Staff Bios
(Simply click on any name below to send an e-mail to that Hogar team member.)
Ben Brokaw
Manager, Education Services
Ben Brokaw began the 2012 year by joining the Hogar team. Previously, he served with Americorps for two years. His first year was spent on the Eastern Shore of Maryland teaching pesticide safety to the farmworker community with Telamon Corporation. Then in 2011, Ben served locally with CASA de Maryland promoting citizenship and teaching citizenship classes. Ben graduated from Wheaton College in 2007 with a BA in history, and became interested in working with immigrants after traveling abroad in Latin America and doing volunteer work as an ESL teacher in the D.C. area. In his spare time Ben enjoys reading, running, traveling, playing board games, and bowling.
Brooke Hammond Pérez
Program Director, Education Services
Brooke received her MA in International Development, with a concentration in NGO Management and Civil Society, from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009. She focused much of her graduate education on development efforts to immigrant groups and conducted research on the feminization of Ecuadorian migration to Spain. Brooke also received a BA in Spanish and a BA in International Affairs from James Madison University in 2005. She has extensive education experience working for the Education Department of Madrid, as well as teaching ESOL to elementary and high school students at both public and private schools in Spain. Brooke also has volunteered to teach ESOL at various non-profit organizations in the United States and Spain. Born and raised in Charlottesville, VA, Brooke now lives with her husband, Iker, in Arlington. Brooke enjoys traveling, watching movies, and salsa dancing in her free time.
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Carla Perantoni Walsh
Manager, Education Services
Carla has lived in the Washington DC area since her student days at Georgetown University, where she earned her BA in Government. After working in the Carter administration and graduating from Catholic University Law School, she practiced law for a number of years before turning to nonprofit program work, in which she has been engaged since 2005. At Hogar she is enjoying working with immigrant communities for the first time, and is even picking up a little Spanish! Carla has two grown sons and finds time to play the piano, study Italian and indulge her passion for opera.
Christie Turner-Herbas
Staff Attorney, Legal Services
Christie joined Hogar after completing a fellowship at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington where she researched and co-authored a report on barriers to high school graduation faced by Latina women. Christie attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin where she participated in the school’s immigration law clinic. Her immigration experience also includes internships at the Spanish Catholic Center in DC, the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), and the Political Asylum Project in Austin. Christie was born and raised in New Hampshire and now lives with her husband, Mauricio, in Washington. She enjoys cooking and spending time with Harry, her Welsh Corgi.
Cindy Brown
BIA Accredited Representative, Legal Services
Cindy began working with Hogar’s Education Services department in December 2006 and transitioned in 2008 to the Legal Services team as a paralegal. Having studied Latin America and the Spanish language at the College of William and Mary, Cindy has dedicated herself to the advancement of immigrants in the US through past positions in social work and teaching English to speakers of other languages. Cindy’s strong Loudoun County roots have not stopped her from traveling the world. Highlights of her travels include teaching stints in Nicaragua and the Czech Republic.
Denise Hunter
Staff Attorney, Legal Services
Denise began at Hogar as a Legal Intern in the summer of 2010 and returned as an attorney in January 2012. Denise graduated from The George Washington University Law School in 2011, where she participated in the International Human Rights Clinic and the International Human Rights Law summer program at Oxford University. She interned at the World Organization for Human Rights USA and Amnesty International in Warsaw, Poland. She has volunteered for Capitol Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, Kids in Need of Defense, International Models Project on Women’s Rights, and Human Rights First. She received her B.A. from Wesley College and studied abroad in Spain. In her spare time she enjoys dancing flamenco and salsa, yoga, and baking
Education Services Coordinator
Diego recently joined Hogar Immigrant Services following graduation from law school and 13 years of service as a Chicago Public School teacher. At Loyola University School of Law in Chicago, Diego was a student clinician in the Loyola Business Law Clinic and the Loyola Community Law Clinic where he served as a guardian ad litem. Diego also volunteered with the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Salem, Massachusetts, the Chicago Legal Clinic’s Chancery Advice Desk, New Hampshire Catholic Charities Office of Immigration and Refugee Services, and Legal Services of Northern Virginia.
