Staff

Sala Abdallah is a formerly incarcerated man dedicated to righting his wrong through outreach to the youth, and bringing consciousness to the community by making them aware their voices are heard and opinions matter. Full bio.

Imade Borha joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in June 2020 as a Communications Advocate for the Justice Systems Reform team. Before joining SCSJ, she worked as an award-winning journalist and a communications professional at a mental health organization. Full bio.

Melissa Boughton joined Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) in 2021 as the SOLVE Senior Communications Fellow. Before joining SCSJ, she headed communications at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law School. Full bio.

Mitchell Brown is a native of Fredericksburg, VA, but has familial roots in Greensboro, NC. Mitchell graduated from the New York University School of Law in May 2017 where he served as the Chair of the Black Allied Law Students Association (BALSA). Mitchell also graduated from North Carolina A&T State University in May 2012, earning a B.S. in Business Economics and a minor in Philosophy. Full bio.

Candela Cerpa serves as the GIS Specialist and Data Analyst at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She joined the team in August 2020. Candela graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in May 2020, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Policy. Full bio.

R. Jordan Davis, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice as a SOLVE Communications Fellow in September 2021. Full bio.

Aimee Durant serves as Senior Counsel with SCSJ's Justice System Reform team. Her practice focuses on litigation and community engagement to promote and protect civil rights. Full bio.

Stacy Hamilton has served as SCSJ’s Office Manager since November 2015. In that capacity, she manages SCSJ’s finances, oversees office administration, and provides human resource services. Full bio.

Tanita Holmes joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice as a Staff Attorney with the Justice System Reform team in June of 2021. Full bio.

Sailor Jones joined Southern Coalition for Social Justice in 2021 as the organization’s Communications Director. Prior to joining SCSJ, Sailor was Democracy North Carolina’s Campaigns Director. In this role, he supervised the statewide voting rights organization’s branding and communications work, digital efforts, resource production and trainings, and worked closely with internal teams and external partners to coordinate key campaigns and programs. Full bio.

Katelin Kaiser serves as the Voting Rights Legal Fellow at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s voting rights program. She joined SCSJ in September 2020. Full bio.

Christopher Ketchie serves as the Southern Coalition's in-house demographer and data analyst, where he specializes in research, analysis, and spatial visualization of demographic and electoral data to provide an evidence base for advocacy, community organizing, and litigation. Full bio.

Hilary Harris Klein joined Southern Coalition for Social Justice in 2020 as Counsel for the voting rights program. Full bio.

Jeff Loperfido is a Staff Attorney with SCSJ’s Voting Rights group. His practice focuses on litigation and policy advocacy that ensures the fair and full participation of all voters. Full bio.

Jacob Nelson joined the SCSJ team as the Development Associate in April of 2021 after several years of working in sexual and domestic violence prevention and support. Full bio.

Gino Nuzzolillo joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice as the Communications Advocate in May 2021. Prior to joining SCSJ, Gino was the Policy Fellow at Democracy North Carolina, where he oversaw statewide advocacy programs safeguarding voting rights in local election administration. Full bio.

Marcus Pollard joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice as a Staff Attorney with the Justice System Reform team in June 2020. Marcus is a licensed attorney in North Carolina as well as the District of Columbia. Before working with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Marcus worked with the Orange County Local Reentry Council advocating for fair housing and employment opportunities. Full bio.

Talia Ray serves as a paralegal at the Southern Coalition, where she assists the Voting Rights team on both litigation and non-litigation projects. After earning her Bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York in 2013, her passion for community organizing lead her to political campaign work at the local and state levels. Full bio.

Allison Riggs leads the voting rights program at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, an organization she joined in 2009. In March of 2020, she also took over as Interim Executive Director of the organization. Her voting rights work over the last decade at SCSJ has been focused on fighting for fair redistricting plans, fighting against voter suppression, and advocating for electoral reforms that would expand access to voting. Full bio.

Ryan Roberson joined SCSJ's Board of Directors in 2017, where he has served as both Treasurer and Chairman. In 2020, he stepped down as Board Chair to become SCSJ's inaugural Co-Executive Director for Finance & Administration. Ryan is the Founder of RER Capital, LLC, a Charlotte, NC-based proprietary trading company that focuses on intraday and longer-term market trends and movements. Full bio.

academic efforts primarily on education equity and human rights. Prior to joining SCSJ as a Communications Advocate in October 2021, she was working in outreach and communications for North Carolina’s only domestic violence organization for South Asian survivors. Full bio.

Chris Shenton first joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice as a Voting Rights Intern in the summer of 2020, and joined the team full-time in September 2021 as a Legal Fellow in the Voting Rights program. Full bio.

Noor Taj joined SCSJ in 2021 as Counsel for the voting rights program. Noor graduated summa cum laude from Temple University in Philadelphia with a B.A. in Philosophy. Noor then graduated from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law with honors, earning the Israel Packard Award for highest GPA of her graduating class. Full bio.

exandra Wolfson serves as a Legal Fellow with the voting rights team at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She joined SCSJ in September 2021. Full bio.

Irving Zavaleta joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in August 2020 as the Communications Manager, and now serves as the Networks Director for Voting Rights. He is a well-known and highly regarded leader, educator and speaker with in-depth knowledge and experience in the areas of inclusion and equity. Irving has firsthand experience and knows best practices for working with underrepresented populations including students of color, LGBTQIA communities and first-generation college students. Prior to joining SCSJ, he worked as an Assistant Director for the North Carolina Campus Compact. Full bio.