STAFF

Holly O’Donnell – CEO

Holly O’Donnell  joins the Bazelon Center from America SCORES, a national youth development organization operating in urban public schools, where she served as the National Executive Director. Prior to America SCORES, O’Donnell served as the first leader of the After School Department for Pittsburgh Public Schools, overseeing all after school and mentoring programs and partnerships. Before that, she was Director of Career Learning at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation in Pittsburgh, PA, where she helped launch the organization’s Center for Career Learning, a national K-12 career education reform effort.

As Executive Director of DC SCORES, one of DC’s largest after school programs for 700 public school children, O’Donnell was honored by President George W. Bush for “Outstanding Service-Learning Opportunities,” the Washington Business Journal for “Exceptional Involvement of Corporate Volunteers,” Meyer Foundation for “Innovative Fundraising by an Executive Director,” and the DC Public Schools and Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers as a “Community Based Organization Partner of the Year.” Previous to DC SCORES, she was a Presidential Appointee to the Department of Education’s White House America Reads Challenge under President Clinton.

Holly’s commitment to the mission of the Bazelon Center is deeply personal.  Her lifelong advocacy for people with disabilities is inspired by her brother Brendan who has an intellectual disability. Her parents worked tirelessly and creatively to give him the same opportunities as Holly and other children. As often as possible, Brendan was taught in the same setting as his non-disabled peers.  He received a high school diploma, served in AmeriCorps, and completed coursework at Bunker Hill Community College. Following the early deaths of their parents, Holly and Brendan became a co-dependent sibling team supporting each other.  Brendan lives an independent, fulfilling, and fun life in Boston, his favorite city.  On March 23, 1999, then-Senator John Kerry delivered a speech on the Senate Floor that Brendan wrote describing what it’s like to have a learning disability.  Download Storm in My Mind (PDF).

O’Donnell received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University. She is a native Washingtonian and currently resides in the city with her husband and daughter.

LEGAL

Megan Schuller – Legal Director

Bio Coming Soon!

IRA BURNIM – Senior Counsel

Ira A. Burnim is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, who joined the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law legal staff in 1988 and became the legal director in 1989. Formerly, Burnim served as legal director of the Children’s Defense Fund, senior attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and law clerk to the Hon. Frank M. Johnson, Jr.

He is recognized for his expertise in policy and legal issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, community mental health care, Medicaid, and children’s issues. He consults with federal agencies, state policy makers, and advocates. Burnim has served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland,  Disability Rights Maryland, and the Disability Rights Bar Association, and been a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law. He is currently on the board of National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.  On missions with Mental Disability Rights International, Burnim has helped to investigate human rights abuses in psychiatric facilities and also provided training and technical assistance to advocates and policy makers in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Albania, Romania, Ukraine, and Japan.

LEWIS BOSSING – Senior Staff Attorney

Lewis Bossing works on a broad array of issues affecting adults and children with mental disabilities, including community integration, special education, and criminal justice.

Before joining the Bazelon Center in October 2007, Bossing worked as a staff attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice, and at the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center in San Francisco, where he represented clients in Americans with Disabilities Act litigation in employment and education settings.

A former modern dancer, Bossing holds a B.S. in performance studies from Northwestern University and his J.D. from the New York University School of Law.

MONICA PORTER – Policy & Legal Advocacy Attorney

Monica Porter joined the Bazelon Center in 2022 as the Policy & Legal Advocacy Attorney, bringing experience working with communities on disability rights, housing and homelessness, and access to justice.

Monica’s previous work includes advocating with and on behalf of higher education students with mental health disabilities at Disability Rights Advocates, including issues related to leaves of absence, reasonable accommodations, and access to education and housing. At Homebase: The Center for Common Concerns, Monica worked with communities to increase capacity to end homelessness, including responding to COVID-19, increasing Census 2020 participation, and building cross-sector work through the Criminal Legal System Initiative.

Monica holds a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, and a B.A. in Social Welfare from U.C. Berkeley. During law school, Monica worked with the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bay Area Legal Aid, Legal Aid Society– Employment Law Center, GW Law Public Justice Advocacy Clinic, and clerked for the Honorable Cynthia McKnight at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Monica is also a proud AmeriCorps Alum, having launched her career in public service as a Bay Area JusticeCorps Fellow.

BRIT VANNEMAN – Staff Attorney

Brit Vanneman is the David and Mickey Bazelon Fellow. She works on a variety of policy and litigation initiatives to increase community integration and access to services for people with mental disabilities. She also works on criminal justice reform and to expand the educational opportunities available to children and higher education students with mental disabilities.

Brit graduated from Georgetown University Law Center as a Public Interest Fellow*. While completing her J.D., Brit interned with The National Health Law Program, Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), National Women’s Law Center, Children’s Law Center of D.C., and the National Center for Youth Law. She also assisted public interest clients through Georgetown’s Civil Litigation Clinic, served on Georgetown Youth Advocates’ leadership team, and was a research assistant to Peter Edelman, Faculty Director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality, and Katie Keith, Faculty Professor with the Georgetown Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

Before law school, Brit worked at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. There, she led the Dance Marathon program, a student-driven fundraising program supporting 170 children’s hospitals across North America. She was later appointed to Senior Director of Market Research. Her time with CMN Hospitals ignited her commitment to expand and reform health care access. An Indiana native, Brit graduated from Purdue University with a B.A. in Communication.

