Staff

NSCLC has staff in three offices in Washington, DC, Oakland, CA and Los Angeles, CA.

To reach any staff member, please call one of our three offices or use the contact us form.

ATTORNEYS

Kevin Prindiville, Executive Director

Kevin PrindivilleKevin Prindiville, became NSCLC’s Executive Director in July 2013. He is a nationally recognized expert on Medicare and Medicaid policy and has served as counsel in several class action lawsuits protecting low-income senior’s access to public benefits.

Kevin has a long history of developing partnerships and directing strategic advocacy efforts. The author of numerous articles, reports and briefs, he frequently testifies before legislators, presents at national conferences and works closely with both federal and state regulatory agencies. He also is quoted often in national and California media.

Prior to joining NSCLC, Prindiville worked as a staff attorney at the Pennsylvania Health Law Project in Philadelphia where he represented low-income individuals having trouble obtaining health care. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the University of California, San Diego. Prindiville is admitted to the California Bar.

Reception (2)

NSCLC Staff 2013

Georgia Burke, Directing Attorney

Georgia BurkeGeorgia Burke directs NSCLC’s Oakland Office where she focuses her advocacy on issues affecting people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid benefits. With Kevin Prindiville, she recently co-authored a series of four issue briefs setting out a consumer agenda for changes in the Medicare and Medicaid programs for dual eligibles. She is part of NSCLC’s leadership team spearheading stakeholder engagement at the national and state level around the Medicare Medicaid Coordination Office’s launch of demonstration projects in over 30 states. Her administrative and legislative advocacy have also brought significant changes in Medicare Part D protections for low income consumers as well as in access to health care programs for people with limited proficiency in English. Georgia is a member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Association of California. She joined NSCLC in 2005 after almost 20 years in private practice in Washington, D.C. and Oakland, California, devoted to administrative and legislative advocacy. Georgia is a magna cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and received her undergraduate degree from Manhattanville College.

Eric Carlson, Directing Attorney

Eric CarlsonEric Carlson has broad experience in many forms of long-term services and supports (LTSS), including home and community-based services, nursing facility care, and assisted living facilities.  He led NSCLC’s extensive research (funded through The Commonwealth Fund) on Medicaid-funded assisted living and currently is leading a project to assist consumer advocacy on Medicaid managed LTSS in Florida and New Jersey.  He counsels attorneys from across the country and co-counsels litigation on consumers’ behalf.  Mr. Carlson serves as President of the national Assisted Living Consumer Alliance and is author of the legal treatise Long-Term Care Advocacy (Matthew Bender and Co.).

Julie Carter, Irmas Fellow

Julie Carter corrected_headshotJulie Carter joined NSCLC in October, 2014 and is based in Los Angeles. She is the 2014 Irmas Fellowship recipient and will be working on person-centered care in Medicaid in order to ensure that vulnerable seniors are able to maintain their dignity and independence within managed care. Before law school, Julie received her B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and became vice-president of a manufacturing company. She developed a passion for the intersection of law and health care while dealing with health needs of a close relative with a disability and a terminal diagnosis. She earned her J.D. from the University of Southern California. During law school, Julie was a legal intern at Neighborhood Legal Services, a small claims court mediator in the LA court system, and worked on SSI disability appeals with St. John’s Well Child and Family Center’s Medical-Legal Partnership.

Denny Chan, Staff Attorney

Denny ChanDenny Chan joined NSCLC’s Health Care team in February 2014 and is based in Los Angeles, CA. He previously served as a rotating law clerk for the US District Court in Los Angeles, a post-graduate fellow for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Voting Rights Project, an intern at the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, a summer law clerk at the American Civil Liberties Union, and a summer associate at Cohen Milstein Sellers and Toll. He also participated in the Fulbright English Teaching Program as a fellow in Macau, China. Denny is a member of the California bar and is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine School of Law. He received his BA from the University of Michigan.

Amber Cutler, Staff Attorney

Amber Cutler joined NSCLC’s Health Care team in February 2013 and is based in Los Angeles, CA.  Amber formerly worked for Legal Aid of Western Missouri as Director of the Medical Legal Partnership at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.  Prior to taking that position, she worked as a staff attorney for Legal Aid focusing primarily on representing clients with Social Security appeals.  She also previously worked as a legal intern for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri assisting with Medicaid appeals and as a social worker in a long-term care facility.  Amber is admitted to the California, Missouri, and Illinois bars and is a 2006 graduate of Washington University School of Law.  She received her BA from Earlham College.

