Staff

Jean Berman, Esq., Senior Executive Advisor
Jean Berman, ISLP Executive Director from September 2001-March 2012, remains on staff as Senior Executive Advisor. Prior to joining ISLP, Jean was a Senior Staff Attorney at Lawyers Alliance for New York, where for nearly 18 years she represented nonprofit organizations serving low-income communities, specializing in issues related to nonprofit organizations and the development of affordable housing. Earlier in her legal career, Jean was associated with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Berle, Butzel, Kass & Case, a New York law firm specializing in environmental law. A graduate of Harvard University and the New York University School of Law, Jean spent the year 1970-71 in Yugoslavia (Belgrade and Novi Sad) on a Fulbright Scholarship, and spent a year in Switzerland and a year in Russia as a child and teenager.
Email: JBerman(at)islp(dot)org

Katerina Drisi, Esq., Economic Development Program Officer
Katerina joined ISLP in December 2010 to support its Economic Development Program.  After obtaining her LLB from the National University of Athens, Faculty of Law, she studied Comparative Public Law at the Sorbonne - Paris I (D.E.A. Droit Public Comparé des États Européens) and International Business and Trade Law (LL.M) at Fordham University, New York.  Katerina has been a stagiaire with the Public Procurement Unit, D.G. Internal Market and Services of the European Commission.  Following her internship, she worked as an attorney in privatization contracts, government contracts and concessions of large infrastructure projects in Greece and Eastern Europe.  Prior to joining ISLP, Katerina also gained experience in international commercial contracts as an extern at the General Legal Division of the United Nations.
Email: KDrisi(at)islp(dot)org

Heather Eisenlord, Esq., Human Rights Program Director
Heather joined ISLP in May 2011 to lead ISLP's human rights program unit.  Her background includes seven years of practice at leading U.S. law firms as well as providing legal support onsite to both an anti-human trafficking NGO in Cambodia and a community-based organization in Uganda that provides quality schooling and other support to children and young people in the Kabale District. Heather received her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and earned a B.A. in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University. She also participated in a program on post-Soviet legal transition at Moscow State University.
Email: HEisenlord(at)islp(dot)org

Julia Gregoire, Esq., Human Rights Program Associate
Julia joined ISLP in January 2013.  Born in France and raised in the United States, she is fluent in French, Spanish and Italian.  After earning her B.A. from Brown University in Public Policy and Political Theory, Julia taught high school in Paris and in Providence, RI.  She received a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and spent a semester studying European Union and international law in Spanish at the law school of Universidad Pontificia Comillas-Madrid.  Also while at B.U., Julia represented the Internet Bar Organization's Peace Tones Initiative which promotes human rights and the alleviation of poverty worldwide.  Julia helped to advance this mission in Haiti, where she led workshops on copyright and contracts law to local musicians seeking to sell their music in the global marketplace.
Email: JGregoire(at)islp(dot)org

Garth Meintjes, Esq., Executive Director
Garth came to ISLP in March 2011 from the International Legal Foundation, an organization that develops legal aid programs in post-conflict countries, where he had served as chief operating officer and oversaw the expansion of their programs in Afghanistan and Nepal. Garth was born and raised in South Africa and received his B.A. from the University of Stellenbosch and an LL.B. from the University of Cape Town. As a conscientious objector to compulsory service in the South African Defence Force, he was effectively barred from entering professional legal practice. While teaching constitutional law and criminal law at the University of the Western Cape, he received a scholarship to study international human rights at the Notre Dame Law School. He ended up spending 14 years at Notre Dame, where, as Associate Director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, he built the Center into an internationally recognized  human rights institution that brings lawyers from around the world to learn about international human rights and helps them secure jobs or internships in the field after completing the program. At Notre Dame, Garth also wrote and taught in the areas of international law and human rights, particularly on accountability for gross violations of human rights and human rights practice, and received both LL.M and  doctorate degrees. Returning to New York, Garth joined the JEHT Foundation to develop and manage its International Justice Program.
Email: GMeintjes(at)islp(dot)org

