Executive Director
Nancy Hopkins joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania in January of 2005. She previously worked for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency coordinating a teaching partnership with the University of Scranton. Nancy received her Master's degree in Counseling from West Chester University and has extensive experience in leadership and management of victim advocacy and direct service programs. (Philadelphia)
Deputy Director
Barb Feige joined the ACLU-PA Greater Pittsburgh Chapter as Chapter Director in November 2002. She is responsible for all of the non-legal activities of the Western PA office such as membership, development, public education and administration. Barb is an experienced non-profit manager with 20 years experience. She served as the HIV/AIDS Program Coordinator for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation of Pittsburgh providing fiscal management and programmatic support to government-funded services for persons affected by and at risk for HIV/AIDS. Barb has also worked for the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh as a Community Campaigns Coordinator involved in all aspects of fundraising. A Pittsburgh native, Barb is a magna cum laude graduate of Duquesne University and did her graduate work at the University of Pittsburgh. As a stage manager for professional theatre, Barb worked for seven years in theatres across the country and overseas. Barb is an active community volunteer and serves on the boards of a number of community service organizations. (Pittsburgh)
Associate Director
Sara Mullen started at the ACLU of Pennsylvania as a volunteer in its Pittsburgh office in 1997. She joined the staff as the office manager in January 1998 and worked her way up to Assistant Director of the Pittsburgh Chapter in 2000. Sara transferred to the Philadelphia office in November 2002 after meeting her now-husband at an ACLU annual membership meeting. Sara currently heads the Community Organizing Department. She received her BA in Middle Eastern History from the University of Chicago in 1993. Prior to joining the ACLU, Sara worked in academic publishing. (Philadelphia)
Legal Director
Witold "Vic" Walczak , the son of a Polish Holocaust survivor, came to the United States at age three. He graduated from Colgate University and Boston College Law School. Before attending law school Vic traveled to martial-law Poland, where he experienced the deprivation of civil liberties, including police brutality, wiretapping and a strip search. Vic joined the ACLU in 1992, after five years of prisoners’ rights work at Maryland’s Legal Aid Bureau. He served for twelve years as the Pittsburgh Chapter’s Executive Director. In 2004 he became the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s Legal Director. Besides specializing in free-speech and religious-liberty cases, Vic has handled nationally significant cases involving challenges to widespread police misconduct, substandard public-defender services, and the Secret Service’s use of “protest zones” to shield President Bush from demonstrators. In 2005, Vic was one of three lawyers who successfully tried Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the first case challenging the teaching in public schools of “intelligent design” (ID), which the ACLU claimed was creationism repackaged. Most recently, Vic was co-lead counsel in a precedent-setting case challenging an anti-illegal-immigrant ordinance in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, the first of its kind in the nation. Vic has received many honors, including the 2003 Federal Lawyer of the Year award from the Federal Bar Association’s Western Pennsylvania Chapter. (Pittsburgh)
Legislative Director
Andy Hoover is responsible for the ACLU of PA's lobbying efforts at the state level in Harrisburg and at the federal level in Washington, D.C. From 2004 to 2008, he was a community organizer for ACLU-PA and is an experienced advocate, cutting his teeth in the anti-death penalty movement during the Ridge-Schweiker administration. Andy also serves on the boards of directors of Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania. In 2008, Andy graduated from Penn State with a master's degree in Community Psychology and Social Change. He is also a 1995 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communications. Andy has lived most of his life in Dauphin County. (Harrisburg)
Clara Bell Duvall Reproductive Freedom Project Director
Carol Petraitis received her BA in Visual Arts from the University of California at San Diego in 1974. She joined the Duvall Education Fund as program director in 1991 and was promoted to Executive Director in 1993. In 2000 she oversaw a merger with the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the organization was renamed the Clara Bell Duvall Reproductive Freedom Project. Ms Petraitis has overseen an expansion in the mission of the organization. Its role of research, publication, and training for pro-choice activists in Pennsylvania has broadened to identifying and creating solutions for some of the underlying barriers to reproductive health care such as the lack of training in the medical professions in abortion, fighting against abstinence-only education until marriage programs in public schools, emergency contraception, and minors' rights. As a state-wide organization, the Duvall Project is particularly sensitive to the needs of those who are young, poor, or live in rural areas. She has co-authored articles for peer-reviewed journals, as well as numerous publications for activists including several fact sheets and brochures about emergency contraception (EC). In addition she has written training manuals about minors' rights to confidential health care services and about EC in the emergency room. (Philadelphia)
Development Director
Janet Starwood joined the staff of ACLU of Pennsylvania in July 2008. She received her B.A. from Cornell University and her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law. As a law school student, Janet interned with the Women’s Rights Project at national ACLU. After graduating, she worked in litigation for a large New York City law firm. Later she moved to Philadelphia where she worked as an attorney in private practice. In 1999, Janet founded the Philadelphia affiliate Earth Force, a national environmental education organization that engages young people as active citizens who improve their communities. She successfully led this organization and secured the funding that sustained its growth and expansion in southeastern Pennsylvania. (Philadelphia)
Staff Attorney
Valerie Burch joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania as a staff attorney for the Harrisburg Office in June 2007. Prior to joining the ACLU, she served as managing attorney of the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, where she litigated immigration cases. She is a 2004 graduate of Penn State's Dickinson School of Law and a 2000 graduate of the University of Rochester. (Harrisburg)
Staff Attorney
