She is a 1976 graduate of San Francisco’s Golden Gate University and has spent most of her legal career working for legal services programs, both at the local level and, for the past 22 years, on a state-wide level with the Empire Justice Center. At Empire Justice, her efforts have been focused on immigration and public benefits issues, and most particularly on the intersection between immigration status and public benefits eligibility. She has provided training in this area to both public benefits advocates and to community groups working with immigrants around the state.