a J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law and is a graduate of the Education for Ministry program at the University of the South, School of Theology.

Frank’s legal experience includes extensive litigation, attorney management and training. He is a member of the Capital Area Bar Association and the Mississippi Bar. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courtrooms across Mississippi. Frank also serves as a member of the Vestry at St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral and serves in a variety of ministries there. He is past-President of the Mississippi Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and served on its Board of Directors for six years. Frank currently serves as Treasurer for the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project.
 
Monica Galloway
mgalloway@mscenterforjustice.org
Monica Galloway serves as operations director for the Mississippi Center for Justice, a position she has held since the Center’s founding in 2002. Monica oversees the Center’s financial, administrative and operations functions. Monica is a native of Jackson and graduate of Jackson State University’s School of Business. Following graduation, Monica was hired by Atlantic Richfield Corporation's Dallas-based oil and gas division. During her career with ARCO she lived in Texas, Colorado, and California working in various corporate divisions in the areas finance, business process engineering and system implementations. She also worked on various projects in Australia and Mexico. Monica is the proud mother of one daughter, Paige. 
 
Sharon Garrison
sgarrison@mscenterforjustice.org
Sharon serves as communications director for the Center , a position she has held since April 2008. Prior to joining the Center, Sharon served as press secretary for the 2007 John Arthur Eaves’ gubernatorial campaign in Mississippi. Her previous experience includes serving as communications director of The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, the statewide nonprofit organization that received national acclaim for its campaigns to reduce youth and adult tobacco use across the state. She holds a B.A. degree in English from Mississippi College.

Sharon is a member of the 2010 Top 50 Leading Businesswomen in Mississippi, is a 2010 Opportunity Agenda Communications Institute Fellow and is a graduate of Leadership Mississippi. She is an active volunteer in the Jackson area and contributes time to the Junior League of Jackson, Stewpot Community Services, Champions for Children Mentoring Scholarship program, the Jackson Symphony League and the Greater Jackson Arts Council. Sharon is a member of St. Richard Catholic Church.

Janerick Holmes
jholmes@mscenterforjustice.org
Janerick is the Center’s online communications coordinator. He began his work with the Center as a volunteer helping to expand their social media presence in 2011. As the online communications coordinator, he works to expand the Center’s new media engagement and helps integrate those tools with traditional outreach methods. He also helps manage and create the Center’s web properties. His previous experience includes working for an advertising agency and legal research for Island Def Jam based in New York City. Janerick earned a B.S. in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University. Long passionate about social justice and addressing the basic needs of those in underserved communities, he volunteers as a tutor for grade school children in low-income communities.

Kiya Jones
kjones@mscenterforjustice.org
Kiya serves as a legal assistant in the Mississippi Center for Justice’s Biloxi office, a position she has held since August 2008. In this position, Kiya provides research and file preparation support, and leads the Center’s case management organizational system. A native of Dallas, Texas, Kiya holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining the Center, Kiya served as a paralegal intern with DLA Piper in Washington, D.C.
 
John Jopling
jjopling@mscenterforjustice.org
John is the managing attorney for the Mississippi Center for Justice office in Biloxi, Miss. John is a 1983 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is a founding staff member of the Center’s Katrina Recovery office, which opened its doors in October 2005 to provide legal advocacy to tens of thousands of residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, he received the President’s Award from the Mississippi Bar young Lawyers Division for his legal work on behalf renters in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. John’s pre-Katrina solo practice in Ocean Springs focused on consumer, housing, employment discrimination and personal injury law. John previously served on the pro bono panel of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project and was project manager of the Fair Housing Education Outreach Project funded by HUD at South Mississippi Legal Services. During his 10 years with Southeast Mississippi Legal Services in Hattiesburg, John was a housing and consumer law specialist and served as litigation director. From 1994-95, John was a clinical professor in the University of Mississippi School of Law Housing Law Clinic. John began his legal career as a law clerk to Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Lenore Prather. John is the author of “Two Years After The Storm: The State Of Katrina Housing Recovery On The Mississippi Gulf Coast,” 77 Miss. L. J. 873 (2008). John is a graduate of Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Kimberly Merchant
kmerchant@mscenterforjustice.org
Kimberly serves as the managing attorney for the new Delta Office working primarily in the field of education legal issues.  She attended the University of Southern Mississippi where she graduated with a Bachelor of English degree in 1994, and received her Juris Doctorate degree in 1997 from the University of Mississippi School of Law.  After graduation, she moved to Mississippi Delta and began her law career in civil litigation with McTeer & Associates, where she worked for nine years.  She then moved her focus to the criminal sector serving as assistant district attorney in Washington County, where she served for five years and was honored with the “Spirit of Giving” Award for her passionate involvement with the rights of domestic violence victims.

Kimberly is married to Michael Merchant, who serves as chief investigator with the Greenville Police Department.  She has two dogs, JD and Ziggy.