Fay Gordon, Staff Attorney

National Senior Citizens Law Center PortraitsFay Gordon joined NSCLC’s Health Care team in May 2012 and is based in Washington, DC. She was formerly senior public policy associate at Limited to Lindberg, LLC where she worked on aging issues on behalf of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and acted as co-chair of the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations’s Community Services Committee. Fay was previously a law clerk with Frank, Frank & Scherr, LLC in Lutherville, MD. While there, she edited and revised Elder Law in Maryland and Maryland Medicaid. She also served as a health law intern for the U.S. Senate Committee of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and a judicial intern for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fay is a member of the Maryland bar and is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law. She received her BA from the University of California Los Angeles.

Kate Lang, Staff Attorney

National Senior Citizens Law Center PortraitsKate Lang joined NSCLC’s Income Team in December 2012 as a staff attorney in the Washington, DC office and will be working on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income-related issues. She was formerly staff attorney at the Legal Aid Bureau in Riverdale, MD where she was an advocate for low-income older adults and persons with disabilities. In her previous positions, Kate worked as an attorney at the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and Bread for the City Legal Clinic in Washington, DC as well as at Doherty, Cella, Keane and Associates, LLP. She has also served as a staff attorney for Legal Services of Northern California. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and also has a master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages from the University of Pennsylvania.

Gerald McIntyre, Directing Attorney

Jerry McIntyreGerald McIntyre has more than 30 years of experience in legal services advocacy. He has worked as a staff attorney at Bronx Legal Services; as Executive Director of Southern Tier Legal Services in Bath, NY; and as a lecturer and staff attorney at Cornell Law School. He joined the staff of NSCLC in 1993, and has since provided support and co-counseling to countless legal services and other elder law attorneys on Social Security and SSI issues. Prior to his law career, Jerry was a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Jerry graduated from Harpur College, State University of New York at Binghamton, and received his law degree from Yale Law School.

Paul Nathanson, Special Counsel

Paul Nathanson, Executive DirectorPaul Nathanson, NSCLC’s former Executive Director, currently serves as special counsel, working on special projects such as the organization’s efforts to restore and improve the Supplemental Security Income program. Paul was the organization’s founding Executive Director from 1972-1980, and returned to lead NSCLC in 2008-13. In between, he was the director of the University of New Mexico (UNM) Institute of Public Law, and a member of the UNM law school faculty where he is now an emeritus professor. Paul has also served as National Secretary of the Gray Panthers and is a past Chair of the Board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM); he is currently on the NCPSSM Board. Paul is a graduate of Duke University (JD) and the University of Chicago (MCompLaw).

Gwen Orlowski, Senior Staff Attorney

DSCF0416

Gwen Orlowski joined NSCLC’s Health Care team in October 2013 and is based in Washington, DC.  Gwen came to NSCLC from New Jersey, where she a leading advocate on long-term care issues effecting older individuals and adults with disabilities.  Most recently, Gwen was Chief Section Counsel and Supervisor of the Senior Legal Rights Project at Legal Services of New Jersey where she worked from 2002 until 2007, and again from 2010 until she came to NSCLC.  At LSNJ, Gwen also was the Supervisor of the Anti-Predatory Lending Project at LSNJ from 2002 until 2005.  During her hiatus from LSNJ, Gwen served in several roles at the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate including the Statewide Long-Term Care Ombudsman, the Director of Elder Advocacy and the Director of Advocacy for Individuals with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities.  Gwen is admitted to the New Jersey bar and is a 1990 graduate of Rutgers University, Newark School of Law.  She graduated from Georgetown University in 1985.

Anna Rich, Litigation Director

Anna RichAnna Rich works in NSCLC’s Oakland office. As the director of NSCLC’s Medicaid defense activities, Anna represents low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities in federal court to preserve access to social safety net benefits. She also provides training and technical assistance to advocates for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and recently co-authored “Improving Language Access to Keep California’s Older Adults at Home: An Examination of the IHSS Program,” a study of the experiences of limited English proficient Californians who use In-Home Supportive Services, the state’s personal care services program. Prior to joining NSCLC, she clerked for the United States District Court for Northern California and worked as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. Anna graduated from Swarthmore College in 1997 and from Yale Law School in 2003. She is admitted to the California Bar. For two years in a row, she has been chosen as one of three “rising stars” in Northern California in the category of Legal Aid/Legal Services lawyers by the magazine Super Lawyers.