Enrique Vargas
BIA Accredited Representative, Legal Services
Enrique was born in Bolivia and came to live in the United States three decades ago. Motivated by his love of helping the diverse population of immigrants in northern Virginia, Enrique has worked in the immigration legal field for more than twenty years. In his spare time, Enrique enjoys reading, soccer, swimming, biking, basketball, and tennis. In addition to his full-time job as a paralegal at Hogar, Enrique occasionally "moonlights" as a deejay.
Ingrid Rosales Zavala
Legal Assistant, Legal Services
Ingrid was born in Lima, Peru, but moved to the United States with her family in 2001. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2010 with a bachelor on Foreign Affairs with a specialization in Latin America and Philosophy. After college, she did an internship with Immigrants First in Manassas, Virginia. She has a commitment to the immigrant community since everyone in her family, including her, went through the same process with USCIS. Ingrid likes to dance Latin music, especially traditional Peruvian music.
Jackie Chavez
Administrative Assistant
Jackie was born in Arlington, VA but was raised in Denver, CO and lived there until she moved back to Virginia in 2011. She has several years of experience working and volunteering with the public at hospitals, churches, and schools. She is currently going to school and working towards a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Jackie is the oldest of four kids and comes from a large Salvadorian family. She enjoys reading, traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family.
Jennifer Griffith
Database Manager, Education Services
Jen grew up in Berryville, VA. She graduated from James Madison University in 2009 with a BA in Business Administration and a minor in Nonprofit Studies. She has experience working in several nonprofits such as Boys and Girls Club and Prison Fellowship. Prior to working at Hogar, Jen served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Costa Rica. During her service she learned Spanish and met her Fiance. Jen's pastimes include: reading, traveling, running, community service, and baking.
Krupskaya Elliott
Citizenship Education Manager
Krupskaya is originally from Nicaragua, where she studied Business Administration at the Universidad Centroamericana. She later worked for The National Democratic Institute (NDI), an organization that provides developmental support to civic organizations working with different political parties and embassies in Nicaragua. After NDI, Krupskaya moved to the US with her new husband; and, in 2006, they started graduate school in Ohio. In 2008, Krupskaya did a study abroad in Cuenca, Ecuador where she obtained a certificate in Teaching English as a Second and Foreign Language from the Center for Interamerican Studies. After finishing grad school in 2009, Krupskaya began working as an interpreter for Health Partners of Western Ohio in the New Carlisle branch— a satellite clinic mainly providing services for Latin American farm workers. In her spare time, Krupskaya likes reading books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and watching “Harry Potter” movies. She also loves dancing. She and her husband, Michael, are the proud parents of a newborn son.
Lisa Ehm Waller
Manager, Education Services
Lisa joined Hogar after volunteering here as an ESL teacher for three semesters. Previously, Lisa worked primarily in the behavioral health field as a case manager for people with severe mental disorders and as a lead teacher for adults with IDD and Autism. She also worked as office manager and house manager for the Gerald W. Lynch Theater in NYC. In 2003, Lisa received her MA in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. She also has an AA in Anthropology. Lisa grew up in Sweden and Austria and came to the US for the first time in 1995. She now lives in Woodbridge with her husband, Matt, her daughter, Niobe and her two cats, Alice and Webster. In her free time, Lisa enjoys reading, writing, and arts and crafts.
Lorraine LaVia
Office Manager
Lorraine joined Hogar in October 2010 after working 14 years at the Congressional Research Service in the Library of Congress. Originally from Pennsylvania, she came to the DC area to attend the University of Maryland where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, including one year of study in Spain, and a Masters in Administration. In her free time, Lorraine is an artist and member of the Pastel Society of Virginia. She also enjoys reading, needlework, and biking.
