National Immigration Law Center Announces Exciting New Staff Changes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2015

CONTACT
Elizabeth Beresford, [email protected], 917-648-0189
Andrea Alford, [email protected], 703-477-1075
Nery Espinosa (Spanish language), [email protected], 214-263-1294

National Immigration Law Center Announces Exciting New Staff Changes

Karen Tumlin promoted to Legal Director;
Marisa Aguayo elevated to Development Director

LOS ANGELES — The National Immigration Law Center has announced two new staff changes. Effective today, Karen Tumlin has been promoted to Legal Director and will oversee the organization’s impact litigation. Karen formerly served as Managing Attorney in the organization’s Los Angeles office, litigating cases across the country on the rights of low-income immigrants and their families. Marisa Aguayo, formally NILC’s Development Manager, will now oversee the organization’s development initiatives as Development Director. She is also based out of the Los Angeles office.

“We’re excited to announce two new leadership positions at the National Immigration Law Center,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. “I can say with absolute confidence, as a result of Karen Tumlin and Marisa Aguayo’s combined 20-plus years of working with NILC, that our organization and movement will be strengthened with them in these critical leadership positions. These two women inspire me every day with their skill and tireless dedication to defending and advocating for the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their families. These promotions serve as a recognition of the outstanding work they’ve carried out to advance our mission.”

Karen Tumlin focuses on promoting the rights of low-income immigrants through litigation and related advocacy. She has successfully litigated numerous cases of national importance, including the constitutional challenge to Arizona’s notorious anti-immigrant SB 1070 law and has testified before the U.S. Congress on immigrants’ rights issues. Her primary responsibility is leading NILC’s legal department.

Karen joined the National Immigration Law Center in 2005 as a Skadden Fellow. Before that she clerked for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to law school she worked as a research associate at the Urban Institute, where she co-authored studies on immigration, welfare, and language access issues. She also spent a year as a Luce Scholar in Bangkok, Thailand, where she conducted a study on child trafficking in the region for the U.N. International Labor Organization. Karen holds a juris doctor degree and a master of public policy from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall). She has also served as an adjunct professor at the Loyola Law School.

Marisa Aguayo joined NILC in 2004. During her tenure, she has managed an expanding grants portfolio, initiated an annual awards dinner event, and helped grow the organization’s individual donor base. In her new role, she will manage NILC’s overall fundraising efforts and play a leadership role in developing and overseeing the implementation of annual fundraising plans and strategies that ensure NILC’s long-term sustainability. Previously, Marisa worked as a program director for the MultiCultural Collaborative, a social justice organization created after Los Angeles’ 1992 civil unrest. Prior to that she was a development associate for El Rescate, a legal and social services agency serving immigrants in Los Angeles.

Established in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center is the only advocacy organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their families. NILC advances its mission through policy analysis and litigation, along with education and advocacy. Over the past three decades, NILC has won landmark legal decisions protecting fundamental rights, thwarted harmful policies, and advanced major initiatives that reinforce our nation’s values of equality, opportunity, and justice for all.

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