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Staff
Miami (State Headquarters)
- Northeast Florida Regional Office (Jacksonville and surrounding areas)
Northwest Florida Regional Office (Panhandle)
Mid-Florida Florida Regional Office (Greater Tampa and surrounding areas)
Board of Directors
Miami Office - State Headquarters
Executive Director
Howard Simon was appointed Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida on October 1, 1997. Dr. Simon was raised in New York, and graduated from the City College of New York. He received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in legal and political philosophy and social ethics.
Prior to his appointment as Executive Director of the Florida affiliate of the ACLU in 1997, Simon served as Executive Director of the Michigan affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union since 1974.
Prior to his work with the ACLU, he taught philosophy at the University of Minnesota and was a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at DePauw University in Indiana.
As Executive Director of the Florida affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, Simon has overall responsibility for ACLU's legal, public education, legislative lobbying, and membership and fund-raising programs.
During Simon's tenure with the ACLU, the organization has been involved in cases and controversies dealing with school vouchers, charter schools, religious practices in the public schools, abortion rights, the Terri Schiavo case as well as physician-assisted suicide, and numerous controversies involving freedom of speech.
The ACLU has been extensively involved in addressing the need for electoral reforms in Florida. The organization played a key role in securing the end of the use of paperless electronic voting systems in Florida, leading to the 2008 election in which every county used the optical scan system. The organization has also led efforts to end Florida's policy requiring the lifetime voting ban of former felons.
Deputy Director
Beth Wilson joined the ACLU of Florida as Deputy Director in October 2007 after working for the ACLU of Kentucky for 14 years; first, directing that affiliate's Reproductive Freedom Project and serving the last four years as the Executive Director. Wilson, a Cincinnati native, is a former newspaper reporter and later worked as a reproductive rights advocate and counselor before joining the ACLU. She holds a journalism degree from Eastern Kentucky University and a master's degree in social work from the University of Tennessee. As Deputy Director in Florida, Wilson works closely with the Executive Director to further advance civil liberties in the Sunshine State by expanding staff, volunteers and infrastructure. She champions the rapid expansion of the ACLU of Florida, now totaling over 30,000 members, 18 local chapters and 40 employees working in Miami and six Regional Offices around the state. In addition to assisting the Executive Director with management and fund raising, Wilson coordinates the efforts of the regional offices across the state, and various departments and projects, balancing the priorities at the local, state and national levels.
Legal Director
Randall C. Marshall joined the ACLU of Florida in August 2000. A former Florida Assistant Attorney General, Marshall also worked as an Assistant City Solicitor in Pittsburgh, a visiting professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, a staff attorney with Texas Rural Legal Aid in Hereford, Texas, and a staff attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality in Toledo, Ohio. He has extensive experience in class action civil rights litigation and representation of migrant farm workers. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and sociology from the University of Northern Colorado, and received a master's degree in mathematics as well. He received his J.D. with honors from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1982.
Director of Development
Jeff Vessels, Development Director, joined the ACLU of Florida in June 2008. He has been involved in the ACLU for more than 20 years as a volunteer community organizer, Board member, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kentucky, and Capital Campaign Director for the ACLU of Northern California. A Kentucky native, Vessels holds an English degree from Brescia College (Owensboro, Kentucky) and a masters of science in social work from the University of Louisville. Prior to becoming an ACLU staff-member, he worked in Kentucky state and local governments as an HIV case manager, director of the state health department's HIV prevention programs, and a human services administrator. As Development Director, he works with staff members, Board members, volunteers, and others to inform ACLU supporters about the organization's work and plans, and to solicit their support.
Director of Finance
Gary Sample joined the ACLU of Florida in 2009. Prior to joining the ACLU, Gary has more than 25 years of international business experience with a number of Fortune 500 Companies including the petroleum, financial services and entertainment industries. He worked first in Corporate Audit, leading international audit teams, and later in Corporate Finance & Accounting with his last position being Vice President, Finance & Administration. Gary?s international experience includes a 5-year stint working in Brazil where he learned to speak Portuguese and subsequently, Spanish. Gary is a graduate of the University of Delaware with degrees in Economics and International Relations. He also has an International MBA from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.
Associate Legal Director
Maria Kayanan has a broad range of experience in both state and federal court. She clerked for the late Honorable James R. Jorgenson of the Third District Court of Appeal from 1988 through 2003. From 2003 to 2008 she was in private practice, specializing in appeals and trial support in complex litigation. She also taught Legal Research and Writing for four years at Nova Southeastern University, from 1984 through 1988. Before law school she was a paralegal with a migrant farmworker legal services program in Apopka, Florida. Maria is a member of the Florida Bar, the United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Maria is a graduate of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland and received her J.D. in from the University of Miami School of Law.