Reilly Morse
rmorse@mscenterforjustice.org
Reilly Morse is policy director and co-director of the housing and community development campaign at the Mississippi Center for Justice. Before joining the Center in 2005, he maintained a solo and public interest practice for nine years, including six years as a municipal prosecutor and judge in Gulfport, Mississippi. Before opening his solo practice, he spent 11 years in insurance and commercial litigation. He received the 2010 legal award from the Mississippi Conference NAACP and the 2006 Edwin D. Wolf public interest lawyer award from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.  In Mississippi NAACP v. HUD, he negotiated a three-way settlement with HUD, the State of Mississippi, and housing advocates to create a $132 million plan to perform disaster housing repairs for thousands of households across 9 counties. He has testified on disaster recovery and fair housing before six Congressional committees and speaks and writes on environmental justice. He is author of “Come On In This House: Advancing Social Equity in Post Katrina Mississippi,” a chapter in the book, Resilience and Opportunity: Lessons from the U.S. Gulf Coast after Katrina and Rita,  Brookings Institution Press, August 2011. He is a cofounder of the Steps Coalition and serves on the boards of Hope Community Development Agency and Moore Community House. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Millsaps College and received his law degree from University of Mississippi Law School. Reilly is married with two daughters.
 
Alicia Netterville
anetterville@mscenterforjustice.org
Alicia serves as the community organizer for the Center’s payday lending reform campaign. She received a double Bachelor’s of Science degree in Paralegal Studies and English from the University of Southern Mississippi and received a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from Jackson State University.

Alicia’s background includes extensive work in the areas of public policy and community development. Her career in public service began with the State of Mississippi Department of Human Services where she developed statewide welfare reform policy. Alicia has worked in the area of community development with Delta State University, Delta Foundation, Inc., the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and the US Census Bureau. She has been involved as a volunteer with a wide variety of organizations such as United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Multiple Sclerosis Society and Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative. 
 
Beth Orlansky
borlansky@mscenterforjustice.org
Beth serves as advocacy director with the Mississippi Center for Justice. In this capacity, Beth manages the Center’s policy campaigns and oversees the work of the staff attorneys. Beth is also the Center’s child care advocate, working closely with the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative to improve access to child care subsidies for low income Mississippi parents. She holds a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Stanford University and a law degree from the University of Tennessee. Prior to joining the Center, Beth practiced law with Butler Snow, Ott & Purdy, and McGlinchey Stafford law firms in Jackson, and she has been involved as a volunteer with a wide variety of organizations. She and her husband Steve, also an attorney, have raised three sons, Abram, Jonathan, and Benjamin.
 
Jason Owens
jowens@mscenterforjustice.org
Jason Owens is a staff attorney in the Jackson office.  Owens, a native Mississippian, received a B.A. in Economics from Morehouse and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.  He will be working in the Consumer Protection Division preparing for the next legislative session to further advocate for payday lending reform.  He is also working on the South Delta Regional Housing Authority settlement to ensure that our clients receive long-awaited home repairs.

Linda Dixon Rigsby
lrigsby@mscenterforjustice.org
Linda is the Center’s health law director, a position she has held since November 2008. She received a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Southern University in New Orleans and received her law degree from Mississippi College School of Law.  After graduating from law school, Linda worked as an associate attorney with Thomas Prewitt Law Firm. In December 2006, Linda was appointed assistant secretary of state for elections for the state of Mississippi by Secretary of State Eric Clark, and previously held the position of senior attorney and director of elections training and education for the Mississippi secretary of state’s office. Linda was reappointed assistant secretary of state for elections under the administration of Secretary Delbert Hosemann.

Linda's professional associations include the Mississippi Bar Association, Magnolia Bar Association, National Bar Association and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She is married to Dr. Reginald Rigsby, and is the mother of one son and two stepdaughters.
 
Paheadra Robinson
probinson@mscenterforjustice.org
Paheadra joined the Center in August 2006, and leads the Center’s economic justice work that focuses foreclosure prevention and payday lending campaigns. She attended Jackson’s Lanier High School and is a graduate of Tougaloo College and the University of Mississippi School of Law. In addition to private practice, Paheadra’s experience includes serving as legislative counsel to three House committees: Conservation and Water Management, Juvenile Justice and Municipalities. Her knowledge of the Legislature and its players has helped the Center open important doors at the Mississippi Capitol.

Paheadra’s interest in social justice and welfare led her to co-found the Mississippi-based Fresh Start Foundation to provide direct financial aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Recognized for her commitment to community activism, she was recently selected to attend Jackson’s Parents for Public Schools’ Leadership Institute. Paheadra lives in Jackson with her three young children.
 
Theodora Rowan
Trowan@mscenterforjustice.org
Theodora handles the accounting needs for the Mississippi Center for Justice. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). She holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Florida A&M University, and a master’s degree in business administration from Alcorn State University.  Theodora is a member of the American Institute of CPA’s, the Mississippi Society of CPA’s, the National Association of Black Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Theodora has more than 20 years of accounting experience. She has been employed in the areas of state government, public accounting, nonprofit and higher education.  Prior to coming to the Center she was employed as the Comptroller of Alcorn State University. Theodora is on the ministerial staff at Pearl Street AME Church in Jackson, MS.  She and her husband, Warren, have one son.
 