Hannah Weinberger-Divack, Skadden Fellow

DSCF0378

Hannah Weinberger-Divack joined NSCLC’s health care team in September 2013 and is based in Washington, DC.  A 2013 Skadden Fellowship recipient, she will provide advocacy to enable more low-income older adults to receive health and personal care in their homes, to avoid unnecessary institutionalization.  Before law school, Hannah worked at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law where she managed a year-long project to increase the financial security of people with disabilities.  Additionally, she has experience as a personal attendant for a woman who self-directed all of her own care.  During law school, she served as a legal intern with Equip for Equality, the Protection and Advocacy system in Illinois, and a law clerk with the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington, D.C.  Hannah received her B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago and her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Illinois where she was Editor-in-Chief of The Elder Law Journal.

 ADMINISTRATION

Vanessa Barrington, Communications Director

Vanessa Barrington Staff picVanessa Barrington leads communications efforts for NSCLC from the Oakland, CA office. She’s focused on increasing the visibility of NSCLC as a national leader in the fight against senior poverty, and amplifying the work of NSCLC’s lawyers to defend and broaden access to health care and economic security programs for America’s poor seniors. She oversees all online communications, public relations, social media, fundraising communications, publications, and webinars, and will be leading a comprehensive rebranding of NSCLC in early 2015. She has more than 10 years of communications experience in the advocacy space and has worked on a variety of issues around the environment and food. Most recently she led public relations and editorial strategy for Save The Bay. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing.

Shelby Minister, Administrative & Development Associate

Shelby Minister works out of NSCLC’s Oakland office. In addition to keeping things in the office running smoothly, she works in a variety of capacities to support development efforts. Prior to joining NSCLC, she was the Coordinator for the San Jose Peace & Justice Center (SJPJC) where she organized programming and meetings on social justice issues along with advocating for minority and immigrant rights, the rights of political activists, and against racial injustice and police abuse. Previously, she worked for American Muslim Alliance (AMA) where she mobilized and educated the Muslim American community on civic engagement and social justice issues involving Muslims. In addition, she did camera work and was the Talent Coordinator for Global Forum TV. Shelby graduated from San Francisco State in 2008 with a B.A. in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts.

Katrina Cohens, Program & Communications Associate

National Senior Citizens Law Center Portraits

Katrina Cohens is based in NSCLC’s Washington, DC office and serves as the Program and Communications Associate. Along with managing the daily operations of the DC office, she also provides communications, financial, and development support. Prior to joining NSCLC, she served as a Program Specialist for the Federal Trade Commission. Katrina graduated from Agnes Scott College in 2011 with a B.A. in Psychology.

 

Melissa Irish, Development Director

Melissa joined NSCLC in September 2013 as Development Director. She has spent 18 years in fundraising and specializes in creating individual giving programs that yield results. As the principal of Philanthropic Counsel to Nonprofits from 2004 – 2013, she helped local and national non-profit organizations build the capacity to raise major gifts through annual, endowment, capital and planned giving campaigns. Prior to this, she held leadership staff positions in development at Jewish Vocational Services, Environmental Traveling Companions and JobTrain in California. Melissa earned her BS and MBA at San Francisco State University.

Scott Parkin, Communications Consultant

National Senior Citizens Law Center PortraitsScott L. Parkin is based in the Washington, DC office and provides communications counsel, oversight of the Web site and electronic communications as well as media and public relations support to the entire organization. Prior to joining NSCLC, he was Vice President of Communications for the National Council on Aging for seven years where his team garnered multiple awards in policy-related campaigns as well as in both electronic and print communications. For 12 years before that, he served as Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. A former journalist, he has also written extensively for long-term care publications and authored the very first “Consumers Guide to Long Term Care Insurance.” A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he did graduate work in public relations at American University.

Tom Smith, Finance and Administration Director

National Senior Citizens Law Center Portraits

Tom Smith has served as Director of Finance and Administration for the National Senior Citizens Law Center since 1996.  For the previous ten years, he was the financial director for Physicians for Social Responsibility.  He also worked as assistant financial director for the Gateway Foundation and the American Judicature Society.  Tom graduated from Indiana University with a BS in Accounting and Finance.

Comments are closed.