Policy and Advocacy Counsel
Julie Ebenstein joined the ACLU of Florida as a Policy and Advocacy Attorney. She is involved in advocacy and litigation surrounding voting rights, felon disfranchisement, police accountability, challenges to the school-to-prison pipeline, and other civil liberties issues. Julie brings a significant amount of international advocacy experience, having worked on refugee protection issues with Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa and the International Rescue Committee in Thailand, as well as having served as an assistant court attorney in the New York State Supreme Court, Civil Branch. Julie obtained her law degree from Fordham University School of Law, where she was a Crowley Scholar, the Tolan International Human Rights Fellow, and a recipient of the summa cum laude Archibald R. Murray Award for public service. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University. Prior to going to law school, Julie worked for 2½ years as a Policy and Advocacy Associate for the New York Civil Liberties Union. She is a member of the New York bar.
Staff Attorney
Shalini Goel Agarwal joined the ACLU of Florida as a Staff Attorney. Her work focuses on civil rights, racial justice and immigrants’ rights issues. Previously, Shalini was a staff attorney at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and served as a litigation fellow at Relman, Dane & Colfax, where she litigated housing and employment cases. She also clerked for Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.Shalini graduated from Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley Law School in 2006, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif, an editor of The California Law Review, and a recipient of the John Stauffer Merit Scholarship. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in English and received her master’s degree in Humanities from the University of Chicago. She is admitted to practice in California and the District of Columbia. Prior to law school, Shalini worked as a high school English teacher.
Manager of Annual and Planned Giving
Kileen Marshall serves as the ACLU of Florida's Manager of Annual and Planned Giving. Previously serving in the Public Policy Department, Kileen is a key component of the ACLU of Florida's development program. Kileen graduated from the University of Miami in May, 2005 with a triple major in International Studies, Communication Studies and Religious Studies, and a minor in French. Kileen has held several positions with the ACLU of Florida, including intern, Development Assistant and Interim Legal Program Associate. In her spare time, Kileen enjoys rock climbing and mountain biking.
Online Advocacy Coordinator
Baylor Johnson joined the ACLU of Florida staff in November 2010 as Online Advocacy Coordinator. He graduated from the College of Communication at the University of Texas in 2008. An alumnus of the Human Rights Campaign's "Campaign College," Baylor was an HRC field staffer on vital Texas legislative races in the 2008 election, and worked again on a state legislative campaign in 2010. He served as a Legislative Aide in the Texas House of Representatives, conducting policy research and directing communications for the office of Representative Paula Pierson. Baylor then worked at the Health Education Learning Project (HELP), an HIV-prevention organization serving the Dallas-Ft. Worth region, where he assisted in establishing a successful fundraiser series and was the co-facilitator of an HIV-prevention program targeting and training leaders in the LGBT community.
Nikki Fisher, Advocacy Coordinator Nikki began her involvement with the ACLU of Florida in 2009 as an intern in the Mid-Regional Florida office in Tampa. She was then hired on as Regional Campaign Coordinator for the People over Politics campaign. She graduated from University of Tampa with a Bachelors Degree in Government and World Affairs. In 2006, she won a National Championship in Parliamentary Debate. Nikki was The Director of State and Federal Affairs for the Associated Student Body at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. She orchestrated a number of lobby trips on behalf of students to the Washington D.C. and the state capital. She advocated for federal funding for financial aid and book exchange programs. Nikki has worked with a variety of organizations including Free the West Memphis Three, Amnesty International, The Bus Project, and the Oregon Student Association. She was also actively engaged on two presidential campaigns in 2004 and 2008.
Manager of Development Services
Monique Lebron has joined the staff of the ACLU of Florida as Development Associate and quickly became an integral part of the Development team. She was promoted to Manager of Development Services in 2007. Monique is a recent graduate of the University of Miami, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication. She held an internship at WPLG-Channel 10 and she was an information and referral coordinator assistant at the Alpha-1 Foundation in Coral Gables for a year and a half during her undergraduate studies. Monique is assisting the Development team in meeting and surpassing fundraising objectives for the ACLU's state and national organizations.
Legal Program Associate
Layssa Zamora, of Mexican and Cuban heritage, has recently joined the ACLU as Legal Program Associate to oversee the process by which the ACLU of Florida reviews and screens requests for assistance on potential civil liberties litigation. A long-standing respect for multi-culturalism, civil liberties, public awareness and environmental protection led her to seek out a position with an organization such as the ACLU. Layssa holds a B.A. in Anthropology/Sociology and a certificate in Latin American studies from Florida International University. She aspires to continue her studies in the future with the ultimate goal of receiving her Masters and PhD in Anthropology.
Legal Staff Assistant
Sabrina Williams joined the ACLU in 2008 as Legal Staff Assistant to provide general office support to the ACLU's expanding Legal Division. She provides clerical and administrative support for attorneys handling active civil liberties cases while assisting with the process of reviewing and screening requests for help on potential litigation. Sabrina has over 20 years of general office and legal assistant experience to her credit. For fourteen of those years she enjoyed employment within various areas of law; 13 years for a criminal lawyer and 1 year in the civil and appellate field. Led by personal convictions on individual freedoms and a desire to be of service against injustice, Sabrina sought employment with the ACLU and views it as a opportunity to combine all her legal experience and be of service in an organization working towards the greater good for many. She is a movie buff, enjoys all areas of the Arts and is an active member of her church in her spare time.
