Our Team

Beeta is the Chief of Staff at Peace First, a global non-profit that provides grants to young changemakers around the world. Prior to joining Peace First, she was a Founding Team Member at Ashoka U, a consortium of 500+ colleges and universities working to embed social innovation into higher education.

Julie is a graduate of the South Texas College of Law (STCL) and a longtime leader in the legal community. She has served as the Deputy Executive Director for Membership Services with the Houston Bar Association and as Director for Foundation and Corporate Engagement at STCL. Her background includes extensive work on immigration matter.

Lukas is an undergraduate student at The University of Texas at Austin. While a Legal Eagle at Akins High School, Lukas joined the Board as a voice for students and aspiring attorneys. In addition to his talents in courtroom competitions, Lukas is also an incredibly talented musician and an outstanding student. 

Meg is the Assistant Director of Academic Success. She supports the academic transition to law school, offers individual counseling to students who need academic support, and helps students navigate the law school experience through passing the bar. Prior to law school, Meg was a teacher in The Bronx, New York.

Francesca is senior counsel with Barron & Newburger. She has litigated constitutional, insurance, consumer, and tort cases. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas teaching consumer law and trial advocacy. In her spare time, she coaches mock trial teams and mentors young attorneys.

As a former criminal defense trial attorney and expert on DEI, Mindy is passionate about fostering equity and inclusion through her work and has seen how people thrive when barriers are removed. Mindy was raised to seek racial justice and solidarity in our country and has made it her life’s work to do her part to help realize true equity, justice, and access for all.

Alan is the Assistant Service Professor in Law, Director of Pipeline Initiatives, and Associate Director of Pre-Law at St. Mary's College of Law in San Antonio. He works with high school, community college, and college students to increase the number of diverse students interested in pursuing legal professions.

Peter is the Litigation Coordinator for Disability Rights Texas (DRTX). Before joining DRTX, Peter was a senior staff attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project where he litigated a variety of civil rights cases. In 2015, Peter received the James B. Sales Boots on the Ground award from the Texas Access to Justice Commission for his work helping low-income Texans.

Maryann is a lawyer with Dell Inc., where she also administers the pro bono health law project alongside Disability Rights Texas. She has also worked with the Southern Disability Law Center, Advocacy, Inc., Texas Legal Services Center, and the Texas Civil Rights Project. Her civil rights practice focuses on legal services to children with disabilities and chronic health conditions in the areas of health and education.

Nico earned a bachelor's of economics from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master's of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. He offers expertise in finance, strategic planning, and organizational strategy.  He is dedicated to supporting the growth of YJA to serve larger numbers of aspiring lawyers.

Carlos graduated from UT Austin with degrees in education and law.  After five years of prosecution, he transitioned to representing low-income criminal defendants. He has handled high-profile death penalty cases and frequently presents on subjects including jury selection and false confessions. He is now the law teacher at Akins High School. 

Ellen is the Director of the Center for Children, Law & Policy at the University of Houston. She teaches Juvenile Law, Children and the Law, Professional Responsibility, and  started the Street Law Program to train law students to teach the law to high school students. The program now extends to youth in the Harris County detention center and will soon extend to all county juvenile probation programs.

Randy holds magistrate and judicial duties with Austin Municipal Court. Before joining the Municipal Court, Randy served as an Assistant District Attorney while gaining valuable experience in Juvenile Justice and CPS advocacy. Randy believes that the best type of intervention is prevention and wants to work to improve the lives of the homeless, mentally ill, and chemically dependent.