Randi Mandelbaum, Esq. - Chair of the Board of Trustees
Distinguished Clinical Professor of Law, Annamay Sheppard Scholar, and Director of the Child Advocacy Clinic, Rutgers Law School. Professor Mandelbaum earned a B.S. from Brandeis University, a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law, and an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center. She has devoted her career to working with children and families and has extensive experience in clinical legal education.
Professor Mandelbaum began her legal career as a staff attorney at the Child Advocacy Unit of the Legal Aid Bureau in Baltimore. She then went to the Georgetown University Law Center where, with another professor, she created a clinical program addressing the legal needs of families living in poverty. Prior to coming to Rutgers, she was an associate clinical professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she taught in the Civil Justice Clinic, Hastings’ clinical program.
As founding director of the Rutgers Child Advocacy Clinic (CAC) in 2000, Professor Mandelbaum designed and developed a unique clinical program, aimed at comprehensively addressing the needs of low-income children and their families. The CAC provides representation to abused and neglected children, undocumented immigrant children, and low-income children with disabilities. Professor Mandelbaum created the Aging Out Project, a statewide community education effort that informs older youth transitioning out of foster care about their rights and entitlements. In the area of immigration, she co-leads a project that provides representation to children in New Jersey’s foster care system who are in need of an immigration attorney. Professor Mandelbaum’s scholarship focuses on the legal representation of children, the rights of siblings to maintain their relationships, child welfare law and policy, and issues at the intersection of family and immigration law.
Catherine Weiss, Esq. — Secretary of the Board of Trustees
A lifelong public interest lawyer, Catherine Weiss is committed to maximizing the impact of Lowenstein Sandler’s pro bono work. As Of Counsel and former Chair of the Lowenstein Center for Public Interest, she brings strategic focus to the firm’s pro bono efforts and deepens its partnerships with leading nonprofit and community organizations across the country and within the firm’s local communities.
Before joining the firm, Catherine served as Director of the Division of Public Interest Advocacy in the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate, Deputy Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and Director of the Reproductive Freedom Project in the national office of the ACLU.
During Catherine’s twelve-year tenure as Chair of the center, she built on the firm’s historic commitment to public service by creating an award-winning program that serves hundreds of low-income individuals and the nonprofit organizations that support them.
Catherine also maintained her own pro bono docket throughout her tenure, focused on litigation and policy initiatives to advance the rights of the populations the center serves. As Of Counsel, she continues to represent pro bono clients in a range of matters and to work with coalitions she helped create that focus on both individual representation and systemic change in our broken immigration and housing systems.
Saul Martinez — Treasurer of the Board of Trustees
Saul Martinez has spent more than 20 years building and leading research teams at Wall Street institutions. Saul currently serves as Head of US Financials, Equity Research, at HSBC. Previously, Saul was Head of US Large Capitalization Banks, Equity Research, at UBS and he has also led the Latin American Financial Institutions equity research team at JPMorgan. In these roles, Saul has analyzed and engaged with many of the largest banks and financial institutions in the US, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. In addition, Saul has been involved in efforts to recruit, retain and advocate for employees from underrepresented groups at his employers. Saul is currently a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC), an advisory body to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).
Saul graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton University).
Vanessa Lucas, Esq.
Vanessa Lucas is an immigration attorney and advocate for migrant children. She was most recently the Managing Attorney of the Newark office of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) having previously worked with KIND as a Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney in the New York office since 2014. She is a former Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law. Vanessa originated and supervised the Bluhm Legal Clinic’s and Children and Family Justice Center’s Immigration practice focusing on legal representation for women, children and adolescents seeking refuge in the U.S. Prior to her tenure at Northwestern, she worked as a Staff Attorney at the Association of the Bar of the City of NY, coordinating pro bono services for the Cancer Advocacy and Elder Law Programs. She began her legal career as a Litigation Associate at Proskauer in New York. Vanessa also served as Vice President of the Advisory Board of Directors of the Young Center for Immigrant and Refugee Children. She received her B.A. from Yale University and her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. She is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Douglas Bishop, MD
Doug Bishop is a Family Physician and Senior Vice President of Medical Services of Zufall Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in North and Central New Jersey. In his more than a decade at Zufall he has cared for large numbers of immigrant and underserved patients throughout the state. Doug has lectured and published widely on issues of refugee and immigrant health, particularly involving child migration from Central America. He received a BA from Amherst College and MD from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical school before completing training in Family Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He is a Clinical Instructor of Family Medicine at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and works as a residency preceptor for Family Medicine residencies.
Sergio Crespo Flores
Sergio is a dedicated advocate for immigrant youth in New Jersey and is excited to contribute to the NJCIC's vital efforts. Originally from Acatlán de Osorio, Puebla, México, he immigrated to West New York, NJ, at the age of seven. Growing up as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, Sergio gained a unique perspective on how best to support immigrant youth in the state. He earned his degree in chemistry from New Jersey City University and is now a PhD candidate in the Cell & Developmental Biology program at Rutgers University. Outside of lab, Sergio enjoys caring for his houseplants, traveling, dancing, and cooking Mexican dishes like birria.
Jason Scott Camilo, Esq.
Jason Scott Camilo is a first generation Cuban American immigration attorney. He always held a deep appreciation for American democracy and empathy for the difficulties immigrants face. He attended The Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Administration of Justice. Jason obtained his Juris Doctorate from Temple University's Beasley School of Law. During his time in law school, Jason interned with the United States Immigration Court and participated in the Immigration Law Clinic through the Nationalities Services Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to immigrants' rights.
Since joining the bar and entering private practice in 2004, Jason has represented thousands of clients from dozens of countries. He has advocated for clients in well over thirty states, and is fluent in English and Spanish. He appears before the United States Department of Justice, United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Department of Labor, the Superior and Municipal Courts of New Jersey, and other related entities. Jason is admitted to practice before the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Supreme Courts, as well as various Federal courts.
An integral part of Jason's practice is pro bono work. He passionately believes every immigrant deserves an attorney to help them traverse the intricacies of the legal system. He is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and was on the New Jersey Chapter Executive Committee from 2019-2024. He works with a host of non-profit organizations that support and represent immigrants, and received several awards for pro bono representation. Jason serves on several boards, including Latin American Legal Defense Fund, Immigration Action Alliance, and New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children.
In his free time, Jason enjoys traveling, walking, gardening, and spending time with his family.