Mary Brittingham
Program Director, Legal Services
Mary Brittingham joined the Hogar Staff in November 2011 as the Program Director for Hogar's legal services program. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of DC Law Students In Court Program. Prior to that, she was a former associate professor of clinical law at GWU Law School and a visiting associate professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Originally from Puerto Rico, Mary moved to Washington, DC to attend law school and has never left. She began her legal career at AYUDA where she became the managing attorney. A volunteer ESL teacher, Mary is very happy to be back in the immigration legal community again. Mary lives in Washington, DC with her husband and has two grown children, both of whom live in DC.
Mike Elliott
Immigration Paralegal
Originally from Wyoming, Mike actually moved from Ohio in order to join the Hogar team. While in Ohio, Mike spent two years working with the Migrant Farmworker and Immigration Program of the Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, where he served as a paralegal and outreach coordinator to primarily Spanish-speaking migrant farmworkers. Prior to his work there, Mike completed a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies at Ohio University and an internship with a non-governmental development organization in Cuenca, Ecuador. Mike's desire to work with the Spanish-speaking community grew out of his time as an Environmental Education volunteer with the Peace Corps in rural Nicaragua. It was during his Peace Corps service that Mike met the love of his life-- fellow "Hogarian", Krupskaya Elliott. The couple live with Krupskaya’s family in Woodbridge and are proud parents of a son born in February 2011.
Nancy Carbajal
Receptionist
Nancy was born in Peru and has lived in the United States since 1982. She has been Hogar's receptionist since 1991, making her the longest-serving member of the Hogar team. Nancy loves working at Hogar because she gets the opportunity to help people every day. Nancy currently lives in Arlington with her husband and three of her four daughters. She is also a grandmother of two. Nancy loves dancing salsa and merengue and visiting the beach.
Richard Eldridge
Citizenship Volunteer Manager
Richard grew up in Falls Church until he left for college and then returned to the area in 1993. After college he was commissed as an officer in the US Navy and travelled extensively worldwide. He lived in Central and South America for almost eight years where he honed his Spanish language skills. He travelled throughout all of Latin America, in addition to much of the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and western Africa. He currently works as an engineer for an international telecommunications provider. Richard has a deep passion to help the immigrant community. Most recently he ran a program for ex-offenders in Arlington (including many immigrants) helping them obtain employment and learn other life skills. He holds a BA from Duke University and an MA from George Washington University. In his spare time he likes to cook, collect stamps and he volunteers as a job coach with an employment program in Falls Church. He lives in Falls Church with his family.
Shanna Wood
Manager, Education Services
Shanna graduated from the University of Georgia in 2006 with a BA in Spanish and a BA in Political Science. She then moved to Madrid, Spain for two years to work for the Education Department of Madrid at a primary school teaching first, second, and third graders, as well as Beginner’s English classes to some of the teachers and parents at the school. She returned to Atlanta to do a Master of Divinity, concentration Social Ethics at Mercer University, which she finished in 2011. Shanna has worked with the immigrant community in various capacities both in Fredericksburg, VA and in the greater Atlanta area. She is originally from Atlanta, GA and now lives in Arlington, VA. Shanna enjoys cooking, reading, spending time with friends and family, and traveling.
Sister Karen Lynn Trespacz, OSB
Staff Attorney, Legal Services
What does “OSB” stand for? “Order of Saint Benedict.” Sister Karen Lynn is a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia, a monastery located in Bristow www.osbva.org . The community was distressed when the issue of illegal immigration was raised as a “cause” of the car accident in August, 2010 that took the life of Sister Denise Mosier. The Benedictine Sisters have served immigrants through their ministries for years. So when it was time for Sister Karen Lynn to look for a job (each religious community has to support itself, often through the paid work of its members) it seemed natural for her to use her law degree to serve immigrants needing legal services. Since Hogar Immigrant Services, an agency of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, is well known for providing top quality legal services, it also seemed natural for her to seek a position here. After serving in an internship position for several months, Sister Karen Lynn has been assigned to a Western Expansion Office of Hogar, working Tuesdays and Thursdays from an office in Manassas provided by All Saints Catholic Church.