Receptionist & Administrative Assistant
William Marshall, a long-time ACLU volunteer in the Miami office, joined the staff as Receptionist and Administrative Assistant after a 25-year career in the retail flower industry as a designer. Marshall decided to leave the private sector and return to school in pursuit of a degree, achieving a BA in English literature from FIU in 2004. He started as a volunteer at the ACLU in 2005, spurred on by the Bush administrations frontal assault on civil liberties and the ACLU's reputation for protecting those rights.
Northeast Florida Regional Office (Jacksonville and surrounding areas)
Director
Benétta M. Standly, MPA, originally from Los Angeles, California, serves at the Director of the Jacksonville office of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. Ms. Standly works to expand civil liberties initiatives in the Northeast region of Florida, including all phases of management, public policy advocacy, public relations, membership, fundraising and community organizing in the Jacksonville office. She is responsible for directing ACLU activities in the Northeast region including organizing public education programs, public speaking, media appearances, contact with public officials, and managing the office.
She previously served as the Statewide Organizer and Public Policy Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. In that capacity, Ms. Standly's work focused on increasing the ACLU's presence across the state by encouraging members, volunteers, and supporters to participate in civic dialogue, increase their political power, and play an active role in shaping public policy. Specifically, Ms. Standly works toward achieving racial justice for all persons living in Georgia through the following campaigns: abolishing capitol punishment, restoring voting rights to the formerly incarcerated, and dismantling the school to prison pipeline.
Ms. Standly previously worked with L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation's largest public, non-profit Medicaid Managed Care Plan serving approximately 1 million lives, where she served in management capacities in the following departments: community outreach and education, public policy research, legislative analysis, as well as regulatory affairs and compliance. Ms. Standly is most proud of work in organizing eleven (11) regional community advisory committees; comprised of 350 ethnically and linguistically diverse Medicaid beneficiaries and community stakeholders. Through a transfer of skills, these participants became community activists who continue to impact public policy, conduct public education, and serve as a new cadre of local leadership.
Ms. Standly received both her Bachelors of Science in Public Health and Masters in Public Policy & Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Northwest Florida Regional Office (Panhandle)
Director
Susan Watson first came to the ACLU as one of the plaintiffs in the voucher lawsuit. She began volunteering in 2000 as the Panhandle Chapter Chair and a member of the State Board of Directors of the ACLU of Florida. Beginning in June of 2005, Susan joined the staff as a regional director. She is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the ACLU in North West Florida. For eleven years, Susan worked as a registered nurse in hospitals in Florida and Illinois. Most recently she worked as the computer network administrator for the University of West Florida's public radio station.
Staff Attorney
Benjamin James Stevenson is the staff counsel for the ACLU of Florida's Northwest Regional Office, which covers the Panhandle region of the state. Stevenson joined the ACLU after a sabbatical traveling extensively throughout the world. Previously, he worked at the Tallahassee firms of Andrews Moyé, LLC, and Fowler White Boggs Banker, P.A., where he handled all aspects of his clients' litigation needs. Stevenson also directed Florida's False-Claims-Act cases by overseeing attorney's prosecutions and settlements while in Tallahassee. Stevenson graduated as a member of phi beta kappa from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, before pursuing his J.D. at Florida State University's College of Law from where he graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif.
Mid-Florida Regional Office (Greater Tampa and surrounding areas)
Director
Joyce Hamilton Henry was the Director of DemocracyWorks which was a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization in Hartford, Connecticut. Among its focus was to remove barriers that delimited full participation in the democratic process particularly among low income, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and youth and to increase voting and civic participation among these groups.
She was also the Director of the Office of Multicultural Programs at the University of Hartford. In that capacity, she developed and implemented programs to assist with the recruitment and retention of students of color and to address broader issues of diversity and inclusion on the college campus. For twenty years, Joyce was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Hartford. She taught in African American Studies and the Departments of Sociology and Psychology. She is published and is known nationally and internationally for her contributions in the field of social work. In June 2001, she was the recipient of the National Association of Social Workers (Connecticut Chapter) Social Worker of the Year Award.
Hamilton Henry received a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Family Relations from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and a doctorate degree from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
Senior Attorney, Mid-Florida Regional Office
John Dingfelder specializes in Religious Freedom issues statewide. John also concentrates on general civil liberties issues in the 20 county Mid-Florida region.
A Tampa native, John most recently served on the Tampa City Council from 2003 to 2010. During that period of time he also litigated in a boutique firm defending various municipalities in complex civil and appellate matters. Earlier in his career, he served as an assistant public defender in Hillsborough County, an assistant county attorney for Hillsborough County, and as an associate at Carlton Fields in Tampa.
John is a 1988 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law and was a member of UF's law review. He also has a master’s degree from Virginia Tech University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida.
