Meet The Team
Emma Anderson
Housing Outreach Worker
Emma Anderson joined KEJC in the fall of 2021 as a housing outreach worker. She believes housing is a human right and every person should have a safe place to call their own. Since graduating from Centre College in 2018, Emma has worked as the food access coordinator at the Franklin County Farmers Market. She ran the community food share program in south Frankfort, working with pregnant moms and medicaid recipients. Additionally she did outreach for the SNAP double dollars program. Emma thinks it is our responsibility as a community and city to make sure everyone is housed. She cares deeply about Kentuckians having a reliable roof over their head and food for their family which is why she is excited to be working at KEJC.
Miranda Brown
Outreach Coordinator
Miranda Brown conducts community education in English and Spanish about accessing healthcare and exercising workers’ rights. She is a Certified Application Counselor for kynect health coverage, including Medicaid. Serving on the Consumer Rights and Client Needs Technical Advisory Committee to Kentucky's Medicaid Advisory Council, Miranda channels consumer experiences and stories into advocacy. She hosts "Kentucky Equal Justice Radio" and "Reclama tus derechos" shows in English and Spanish on community radio RADIOLEX. She also works as a consultant for cultural arts organization Casa de la Cultura Kentucky and serves on the board of HealthFirst BlueGrass, a Federally Qualified Health Center, and the advisory board for the University of Kentucky College of Nursing’s Corazon de la Familia study. She's a passionate learner about everything from cooperatives to languages to growing herbs, spices, and teas in Kentucky.
Stefanie Ebbens Kingsley
Housing Justice Attorney
Stefanie Ebbens Kingsley adopted Kentucky as her home in 2005 when she moved here to begin her career as a public service lawyer with AppalRed Legal Aid in Pikeville, Kentucky. Living and representing clients in the Appalachian mountains opened a whole new perspective on rural America to Stefanie. It was here that she fell in love with the mountains and the people of Eastern Kentucky and knew that this was where she would put down her new roots.
After a decade at AppalRed, Stefanie relocated to Whitley County where she opened her own Consumer Rights practice in January 2016. In 2020, Stefanie took a job with the Beshear-Coleman administration in the Education and Labor Cabinet, working as the Executive Director for the Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board, as an advocate for inclusive workforce development policy that removed barriers for job seekers returning to the workforce. Stefanie was born and raised in Wisconsin, having attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for undergraduate, and Marquette University Law School. Raised in a union home by, Stefanie was instilled with a respect for organized labor, and understanding of the utmost importance of a good education, surrounded by strong, vocal women who stood up for their communities.
Ben Carter
Senior Litigation and Advocacy Counsel
After growing up in Lexington and Russell, Kentucky, Ben Carter attended Davidson College and UK College of Law. Before joining KEJC in the fall of 2018, Ben litigated individual and consumer class actions at Ben Carter Law, PLLC. From 2008-2010, he worked at Louisville’s Legal Aid Society and helped Jefferson County build an innovative, county-wide response to its foreclosure crisis. At KEJC, he litigates cases, lobbies policymakers, and works with communities, organizations, and government agencies to ensure all Kentuckians live within fair systems that are open to all. Get all of his dad, politics, and podcast tweets at @notbencarter.
Gabriela Dawson
VOCA Legal Assistant
Gaby joined Maxwell Street Legal Clinic in November 2018. A native of Venezuela and now a long-time Lexingtonian, she has had many years of legal and medical office experience. She received a certification as an Immigration paralegal. Gaby is a Certified Medical Interpreter serving various agencies around town. She loves working as the VOCA Legal Assistant and helping our clients bridge the language barrier. She enjoys traveling, reading, and eating pasta!
Yokohana Dionisio
Legal Assistant
Yoko joined Maxwell Street Legal Clinic as a Legal Assistant in November of 2021. She is a native of the Dominican Republic and has learned from a very young age the need to interpret for others including her parents, relatives, and friends. Yoko has noticed that the city of Lexington has a growing community of non-English speaking immigrants and she's excited to help with their legal needs. Yoko lived in Ohio for over twenty years but now lives in Lexington with her husband and her very spoiled puppy dog Lála. She loves the beautiful scenery of Lexington’s countryside and watching horses graze on green pastures.
Raaziq El-Amin
Resource Organizer
As Resource Organizer, Raaziq works collaboratively with the KEJC team on fundraising. He focuses on engaging donors, managing grants and building brand recognition. Prior to joining the KEJC team, Raaziq worked as a Community Manager at The Plantory, focusing on communications and community building. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology/Anthropology and Educational Studies from Transylvania University. A lifelong Lexingtonian, Raaziq is proud to be serving fellow Kentuckians!
