Who We Are

Executive Director

Maeve Elise Brown, Executive Director and a founder of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA), manages operations, supervises staff and participates in the organization's substantive work.

A graduate of UCLA Law School, Ms. Brown's experience as a public interest attorney include litigation and administrative advocacy on behalf of tenants and homeowners, public benefits advocacy, community organizing, fair housing advocacy, community workshops, and trainings and technical assistance for professionals. Ms. Brown has organized and opened a community development credit union, designed and taught a course on mortgage lending and homeownership at UC Berkeley School of Law and served for five years on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Consumer Advisory Board, functioning as Chair in her final year. She has published various articles on affordable housing issues, authored a chapter in the American Bar Association's Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development (first edition and updated), is bilingual in Spanish and French and conversant in Japanese, Farsi, Italian and German.

Staff Attorney

Nisha Ajmani is a staff attorney at HERA. She focuses her work on tenant advocacy, including helping tenants resolve issues related to credit reporting, debt collection, housing discrimination, habitability, and landlord disputes.

Prior to joining HERA, Nisha was a Housing Staff Attorney at Family Violence Law Center, in Oakland, where she advocated on behalf of domestic violence survivors who were dealing with housing legal issues. Her work there included in-court representation of survivors in obtaining restraining and move-out orders and defending against evictions. Nisha has also spent a substantial portion of her legal career advocating on behalf of system-involved youth.

Nisha was a summer legal intern at HERA in 2011 and a post-graduate attorney fellow at HERA in 2013. Nisha earned her J.D. in 2012 from the University of Oregon School of Law, where she was a Managing Editor on the Oregon Law Review. Nisha was born and raised in the Bay Area and earned her B.A. from Bowdoin College in 2006. She enjoys painting in her free time.

Staff Attorney

Daniel Alper is a staff attorney at HERA, focused primarily on issues around predatory lending and foreclosure prevention. He provides direct services to clients and also engages in impact litigation.

Prior to working at HERA, Daniel was a law clerk at the Alameda County Public Defender’s office and judicial extern in the Northern District of California. Daniel earned his JD from Golden Gate University School of Law, where he participated in the Environmental Justice Clinic and served as an editor on the Environmental Law Journal.

Daniel currently teaches Legal Methods and Legal Analysis as an adjunct professor in the Academic Achievement program at GGU School of Law.

Staff Attorney

Aren Ash is a Staff Attorney at HERA in Oakland, CA, concentrating on tenant advocacy, issues related to landlord disputes, housing discrimination, habitability, debt collection, and credit reporting.

Prior to joining HERA, Aren worked in private practice and as a law clerk at the San Francisco Public Defender’s office. He earned his JD from Golden Gate University School of Law, where he was an Associate Editor of Law Review and co-founder of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. In his spare time, Aren enjoys cooking, hiking, and playing basketball.

Public Interest Fellow

Natasha Blazer is a Public Interest Fellow at HERA and a graduate of UC Berkeley, School of Law. Natasha works with clients on homeownership issues, including predatory home improvement scams and foreclosure prevention, as well as general credit and debt issues. She also engages in HERA’s state-wide coalition building and policy advocacy efforts.

Prior to joining HERA, Natasha worked as a Domestic Violence Counselor and Immigration Paralegal in Boston, MA and attended Tufts University as an undergraduate. In law school, Natasha primarily worked on consumer justice and civil rights issues, interning with legal services clinics, impact litigation organizations, and plaintiff side firms in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also participated in asylum advocacy and led student groups focused on combating the harms caused by interpersonal violence and economic inequity.

Senior Attorney

Kendra Bowen is providing estate planning services to individuals, educational workshops for the public, and training for attorneys. With her Juris Doctor from Hastings College of the Law, Ms. Bowen also brings strong, general litigation and real estate experience.

Administrative Assistant

Kasandra Calderas is an Administrative Assistant at HERA. She was born In Los Angeles but raised in a border town named Heber. With a B.A. in Hospitality Administration and Management from The Art Institute of San Diego, Kasandra's focus is to help and guide Latino communities and other residents in distress using her second language, which is Spanish, as a strength. Before joining HERA, Kasandra worked for Darden Restaurant Inc as an Executive Managing Partner. Supported her team’s career development by teaching and mentoring, leading to their full potential. Developing and implementing organizational goals, procedures, and policies. At HERA, Kasandra focuses on client intake, document management, as well as a broad range of administrative and outreach support. In her free time, she enjoys playing softball, cooking, traveling, and spending time with her family and 2 puppies

Staff Attorney

Mary E. Day is a Staff Attorney at HERA focusing on foreclosure prevention, student loans, and solar panel and home improvement scams. Prior to joining HERA, Mary represented parents in Alameda County struggling to reunite their families. Working with these families overwhelmed by poverty and systemically racist policies, Mary obtained several appellate rulings protecting families against unfair government practices.

Previously, Mary was a Public Defender in Florida where she represented juveniles and adults and became the office’s Search and Seizure Expert. Mary earned her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida. Mary is also an inventor on 5 U.S. patents reflecting the many years prior to the launch of her legal career that Mary spent as a Silicon Valley research engineer.

