The Vance Center is pleased to announce some exciting changes to our staff and leadership. These new developments reflect the strength of our team and continued programmatic and operational growth. read more
Post tagged in "Vance Center staff"
Vance Center Welcomes New Legal Fellow
Posted on July 9, 2026Aizhan Kurmanalieva joined the Vance Center in July 2026 as Legal Fellow. She works primarily in the Human Rights & Access to Justice Program, as well as on programmatic activities and projects across our other practice areas. Prior to joining the Vance Center, Aizhan earned her LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School, where she served as a Research Assistant with the Program on International Law and Armed Conflict, an Article Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal, and a Student Attorney with the Transactional Law Clinics. Before Harvard, Aizhan worked as a Legal Consultant at the International Center for Not-for-Profit... read more
Vance Center Welcomes New Human Rights & Access to Justice Staff Attorney
Posted on November 13, 2025Yasmine Palmer joined the Vance Center in November 2025 as Staff Attorney, Africa Initiatives, Human Rights and Access to Justice Program. She works on programmatic activities and projects across all four of the Vance Center’s practice areas, with a focus on rule of law and human rights issues in Africa. Prior to joining the Vance Center, Yasmine worked as a freelance international legal consultant for Dr. Olufemi Elias, Judge ad hoc at the International Court of Justice. She provided research and editorial support on the treatment of the immunity of international organizations by African national courts and contributed to... read more
Vance Center Welcomes New LFR Senior Counsel
Posted on May 6, 2026Lee Riffaterre joined the Vance Center as Senior Counsel for Lawyers for Reporters on a part-time basis in April 2026. She provides ongoing pro bono legal support to local and mission-driven journalism organizations throughout the United States, specifically advising LFR clients on general business contracts and intellectual property matters. Lee previously served as in-house counsel at The New York Times for more than 30 years, where she directly managed the organization’s intellectual property and general business contract teams, and counseled on a wide variety of business and commercial transactions and newsroom matters. She also regularly counseled clients on intellectual property... read more
Vance Center Welcomes New LFR Staff Attorney
Posted on October 10, 2025Ojasvinee “OJ” Singh joined the Vance Center in September 2025 as Staff Attorney for Lawyers for Reporters. She provides pro bono legal support to local and mission-driven journalism clients across the United States. OJ joined the Vance Center from Penguin Random House, where she served as the First Amendment Legal Fellow. She advised in-house clients (editors, publishers, and marketers, among others) on publishing matters and vetted manuscripts to counsel authors on risk. She also helped manage PRH’s nationwide anti-censorship caseload and assisted with the Bartz v. Anthropic settlement, the largest-ever copyright settlement to date. OJ serves as the Co-Chair of... read more
Vance Center Welcomes New LFR Program Assistant
Posted on July 30, 2025Khaelan King joined the Vance Center in July 2025 as Program Assistant for Lawyers for Reporters, supporting our capacity to provide legal support to independent reporting organizations throughout the United States. Khaelan comes to the Vance Center with a strong background in community impact and social justice. Most recently, she led the Learn to Work program at Brooklyn Community Services, a crucial initiative designed to combat economic and educational disparities. In this role, she was responsible for curating and implementing employment pathways for underprivileged youth to help them launch their professional endeavors. Earlier in her career, Khaelan was involved with... read more