Executive Committee

Lubabah Abdullah, Esq. brings over 20 years of experience at nonprofits, and is committed to consensus-building, rooted in values of transparent decision-making and communication. As a long-time attorney, Ms. Abdullah worked and led many non-profits around the United States. Much of her work has focused on creating a holistic approach to client’s problems. She firmly believes that in helping a family address not just their legal problems, she is able to provide them the tools necessary to heal themselves, their children, their families, and their communities making us all stronger and more resilient.

Jill Campbell is the Managing Attorney at BakerRipley, where she is responsible for managing the program’s client cases and supervising the program’s DOJ Accredited Representatives. Jill’s immigration work covers naturalization, DACA, humanitarian cases, and family reunification. Jill also supports the Immigration & Citizenship Program’s Naturalization services through the development of materials for and ongoing legal support of NCI’s Immigration Forums and Naturalization Workshops. Jill previously served as a Clinical Supervising Attorney at the University of Houston Law Center Immigration Clinic. Jill graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2010.

Terry Cody is the Legal Director with Catholic Charities of Galveston-Houston, Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance providing legal services for Crime Victims, Family Immigration, Unaccompanied Children, General Immigration – Citizenship, DACA and “Charla” community outreach education and evaluation, and through pro bono attorneys. Terry has practiced immigration law since 1999 and is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law. She currently serves on the SIRE Therapeutic Horsemanship Board and has served as Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers (AILA) Texas Chapter for Texas New Mexico and Oklahoma and Board Member for the U.S. Mexico Bar Association.

Paola A. Copeland is the Managing Attorney for the Immigration Legal Services Program at Memorial Assistance Ministries (MAM). MAM is a non-profit whose mission is to assure that families have the means to meet their basic needs. The immigration program handles many types of immigration relief including citizenship, family-based petition cases, adjustment of status applications and humanitarian-based relief. Paola has been licensed for ten years and prior to working in immigration she worked for the Attorney General’s Office in the child support division and at Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA) helping to get protective orders for survivors of domestic violence.

Jade Flores was born in Monterrey Mexico and raised Houston, Texas. She is a mother of two and a volunteer organizer at LaUnidad11, a group of migrant families supporting each other in immigration matters and more. Jade is also a co-director of West Street Recovery, where she works many migrant families who are still trying to recover from Hurricane Harvey, which made vulnerable people even more vulnerable. Jade’s personal experience with family and community members facing deportation, as well as her work with LaUnidad11 and West Street Recovery are a constant reminder of how isolated her community is. This keeps her motivated to continue to walk alongside her community and to fight against the cruel immigration system and other institutions that divide and oppress communities. Jade is proud, lucky, and happy to be able to work with her community.

Meghna Goswami is a Program Officer at the Houston Endowment, where she oversees the foundation’s work on domestic violence, homelessness and immigration, among other emerging issue areas. Meghna has extensive experience in working with cross-sectoral collaboratives to address complex social problems. Prior to joining the Houston Endowment in 2010, Meghna worked at Daya, an organization addressing gender based violence in the South Asian community in Houston. Her previous experience includes international development work specifically in the areas of social justice and gender equity. Meghna has an undergraduate degree in economics from Delhi University, India and a graduate degree in social work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India; she is a licensed social worker in the state of Texas.

Aimee Maldonado is a Public Interest Attorney and Adjunct Faculty with the Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics at South Texas College of Law Houston where she teaches and supervises students in the Immigration Clinic since 2015. Before returning to work at her Alma Matter, she was the Supervising Attorney of the Unaccompanied Minors Program at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Previously, Ms. Maldonado had her own practice for five years, which focused on removal proceedings, and family-based immigration, as well as family law. Prior to having her own practice, Ms. Maldonado worked in immigration firms in Houston and Dallas. Ms. Maldonado is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the local community where she presents at Continuing Legal Education courses and community outreach events. Ms. Maldonado also serves as faculty for Advocacy in Immigration Matters trainings presented by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy as well as serves on the Advisory Board of the Children’s Immigration Law Academy.

Pamela Nickell is a Staff Attorney in the Young Center’s Houston office. Pam has worked in the Houston office since 2016. Since then, she has served directly as Child Advocate and supervised volunteer Child Advocates on more than 70 cases. Pam has assisted child survivors of human trafficking, children with complex medical needs, youth who are pregnant or parenting, children who are at risk of aging out into adult detention, and other particularly vulnerable children. Outside of her work with the Young Center, Pam has volunteered as a mentor through the Texas Law Mentoring Program. Pam received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law. She graduated summa cum laude from Southern Methodist University with her B.A. in Spanish and International Studies.

Laura is the Organizing Director for Workers Defense Project (WDP). WDP is a statewide membership-based organization that empowers low-income workers to achieve fair employment through education, direct services, organizing and strategic partnerships. Laura is deeply committed to movement-building and brings 14 years experience building people power, economic power and political power with immigrants and communities of color in Houston. Prior to WDP, Laura led a successful economic justice campaign at the Texas Organizing Project targeting corporate tax breaks, and served as the Executive Director of Fe y Justicia Worker Center where she built a strong membership base and coalition which won the City of Houston’s Wage Theft Ordinance. Laura is originally from the Philadelphia area and received her B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from Davidson College in North Carolina.