Senior Attorney

Gina Di Giusto is a Senior Attorney at HERA and a graduate of Harvard Law School. Prior to joining HERA in 2013, Gina provided advice on landlord-tenant issues at a local legal services program, completed a fellowship at the Superior Court in Alameda County, and spent two years representing residents of publicly subsidized housing before local housing authorities.

Gina was selected to the California Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" list in 2016-18 for her work in consumer law; the "Rising Stars" list is selected by peer lawyers and recognizes no more than 2.5 percent of up-and-coming attorneys in each state. At HERA, Gina works on unfair debt collection, wrongful credit reporting, and mortgage and foreclosure-related issues on behalf of Californians in need. Gina also brings significant litigation experience and expertise addressing abuses by homeowners' associations.

Staff Attorney

Meghan Grim is a staff attorney at HERA and a graduate of USC Gould School of Law, with over ten years of experience in public interest law. She currently focuses on mortgage issues and foreclosure prevention, student loan debt, and fair credit reporting.

Prior to joining HERA, Meghan worked for the County of Los Angeles, representing the Department of Children and Family Services in the juvenile dependency system. Aside from extensive courtroom experience, she brings appellate knowledge, having also worked for the California Court of Appeal Indigent Defense Panel.

During her time in law school, she clerked for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office in the Appellate Division, as well as for the Children's Law Center of California.

Administrative Assistant

Siyi He is an administrative assistant at HERA. She was born and raised in China and holds a B.A. in French from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Prior to joining HERA, she worked as a Marketing Specialist, leveraging her skills in assisting people.

As a first-generation immigrant, Siyi is passionate about supporting individuals from all races, particularly those who are vulnerable. At HERA, she focuses on estate planning, client intake, and provides administrative support to the staff attorneys. During her free time, Siyi enjoys spending time outdoors, cherishing moments with her friends and family.

Director of Litigation

Arthur D. Levy is HERA's Director of Litigation, with over 35 years of litigation experience focused on class actions representing consumers in major banking, lending and insurance cases.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Levy has successfully successfully handled complex consumer protection litigation against Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Lenox Financial, Mercury Insurance Company, Auto Insurance Specialists, Xerox, and IKON. He's currently co-counseling a long-standing class action against CashCall challenging CashCall's collection and lending practices and exorbitant interest rates and loan terms. His active pro bono practice includes extensive Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) briefs on key legal issues for non-profit organizations, including HERA, National Consumer Law Center, Consumers Union, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, and the California Reinvestment Coalition. A tireless advocate, he has provided pro bono legal representation to a variety of historic preservation organizations as well.

Administrative Assistant

Alejandra Luna is an Administrative Assistant at HERA. She brings over five years of nonprofit leadership experience in developing and marketing campaigns, counseling residents in distress and guiding them to resources. Prior to joining HERA, Alejandra was a county wide outreach coordinator for a nonprofit institution.

Born and raised in Southern California, Alejandra received her B.A. from California State University Fullerton. She enjoys walking alongside her community and is actively coordinating a foundation for students who have demonstrated economic need and academic potential.

Staff Attorney

Amina Merritt is a Staff Attorney on the Tenant Team. Prior to joining HERA, she was Principal Attorney at The Merritt Law Clinic, PC, representing children and parents as contract counsel in child welfare cases. The Merritt Law Clinic was also on the NorCal panel of attorneys for the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) giving advice and representation to principals and superintendents. Her experience also includes working as private counsel on a variety of civil rights, education, administrative, and employment matters, serving as Staff, and Supervising Attorney, becoming Acting Executive Director for Sacramento Child Advocates. She brings significant litigation experience in state and federal court and administrative hearing settings.

Amina received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Amherst College. She was a Public Service Education Fellow in the Masters’ Program/Public Administration at Fordham University and earned her J.D. from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law. At HERA, Amina provides legal services to homeless residents and tenants to help them access and remain stable in housing.

Staff Attorney

Veronica Soto Miller is a staff attorney at HERA and a graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law. Prior to joining HERA, Ms. Miller spent 10 years working as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles, where she worked as a civil litigator defending the City in premise liability actions. In addition to being an experienced litigator, Ms. Miller has extensive courtroom experience as both a criminal prosecutor and a public defender.

Ms. Miller began her career in criminal law where she developed exceptional interpersonal skills to clearly and concisely communicate complex legal and precedential issues to clients. At HERA, she focuses primarily on mortgage and foreclosure related issues, homeowner preservation, and assists consumers targeted by home improvement schemes. Ms. Miller is also fluent in Spanish.

Administrative Assistant

Vanessa Minero is an Administrative Assistant at HERA. She was born and raised in Southern California, earned her B.A. in Political Science and Human Rights from UC Davis, and is set to pursue law school. Before joining HERA, Vanessa worked alongside the UC Davis Center for Regional Change and Chicanx Studies Department in a network mapping research project to provide support and resources to vulnerable communities across California. She is bilingual, speaking Spanish and English. At HERA, her focus is assisting our Estate Planning team with client support, document management, outreach, and more. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors, concerts, cooking, traveling, and spending time with her partner and two cats, Quin and Luna. 

