People

Kamille (she/her) is a 2L from West Hartford, CT. She received her B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Tufts University. Kamille has been a member of Harvard Defenders since her 1L fall and was a team leader. During her 1L summer, Kamille interned at in the Capital Habeas Unit in the Federal Community Defender Office- EDPA working on death penalty litigation. This year Kamille is a part of the Crimmigration Clinic and the Election Law Clinic. Kamille is also a member of the Black Law Students Association and is board member on the newly emerging Caribbean Law Student Association.

Bridget Pranzatelli 
Bridget Pranzatelli (she/hers) is a 3L from the Washington, D.C. area. Before law school, Bridget worked at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition, where she provided legal services to people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. The vast majority of detained immigrants go through immigration court pro se (without an attorney). Bridget was able to coach them through that process.

Bridget spent her 1L summer as a litigation and policy intern at the National Immigrant Justice Center and as a researcher at Liberation Ventures.

Alexia (she/her) is a 2L from Montgomery County, MD. Before law school she graduated from Arizona State University, receiving her B.S.E in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. Political Science. Alexia has been a member of Harvard Defenders since her 1L fall. During her 1L summer, Alexia interned at Public Defenders Services in DC in their Civil Legal Services Division. This year Alexia is a part of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. Alexia is also on the board of the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Journal, and is a member of the Black Law Students Association.

Mikaela Rabb

Mikaela Rabb (she/her) is a 2L.

Wesley Neal

Marian Gardner 

Wesley Neal

Christine Tamir (she/her) is a 2L from the Washington DC area. She received her B.A. in Political Economy and Public Health from Williams College in 2018 and was as a researcher at Pew Research Center in Washington D.C. for four years before starting law school. Her work focused on the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S., with a focus on the Black and Hispanic U.S. populations.

At HLS, Christine has been part of Defenders since 1L fall. During her 1L summer, she worked at a law firm and the DC Federal Public Defender office.  This year, Christine is part of the Crimmigration clinic, the Black Law Students Association (as a co-leader of the Academic Affairs Committee), and the African Law Students Association.

She is excited to train incoming Defenders and provide ongoing support as they take on cases and represent our clients.

Jacqueline Rayfield 

Jacqueline Rayfield (she/her) is a 2L from the suburbs of Seattle, Washington. She received her B.A. in International Relations from Boston University and was a labor and workforce policy researcher at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. for two years. Jacqueline joined Defenders during her 1L fall. Her 1L summer, she worked at Unite Here Local 11, a service workers’ union in California and Arizona. She is looking forward to welcoming a new class of Defenders and training them to advocate for their clients.

Jamari Stanton

Jamari Stanton is a 2L at Harvard Law School. A Raleigh, North Carolina native, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from Morehouse College where he double majored in political science and economics. He has previously interned at Gideon’s Promise, and Fortress Investment Group, and worked as a research assistant at Harvard Business School and MIT: Sloan School of Management. He spent his 1L summer working with the Michigan Justice Fund as a Summer Fellow and interning at the New England Innocence Project. He is the Outreach Director of Harvard Defenders and is on the Harvard Business Law Review.

Kennedy Mackey

Nathan Poland (he/him) is a 2L from Rockville, MD. He received his B.A. in African American Studies from Princeton University in 2020. Prior to law school, Nathan was the Project Manager of Civil Rights Corps’s Policing Abuse Litigation Projects in Washington, D.C. and Houston, TX. During his 1L summer, Nathan worked at the Promise of Justice Initiative in New Orleans, LA. He is also a member of the Harvard Black Law Student Association, and a Resident Tutor at Winthrop House. As Strategic Partnership Director, he is looking forward to finding ways to align Defenders, internally and externally, with anti-carceral movements in Greater Boston, providing resources and referrals to local community members, and beyond.

Déborah Aléxis

Déborah Aléxis (she/her) is a 2L from West Palm Beach Florida. She received her B.S. in Sociology with minors in French and Africana Studies from Brigham Young University in 2020 and worked for the Department of Elder affairs for the State of Florida and as a poll worker before starting law school.At HLS, Déborah joined Defenders in Spring of 2023. During her 1L summer, she worked at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.  This year, Déborah is part of the Election Law clinic and the Equal Democracy Project.

She has been loving heading the Litman program with her co-director and looks forward to organizing the symposium for the fall and hope anyone reading this attends

Apoorva Dixit

Allie Ryave

Allie Ryave (she/her) is a 2L originally from Pittsburgh, PA. She attended Penn State University where she earned her B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies and in Global and International Studies. She then worked in Montana Children’s Special Health Services as an Americorps VISTA, where she engaged in capacity building initiatives such as parent education, therapy provider training, and resource mapping throughout the state. She has also worked in research studying evidence-based policymaking and researcher-policymaker interactions.

For her 1L summer, Allie interned with the Advancement Project, supporting racial justice movement lawyering focused on policing, education, and elections.

John Salsberg, ESQ.

Since 1980, Attorney John Salsberg has been the clinical instructor at Harvard Defenders.  John is an experienced trial lawyer, focusing on state and federal criminal litigation and academic discipline cases. His legal career started at the Public Defender office in Boston, until he went into private practice. He was also a part time faculty member at Boston College Law School.

John was a founding member and chair of Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, a not-for-profit organization coordinating the provision of private assigned counsel to indigent criminal defendants charged with offenses in the Suffolk County Superior and District Courts. He was a Board Member, and then Chair, of the Criminal Justice Act Board, which is responsible for managing the selection and performance of private attorneys who take appointments in the First Circuit. John is experienced in handling high profile murder cases and has taught at continuing legal education seminars and authored articles in the area of criminal defense practice.

In 1998, John received the Edward J. Duggan Award for “zealous advocacy and outstanding legal services to the poor” from the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and has been recognized by the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Lawyers Guild for his work as a criminal defense attorney.

Sama joined Harvard Defenders in 2021. Prior to working at Harvard Defenders, Sama worked at Harvard Medical School as an Events and Logistics Administrator.  After two years, Sama joined the Alumni Center at Harvard Law School.

Sama earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Keele University in the United Kingdom. She earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Behavior from Murray State University and Master of Liberal Arts in Management from Harvard Extension School.

Sama is passionate about diversity and inclusion. She is the founder of the first HLS Staff cultural festival. She served as an advisory committee member on the HLS Dean’s Award for Excellence and Harvard Heroes. Sama is very committed to working with our General Board to help serve our clients effectively, while also supporting all members of Harvard Defenders.