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Staff


Disability Rights NJ’s protection and advocacy work is carried out by a dedicated, knowledgeable, and experienced team comprised of attorneys, advocates, support, and management. From an initial staff of seven, we have grown to over thirty employees.

Disability Rights NJ is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and this commitment is reflected on our team. Many individuals with disabilities are on our staff, including individuals with physical and developmental disabilities, learning differences, deafness, and lived mental health experience. Several are family members of a person with a disability. We also employ/seek a racially and ethnically diverse staff, including people who are fluent in languages other than English.

Gwen Orlowski

Executive Director

Gwen Orlowski has served as the Executive Director of Disability Rights New Jersey since January 2019. Prior to taking the helm at Disability Rights NJ, Gwen held a variety of positions that allowed her to use her talents as an attorney and policy wonk on behalf of people with disabilities, older adults, and other underserved communities including: Senior Staff Attorney in the health group for Justice in Aging (formerly the National Senior Citizens Law Center), Chief Section Counsel for Legal Services of New Jersey (where she supervised both the Senior Legal Rights Project and the Anti-Predatory Lending Project), Director of Elder Advocacy and Director of Advocacy for People with Developmental Disabilities at New Jersey’s Department of the Public Advocate, and New Jersey’s Statewide Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

Early in her career, Gwen was an Associate Clinical Professor for the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall Law School, where she focused on the legal rights of individuals who were homeless. She has taught Elder Law at both Seton Hall University School of Law and Rutgers University School of Law. She received her JD from Rutgers School of Law — Newark and graduated from Georgetown University with an AB in Government.​ An interesting fact about Gwen: while in college she served as a parliamentary intern for Margaret Thatcher. A lifelong New Jerseyan, Gwen lives in New Brunswick with her husband, where she loves to cook and she tries each summer (not so successfully) to grow a nice Jersey tomato. Gwen and her husband have three wonderful grown children whom she’d love to tell you all about over a cup of tea.

 

Leadership

Michael Brower

Legal Director | General Counsel

Dana M. Caro

Director of Communications and Individual Giving

Mary Ciccone

Director of Policy

Cathy Coryat

Chief Financial Officer

Marie Davis

Office Manager / Executive Assistant to Gwen Orlowski

Jill Hoegel

Director of Investigations and Monitoring

Denise Lugo-Fowler

Chief Administrative Officer / Director of Training & Outreach

Maritza Williams

Director of Intake and Self-Advocacy

Staff

Lisa Acton

Staff Advocate | Representative Payee Reviewer

Mirela Ahmic

Staff Advocate

Marios Athanasiou

Law Clerk | Community Inclusion Team

Lynne Blecher-Vicari

Staff Advocate | Investigator, Investigations & Monitoring Team

Nicholas Brennan

Staff Advocate | Representative Payee Reviewer

Stacey Bussel

Managing Attorney, Community Inclusion Team

Haley Carney

Staff Attorney, Employment Team

Yeida Castellano

Administrative Assistant

Barbara Coppens

Advocate Assistant

Jaye De Los Santos

Intake Specialist

Jamie Ervin

Staff Advocate, Investigations & Monitoring Team

Nicole Fowler

Managing Advocate, Representative Payee Team | PABRP Coordinator

Hector Gonzalez-Mojica

Staff Advocate

Susan Head

Senior Staff Advocate, Employment Team | PABSS Coordinator

Craig Ismaili

Staff Attorney, Institutional Rights Team

Madeleine Karluk

Intake Specialist

Katie Kirkwood

Staff Advocate | Representative Payee Reviewer

Ruby Kish

Staff Attorney, Youth Practice Group

Elena Kravitz

Senior Staff Advocate, Investigations & Monitoring Team

Adrienne Langlois

Staff Attorney, Institutional Rights Team

Jessica Lax

Staff Advocate, Youth Practice Group

Naomi Leibowitz

Assistive Technology Specialist, ATAC

Mike Marotta

ATAC Project Director

Julie Martin

HR | Accounting Coordinator

Christopher Miller

Assistant to Director of Policy

Kelly McGuire

Staff Attorney, Community Inclusion Team

Tania Parra

Staff Attorney, Community Inclusion Team

Bren Pramanik

Managing Attorney, Institutional Rights Team | PAIMI Coordinator

Lisa Quartarolo

Managing Attorney, Youth Practice Group

Robert Robinson

Senior Staff Attorney, PATBI and PAAT Program Coordinator

Janna Sheiman

Managing Attorney, Employment Team | PAAT Coordinator

Regina Smith

Staff Attorney, Youth Practice Group

Edris Walrond

Senior Staff Advocate | Representative Payee Reviewer

Davont'e Whitaker

Staff Advocate | Representative Payee Reviewer