Staff Attorney

Karren Moore-Jordan joins HERA as a staff attorney with nearly thirty years of experience practicing law. At HERA she focuses on probate estate practice and educating the public on understanding the probate process in California.

Prior to joining HERA, Karren worked in private practice in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties assisting clients with guardianships, conservatorships, estate planning and decedent estates. During this time, she also worked as an administrative hearing officer deciding 5150 cases and supervised legal interns as a staff attorney for the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University educating and advocating for marginalized communities in the Bay Area. Karren also comes to HERA with experience as a housing and transportation analyst having worked for the Jersey City Housing Authority and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, respectively.

Karren holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from New York University. She earned her JD from Golden Gate University, School of Law in San Francisco.

Karren currently sits on the board of the Solano County Library Foundation and is a passionate fiber artist.

Administrative Assistant

Faviana Schectman is an Administrative Assistant at HERA. She earned her B.A. from Lewis and Clark College, and a Masters in Migration Studies from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. She brings experience in administrative support, community organizing, intake coordination, and research, among other skills.

At HERA, she conducts client intake, provides document management, client support to attorneys, materials development, interpretation, as well as engaging in fundraising support work. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, going to trivia, fostering kittens, drinking coffee, exploring new places, and playing the harp. She is tri-lingual in Spanish and Portuguese.

Administrative Assistant

Michael Sun is an administrative assistant at HERA. Graduating from the University of California Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Political Science, Michael is eager to attend law school in the future and hopes to pursue public interest law to redress the various ways marginalized communities are multiply burdened in U.S. society.

Michael focuses on client intake, document management, as well as a broad range of administrative and research support for HERA's staff attorneys. His favorite part about working at HERA is the constant opportunities for learning under the guidance of talented attorneys and administrative staff.

Staff Attorney

Kathleen Thaete is a staff attorney at HERA where she focuses primarily on foreclosure prevention and homeownership preservation. Prior to working at HERA, Kathleen was a staff attorney at Legal Assistance for Seniors where she assisted older adults in Alameda County. There she advocated for older tenants facing eviction and other housing legal issues, and she assisted older adults who received wrongful terminations and overpayments of their government benefits.

She began her legal career as a Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging Fellow during which time she focused on bringing tenant-based legal services to older adults in Alameda County's Tri Valley area.

Kathleen is a graduate of Northeastern University's School of Law and received her undergraduate degree at the University of San Francisco.

Senior Attorney

Audrey Powers Thornton is a senior attorney at HERA and a graduate of Washington University School of Law. Prior to joining HERA, Ms. Thornton spent 36 years working as a civil litigator specializing in real property law, partnership disputes and financial elder abuse litigation. She represented borrowers during the foreclosure crisis, litigating predatory lending actions and making inroads in lending liability. Ms. Thornton was a founding member of Thornton Koller in 2010. In addition to being an experienced litigator, she is an accomplished appellate attorney with published appellate decisions.

As a contributor to a legal periodical she has published a series of articles on the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court each term. She is also on the Board of the Women’s Resource Center, opened a legal clinic providing services to survivors of intimate partner violence and is a Certified Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victim Advocate. At HERA, she works on mortgage and foreclosure related issues, student loan debt litigation, and assists consumers targeted by home improvement schemes.

Staff Attorney

Susan Yea is a staff attorney at HERA serving clients in the estate planning practice. Prior to joining HERA, Ms. Yea worked in tax groups at financial service firms helping clients with international tax planning. She has also previously worked in estate planning firms assisting families and individuals of varying backgrounds.

Ms. Yea received a BA from UC Berkeley, a JD from Golden Gate University School of Law, and an LLM in Taxation from the University of Florida. Ms. Yea also volunteers as a pro bono attorney for Free To Thrive where she helps victims of human trafficking vacate criminal records in various counties throughout California.

Staff Attorney

Xinyi Zhang is a staff attorney at HERA. He focuses his advocacy on tenant rights, fair credit reporting and debt collection, housing discrimination, habitability, and student loan borrower defense.

Prior to joining HERA, Xinyi worked as a defense attorney in Los Angeles, representing parents in the juvenile dependency system. His work there included daily in-court representation of hundreds of clients whose families were facing interference by the Department of Children and Family Services. After law school, he worked as a legal fellow on the Housing Defense team at Legal Aid Society of Los Angeles. During law school, he clerked at Public Counsel of Los Angeles in the Consumer Rights Division.

Xinyi earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia after graduating from the University of California at Davis. Originally born in China, he is conversational in Mandarin.

Staff Attorney

Irene Zhu is a Staff Attorney at HERA, focusing on estate planning and educational workshops. Prior to joining HERA, Ms. Zhu worked with clients of diverse backgrounds in estate planning and immigration law at private firms. It was her most recent experience at the US Attorney’s Office that ignited her passion for serving the public.An immigrant herself, she is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, and is familiar with obstacles faced by first-generation immigrants.