Mary Catherine Roper is a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Office, where she coordinates litigation on a broad range of civil liberties issues, including freedom of speech, religious liberty, racial and ethnic justice, equality for lesbians and gay men, student rights, privacy, prisoners’ rights and police misconduct. Prior to joining the ACLU, Mary Catherine was a partner in the firm of Drinker Biddle and Reath, where she was well known for her commitment to pro bono work. Mary Catherine is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Anita B. Brody of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and served a year with the Disabilities Law Project as the first recipient of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation Public Interest Fellowship. (Philadelphia)
Staff Attorney
Sara J. Rose is a staff attorney in the organization's Pittsburgh office. Before joining the ACLU of Pennsylvania, she was a legal fellow with Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She received her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. She worked as the publications coordinator for the Student Press Law Center for two years before attending law school. (Pittsburgh)
Legal Fellow
Marieke Tuthill joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Office as a legal fellow in September 2009 through the Philadelphia Bar Foundation Public Interest Fellowship. She received her law degree in 2008 from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and her undergraduate degree in 2004 from New York University. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable A. Richard Caputo of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. In October 2010, she will be joining the litigation department of the law firm Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis. (Philadelphia)
Community Organizer
Erin Gill joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania as a Community Organizer in June 2009. She has done extensive electoral and legislative work on labor and social justice issues ranging from protecting workers' rights to expanding access to affordable health care for children. She is a native of Western Pennsylvania, and graduated magna cum laude with a dual degree in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006. Erin is very active in her community and works with a number of community service organizations on economic development, youth, and public safety issues. She will be working with the three Western Region Chapters to build momentum for the ACLU's legislative priorities and strengthen relationships with the communities and organizations of Western PA. She is excited to continue working for equality and justice for all with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. (Pittsburgh)
Community Organizer
Becca Glenn joined the ACLU staff in December 2008. She holds a BA in sociology from Boston College and an MA in women’s studies from Loyola University Chicago. Prior to accepting her position with the ACLU, she spent two years working for the New Jersey Sierra Club on environmental issues. She is also a past president of the Harrisburg Chapter of the National Organization for Women. (Harrisburg)
Community Organizer
Harold Jordan joined the ACLU staff in December of 2007. He brings to the ACLU three decades of experience working in non-profit organizations. Harold has done extensive advocacy work on peace, youth leadership development, military service, and human rights issues. His past jobs include serving as the coordinator of a national program at the American Friends Service Committee for 16 years, as a paralegal at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, as the executive director of a national public school advocacy organization, as a computer programmer, and as an administrator in the School District of Philadelphia. Harold has lectured and conducted workshops nationwide. He has extensive writing, editing, program planning, and web development experience. Harold’s major volunteer commitment is with The Organizers Collaborative, a Boston-based non-profit organization that promotes better use of technology by social change organizations. He holds a degree in Social Thought and Analysis from Washington University in St. Louis. (Philadelphia)
Community Organizer - Immigrants' Rights Project
Emma Cleveland joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania in November of 2009. She spent the last two years working with nomadic artistic, ecological and circus collectives in South America. Prior to joining the ACLU, Emma worked with the Immigrant Solidarity Network (Red de Solidariad Inmigrante) and was involved in Food Not Bombs and independent media and radio projects in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. She holds a B.S. in sociology from James Madison University. (Allentown)
Development Coordinator
Christopher Keelty joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania as Development Coordinator in June of 2007. A native of New York, he has lived most of his life in Pennsylvania, and holds a BA in Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. Chris previously managed marketing and development for the Lehigh Valley Zoo and the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, and was an independent marketing consultant. He remains an active volunteer, supporting non-profit zoos and LGBT organizations. (Philadelphia)
Legal Program Assistant
Steve Gotzler joined the ACLU staff in June of 2005. He received his law degree from Rutgers - Newark in 2000, and his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin. Steve has a long history of political and community activity as either a board member or an activist in many organizations. (Philadelphia)
Office/Intake Manager
Susan Davis McIntosh joined the ACLU staff in August 2004. Her background includes experience in office administration in both the private and nonprofit sectors. She has a long history of volunteerism and activism in the areas of civil liberties & human rights, AIDS education and prevention, mental health advocacy, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender rights, and environmental issues. She also served for a year as an AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) at the Institute for Community Service-Learning based out of Slippery Rock University. Previously a volunteer and then an intern at the ACLU, Susan was initially hired to be the Administrative Assistant at the Pittsburgh office. In January of 2005, her position was expanded to include coordination of legal intake and management of office interns and volunteers. Susan received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Slippery Rock University, and most recently was awarded an associate degree in Computer Forensics from Butler County Community College. (Pittsburgh)
Office/Intake Manager
Jamie Pauls joined the ACLU in December of 2004. Before joining the ACLU she worked as a community organizer for a community-based organization that advocates for low and moderate income families. Jamie currently manages daily office duties and receives and responds to all legal intake. She reviews and assesses requests for assistance and engages in factual development and research for potential civil liberties cases. Jamie is a graduate of Bridgewater College, VA where she received a degree in Political Science. Jamie currently resides in downtown Harrisburg with her husband and cat. (Harrisburg)
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