Michelle Haubner
DOJ Accredited Representative
Michelle began working as a Legal Assistant at Maxwell Street Legal Clinic in August 2017 and transitioned to a position as a VOCA Immigration Fellow in March 2018. She graduated from Morehead State University in 2012 with a BA in Mathematics education and Spanish education. She also has earned an English Language Learner Endorsement. After graduating college, Michelle lived with her family for three years in Guadalajara, Mexico, working in a school. Her experience there increased her existing passion to help address immigration issues. Upon return from Mexico, she served as a high school teacher in Math and Spanish in Northern Kentucky.
Allison Hight
Program Director
Allison Hight came to Maxwell Street in the summer of 2018 as a VOCA Immigration Fellow. She graduated from Ohio University in 2013 with a B.A. in English and earned her law degree from the University of Michigan in 2018, where she concentrated on immigration and refugee law. Between undergraduate and law school, Allison spent two years teaching English in Hokkaido, Japan, as part of the JET Program. She speaks conversational Japanese and Spanish
Ebony Lee
Housing Outreach and Intake Coordinator
Ebony Lee joined KEJC in December 2021. She recently completed her undergraduate studies at Western Kentucky University and is a Lexington native. Ebony is excited to work with KEJC by connecting with Kentuckians to make a better Commonwealth. From a young age, she's had a desire to serve communities that look like her. Ebony's deeply rooted passion for helping vulnerable Kentuckians is informed by her time as a volunteer and advocate for Hope Harbor. This experience showed her how important it is for everyone to have a safe place in their community. "One of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building communities of resistance, places we know we are not alone," -bell hooks"
Tyler Offerman
Food Justice Fellow
Tyler Offerman joined KEJC in 2019 as the Food Justice Fellow. Tyler believes everyone, whether black, white, or brown, old or young, deserves access to nutritious and adequate food. Before joining KEJC, Tyler worked with Kentuckians For The Commonwealth as a community organizer around tax reform, public budgets, and public pension policy. Prior to KFTC, Tyler owned an outdoor adventure guiding company, where they took people backpacking, kayaking, and white water rafting across Eastern Kentucky. Tyler currently lives and works in Lexington, but is originally from South Florida where he received two undergraduate degrees from Florida Gulf Coast University.
Laura Harper Knight
Housing Outreach and Intake Coordinator
Laura Harper Knight joined the KEJC team in 2022 as a Housing Outreach Organizer. Kentuckians deserve safety and respite in their homeplace, and Laura is willing to fight for a world in which housing is a human right and available for all people. She worked with Kentuckians For The Commonwealth as the Western Kentucky Regional Organizer prior to joining KEJC, and supported KFTC members and allies in taking collective action and shifting the balance of power in the Commonwealth. Laura is a graduate of Western Kentucky University and lives in Bowling Green.
Chloe Atwater
Health Law Fellow
Chloe (she/her) joined KEJC in October 2022 as our Health Justice Attorney. Through litigation, advocacy, lobbying, and centering systemically oppressed and marginalized groups, Chloe is committed to achieving a Kentucky in which income and identity no longer predict healthcare access and health outcomes. A proud Kentucky native and Berean-turned-Lexingtonian, Chloe attended the University of Kentucky for seven consecutive years, where she earned her BA in political science and her law degree. Now tethered to Lexington by her deep commitments to the local community and the Kentucky Wildcats, Chloe is a dog mom, a burgeoning home cook, and the product of twenty years of Kentucky public education.
"I'm excited to use my legal education to make it easier for Kentuckians to get and pay for high-quality healthcare. The road to health is full of trapdoors and tripwires, and it's a great honor to help my people navigate that."
Paola Schwartz
Legal Assistant
Paola Schwartz is a Legal Assistant at Maxwell Street Legal Clinic. Originally from Mexico City, she's lived in Kentucky since 2002. Paola has a BA in Communications, an AA in Culinary Arts, and a certification as a Culinary Nutrition Expert. As a bilingual individual and parent of a Special Needs child, she has had the opportunity to interpret and translate for families and teach nutritional workshops for both Warren County Schools and the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky. She is thrilled to work with KEJC to have a positive impact on Kentucky's international community.
Richard J. Seckel
Director
Rich Seckel has worked at Kentucky Equal Justice Center since 1979. He often has served as an advocate on poverty law issues before state agencies and the Kentucky General Assembly. Mr. Seckel is a founding Board Member of Kentucky Voices for Health and served as chair of the initial Community Advisory Committee of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. He holds a BA from Oberlin College and an MSW from West Virginia University. Before graduate school, he volunteered as a boycott organizer for the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO. In November 2016, he was recognized with the Distinguished Nonprofit Leadership Award by the Kentucky Nonprofit Network.