ANASHUA DUTTA – David & Mickey Bazelon Fellow

Anashua Dutta is the David and Mickey Bazelon Fellow. Anashua graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2022. During law school, Anashua participated in Lawyers in Balance, a mindfulness program for law students, and led mindfulness and meditation sessions for first years. She was a student attorney with the Center for Applied Legal Studies, where she successfully represented an individual seeking asylum during their proceedings in immigration court. She also interned at Democracy Forward and the Immigrant and Employee Rights and Disability Rights Sections of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice and was a research assistant for Georgetown University Law Center’s Human Rights Institute.

Before law school, Anashua pursued her passion for human rights through her work for Amnesty International USA. While there, she supported the organization’s campaigns for refugee rights and human rights defenders. A double Georgetown grad, Anashua graduated with honors from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

KATHY CHAMBERLAIN – Deputy Director of Development & Special Projects

Kathy Chamberlain is the Deputy Director of Development & Special Projects for the Bazelon Center, using her background in organization development, knowledge management, and communications to promote and connect the work of the Bazelon Center to funders, donors, and the public.

Before joining the Bazelon Center, Kathy was a communications and organizational strategy consultant and mentor to nonprofits, social enterprises, and small businesses. She was also a communications and data specialist at the Social Innovation Fund of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and spent nine years at Mental Health America (MHA), first as the manager of its public awareness initiative, Campaign for America’s Mental Health, and then as the Director of Affiliate Services, providing peer networking opportunities, organizational capacity trainings and technical assistance for its more than 200 member non-profit organizations. Her years at MHA kindled her passion and commitment to furthering the goals of the mental health movement.

A long-time Northern Virginia resident, Kathy graduated with a BA in Liberal Studies from American University and an MS in Organization Development and Knowledge Management from George Mason University. She is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Organization Development Network and was the managing director of the volunteer organization, UnSectored, which facilitated online and offline conversations, training and experiences related to social innovation and social enterprise.

JALYN RADZIMINSKI – Director of Engagement

Jalyn Radziminski is the Director of Engagement for the Bazelon Center and is personally driven to unify academic, grassroots, nonprofit, legal, and policy initiatives to foster social and systematic change through intersectional and integrated approaches.

Jalyn graduated from Emory University as the first Black woman, first Japanese woman, and the first first-generation college student to receive the Marion Luther Brittain Award, the highest, most prominent honor any Emory academic division can bestow. As an undergrad, Jalyn founded Emory’s Black Mental Health Ambassadors and was a founding council member of Mental Health America’s National Collegiate Mental Health Innovation Council. As an elected representative of Emory University Senate and founding executive member of Students for Prison Education and Resistance, Jalyn advocated for the Emory Incarceration Hardship Fund to help students impacted by incarceration.

After graduation, Jalyn advocated for equity and inclusion in the voting and civic engagement space by working in Georgia as a Fair Fight Action Political Fellow and as Chief of Staff for the Georgia House of Representatives. Jalyn saw the need to encourage more diverse voter turnout and political participation in their home state, Indiana as well. Thus, Jalyn founded Count US IN, the first Indiana based initiative to educate and empower local voices as well highlight Indiana’s relevance in the national political conversations. Afterward, Jalyn became one of the American Association of People with Disabilities first Fannie Lou Hamer Organizers to increase Black, Disabled voter turnout nationwide. Radziminski also worked as Diversity Outreach Specialist at MARTA and served on the Bobby Dodd Institute’s steering committee to foster accessibility in transportation and employment.

Internationally, Jalyn has studied and worked in Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands to advocate for and learn about human rights via the U.S. Department of State, Hokkaido International Foundation, and Humanity in Action. Radziminski is called to advocate for BIPOC and Disability communities and is proud to be part of the Bazelon Center’s team to continue fighting for justice, equity, and accessibility.

CHRISTIAN ALEMAN – Communications Advocacy Fellow

Christian Aleman is the Communications Advocacy Fellow for the Bazelon Center. Using his background rooted in lived experience, he advocates for former foster youth and young adults experiencing homelessness at the intersection of mental health and education systems across the United States.

Christian joined the Bazelon Center in 2022 as a Strategic Communications Intern through the UC Washington Program Presidential Public Service Fellowship. He is currently a student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studies Psychology. 

Before joining the Bazelon Center, Christian was a member of the flagship cohort for Alameda County Behavioral Care Service’s Peer Mental Health Navigator Program. He also conducted research at the UC Berkeley Latinx Research Center working on discovering what political formation and activism looks like for families who don’t have the right to vote in school board elections during a time when the schools that serve them are being closed or consolidated. His experience as a mental health navigator helped him understand the importance of peer-led respite for those experiencing crisis. Using culturally sensitive academic and lived-experience frameworks, Christian is poised to uplift and inform the social changes needed in decision-making spaces tackling the complex and intercultural response.

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