Andra Moss, Director, Communications and Volunteer Development
Andra has been with ISLP since June 2007 and is responsible for volunteer outreach to senior lawyers and law firms, for pairing volunteers with international pro bono opportunities, and for disseminating information about the work of ISLP and its clients, partners and volunteers. She came to ISLP from the Institute of Management Administration, where she directed programming related to best practices in law firm management. During a three month sabbatical in 2006, she led a course on volunteerism for the Japanese government-sponsored Ship for World Youth in Kenya and India. She has also headed the volunteer efforts for the Uptown Habitat for Humanity and The Hague Appeal for Peace world peace conference of 1999. Andra has a B.A. in International Studies from Miami University and an MS in Human Service Administration and Nonprofit Management.
Email: AMoss(at)islp(dot)org

Lindsay Novis, Administrative Assistant
Born and raised in Missoula, Montana, Lindsay Novis made her way to Fordham University in New York City, where she received a B.A. in Middle East Studies, minoring in French and Arabic.  In Spring 2009, Lindsay studied abroad in Tunis, Tunisia and spent 2011 interning with the Clinton Global Initiative.
Email: LNovis(at)islp(dot)org

Rita Rodriguez, Esq., Clifford Chance Seconded Associate
Rita was born in the Dominican Republic and later moved to Providence, Rhode Island. She is a 2nd year associate at Clifford Chance in their transactional practice. Prior to joining Clifford Chance, Rita volunteered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Beirut, Lebanon for one year. She obtained a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law. Rita also has a Masters in Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. She is fluent in Spanish and speaks basic Arabic.
Email: RRodriguez(at)islp(dot)org

Anna Shakarova, Economic Development Program Director
Anna Shakarova joined ISLP in December 2007. She previously served as a Senior Program Officer at the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC), where she was responsible for a diverse portfolio of technical assistance projects centered on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending for financial services institutions in transition and emerging market countries. During her nine years at FSVC, she held a number of positions managing FSVC’s technical assistance programs with a focus on improving banking systems, capital markets, and legal and regulatory frameworks in Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), Middle East, and Asia. Anna earned her M.A. from the Samarkand State University and a B.A. from the Marymount Manhattan College.
Email: AShakarova(at)islp(dot)org

Lisa Sweat, Esq., Burma Program Officer
Lisa joined ISLP as a legal fellow in the human rights program in November 2012 following her graduation from New York University School of Law.  She now serves as the Burma Program Officer. Prior to joining ISLP, Lisa served as a legal intern with the Burma Lawyers' Council in Mae Sot, Thailand and in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Her experience also includes research assistance for The Center for Law and Security, for a law firm representing victims' rights at the International Criminal Court and for NGOs working in the areas of international economic development, security and human rights.  Lisa earned her B.A. in International Affairs from Emory University.
Email: LSweat(at)islp(dot)org

Carol Thomas
Financial Manager

Fouzia Javaid, Esq., Director, ISLP-UK
Fouzia Javaid is a UK-qualified solicitor who has worked in London law firms, including for three years at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Later at Public Interest Lawyers, she was the lead solicitor on a number of high profile cases relating to the mistreatment of Iraqi civilians by UK armed forces in Iraq.  Working pro bono with Reprieve in Islamabad last year, Fouzia assisted its London and Pakistani offices with litigation in Pakistan on behalf of Pakistani civilians detained in Afghanistan. She additionally provided pro bono assistance to the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa on Truth and Reconciliation related issues.  Fouzia has an LL.M in International Legal Studies from New York University, specializing in International Human Rights, and an LL.M in Comparative European and International Law from the European University Institute in Florence.
Email: FJavaid(at)islp(dot)org

Michele O'Brien, Esq., Director, ISLP-Europe
Michele came to ISLP in 2008 from the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris. She previously practiced in the litigation departments at leading law firms in Boston. During her time in private practice, she served pro bono clients in cases before state and federal courts and was a teacher in for the Boston Citizen Schools Mock Trial Program. Before obtaining her law degree, she worked in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General and as a student assistant district attorney at the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office. Michele received a J.D. from Boston College Law School, an M.Phil. from Trinity College, Dublin, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Wellesley College. She was a non-degree student in International Law at the University of Paris I (Panthéon Sorbonne).
Email: MObrien(at)islp(dot)org

Tina Shaw, Personal Assistant, ISLP-UK
Email: TShaw(at)islp(dot)org