Seth Shannon
sshannon@mscenterforjustice.org
Seth Shannon serves as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow and focuses on foreclosure prevention.  Shannon holds a B.A. from Dordt College and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.  His legal experience includes serving as an AmeriCorps Legal Fellow for the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, where he worked with clients, recruited volunteer attorneys and law students and organized legal clinics. Shannon also served as assistant legal counsel for Conix, Inc., a real estate investment company in Tucson, AZ.  He is a member of the Mississippi Bar, Capital Area Bar Association and Jackson Young Lawyers.
 
Stephen Teague
steague@mscenterforjustice.org
Stephen is a staff attorney from Norfolk, Virginia.  His work focuses on oil spill claims in the state of Mississippi.  He is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he received dual degrees in Spanish and Psychology. After college, Stephen worked as a freelance Spanish translator and tutor.  He received his J.D. in 2010 from the University of Chicago where he was involved with the Police Accountability and the Criminal and Juvenile Justice clinics.  After law school, Stephen volunteered with the Mississippi Center for Justice in the Jackson office, devoting his time to foreclosure prevention and supporting the campaign for payday lending reform.  He is a member of the Virginia Bar.

Meigan Thompson
mthompson@mscenterforjustice.org
Meigan serves as the community organizer for the Center’s campaign to expand healthcare access in the Mississippi Delta. In this capacity, she is working to educate and mobilize youth to advocate for themselves and in their communities on issues related to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Prior to joining the Center, much of Meigan’s work was focused on youth and families. Through the Institute of Community Based Research at Delta State University, Meigan contributed to several research and evaluation projects of school-based health intervention programs across the Delta. With the Southern Poverty Law Center, Meigan worked as a Juvenile Justice Policy Specialist/Community Advocate to help make juvenile justice and educational systems more responsive to the needs of children, parents and families in the communities where they live. Meigan has also worked for the Pew Charitable Trusts, TransAfrica Forum and the Hillary Clinton for President campaign.

Meigan is a graduate of Spelman College, and is  working to complete her thesis for her Masters degree in Community Development at Delta State University.

Khiedrae Walker
kwalker@mscenterforjustice.org
Khiedrae is a native of Gulfport, Miss. and serves as a staff attorney for the Center. A Tougaloo College and Thomas M. Cooley Law School graduate, she assists individuals and businesses who have been impacted by the effects of the BP oil disaster.

Prior to joining the Center, Khiedrae worked on the Hurricane Katrina Recovery Project, and has previously assisted an insurance company in processing hurricane claims in another state. She served as a law clerk for the Harrison County Circuit Court and has legal skills in insurance defense, construction law and mediation and negotiation tactics.  Additionally, she is a qualified mediator and a certified guardian ad litem in Mississippi. Having a true passion to see youth succeed in every aspect of their life, she serves at Living The Word International, in Slidell, LA, as a mentor and teacher for the teen ministry. Additionally, along with her husband, she co-founded Akira and Children Foundation, an organization geared toward assisting youth through mentoring, tutoring, and motivational speaking.

Marni von Wilpert
mvonwilpert@mscenterforjustice.org
Marni serves as the Skadden Fellow for the Mississippi Center for Justice, providing legal representation for people living with HIV/AIDS primarily in the Delta.  Prior to joining the Center, Marni served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana working as a community advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention.  Marni’s prior legal experience includes serving as a law clerk at the Texas Civil Rights Project, in which she focused on accessibility rights for people living with disabilities, and as an intern at the San Diego Legal Aid Society where she worked to help domestic violence survivors.   Marni graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies, and obtained a J.D. at the Fordham University School of Law.  
 
Lauren Welford
lwelford@mscenterforjustice.org
Lauren is a communications and development specialist for the Mississippi Center for Justice. Lauren holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Mississippi and is a graduate of the Croft Institute for International Studies where she completed a thesis concerning gender and contemporary slavery. In 2006, Lauren interned with the special events department at The Carter Center, former President Jimmy Carter's nongovernmental organization.  Her previous experience includes working as a regional field organizer on the Musgrove for U.S. Senate campaign in 2008 and serving as a policy analyst for former Governor Ronnie Musgrove.
 
Norman Rosenberg, Consultant
Norman Rosenberg is a private consultant based in Washington, DC. The centerpiece of his practice is organizational and fund development, with primary emphasis on creating or strengthening major donor programs for progressive non-profits. For 25 years before beginning his consulting practice, Rosenberg was the CEO of three national public interest organizations: the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Parents’ Action for Children, and the New Israel Fund (NIF), an Israeli-American philanthropy that promotes equality, peace and tolerance in Israel. Prior to embarking on his public interest law career, Rosenberg was an Assistant Professor of Law at the State University of New York at Buffalo.