Erin Kemple, Executive Director. Ms. Kemple joined the Connecticut Fair Housing Center in 2003. Prior to joining the staff of the Center, Ms. Kemple was a founder and executive director of the Housing Discrimination Project located in Holyoke, MA. She was admitted to practice in Massachusetts in 1985 where she specialized in representing low income individuals and families with housing and benefits complaints. She is a 1985 graduate of Suffolk University Law School and a 1981 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross.
Greg Kirschner, Enforcement Director. Mr. Kirschner is a Hartford native who joined the Center in 2005. He is responsible for overseeing all of the Center’s enforcement work including investigations and actions filed with administrative agencies, as well as in state and federal court. Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Kirschner represented tenants with Legal Services of Northern Virginia and was involved in a civil rights class action on behalf of farmers. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999 and received a B.A. from George Washington University in 1996.
Erin Boggs, Deputy Director. Erin Boggs is the Deputy Director of the Connecticut Fair Housing Center. Ms. Boggs began work at the Center in 2005, initially concentrating on reducing incidences of predatory lending and foreclosure in communities of color. Since joining the Center, Ms. Boggs’ responsibilities have expanded to include the organization’s systemic testing, policy and pro bono initiatives. In particular Ms. Boggs has focused her efforts on raising awareness of the inequity of opportunity in education, safety, and health created by segregated housing patterns with the assistance of Opportunity Mapping commissioned from the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Ms. Boggs has also participated in the Center’s fundraising endeavors which have yielded support from a variety of State of Connecticut, federal and private foundation sources. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Boggs worked at the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union as a Staff Attorney and then Interim Legal Director. She came to the Center from private practice with a commercial litigation firm. Ms. Boggs is a 2000 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and a 1993 graduate of Wesleyan University. A native of Washington, DC, she is a product of the District’s public schools.
Jeff Gentes, Managing Attorney, Foreclosure Prevention Project. Mr. Gentes focuses on foreclosure prevention and predatory lending. Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Gentes spent two years as a Staff Attorney with the Homeowner Defense Project at Staten Island Legal Services. Mr. Gentes has worked at Proskauer Rose LLP and Pfizer, and has done pro bono work in the areas of Social Security, retirement benefits, civil disenfranchisement, criminal law, and immigration law. While in law school, he interned for the New York Capital Defenders Office and Supreme Court of New York Justice Abraham Gerges. He was born in Hartford, raised in Lebanon, CT, and received his B.A. from the University of Connecticut and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Timothy Bennett-Smyth, Staff Attorney. Mr. Smyth works with the Center’s fair housing enforcement team to represent the victims of housing discrimination in administrative actions as well as in state and federal court. Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Smyth was a litigation associate at Bingham, McCutchen, LLP. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree with Honors from the University of Connecticut, a Master’s Degree in History with honors from the University of Connecticut, and a law degree with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Pamela A. Heller, Foreclosure Prevention Attorney. Ms. Heller joined the Center as a foreclosure prevention staff attorney in 2011. Prior to coming to the Center, Ms. Heller worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Ellen Ash Peters and the Honorable William J. Sullivan at the Connecticut Appellate Court and as a legal research clerk at the Connecticut Superior Court. Ms. Heller received a BA with honors in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity from Stanford University, a MSW with a concentration on policy from the University of Connecticut, and a JD with honors from the University of Connecticut. Ms. Heller has worked as an adjunct faculty member at Elms College in Chicopee, MA and St. Joseph College, West Hartford, CT
Jill Lacedonia, Foreclosure Prevention Attorney. Ms. Lacedonia focuses on foreclosure prevention. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Lacedonia worked for four years as a law clerk in federal district court in New Haven, first for Senior United States District Judge Peter C. Dorsey and then for Senior United States District Judge Charles S. Haight, Jr. Before clerking, she was an associate at Day Pitney, LLP in Hartford. A Connecticut native, Ms. Lacedonia graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College and received her J.D. from New York University School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Lacedonia was the Development Director at Rivers Alliance of Connecticut. She is a former board member of the Connecticut chapter of the National Organization for Women and Love Makes a Family of Connecticut.
Claudia Dresser, Fair Housing Specialist. Ms. Dresser joined the Center in March 2011 to assist the organization in testing, outreach and litigation support. Prior to the joining the Center, she was a volunteer in the Hartford Public Schools and worked at the Hartford Public Library as part of its outreach program to new immigrants. Ms. Dresser is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford where she was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
María Cristina Cuerda, Fair Housing Specialist. María Cristina Cuerda joined the Center in October 2010 as a Fair Housing Specialist. She will be coordinating fair housing testing, doing outreach and providing litigation support for the Center’s attorneys. Ms. Cuerda has 20 years experience as a legal services paralegal. She has worked in the areas of immigration, farmworker law, and public benefits. For the last five years she ran a project to provide legal assistance to residents of the North End neighborhood of Springfield, MA at Western Massachusetts Legal Services focusing on issues facing undocumented immigrants. Ms. Cuerda is a graduate of Smith College, a native of San Francisco, California and bilingual in Spanish and English.
Catherine Blinder, Communications Director. Ms. Blinder is a long-time resident of Hartford having worked for the Commission on the Status of Women, Real Artways, and the Hartford Public Library. Ms. Blinder is responsible for working on publicity and outreach to the general public about the Center and its work, fundraising, Board development, publications, and coordinating special events. Ms. Blinder will be working with the staff of the Center to ensure that Connecticut residents know and understand their rights under the fair housing laws.
Letty Ortiz, Administrative Assistant. Ms. Ortiz, who is bi-lingual in Spanish, is the Center’s office manager and receptionist. She is responsible for completing intakes and referring cases to staff members. In addition, she schedules fair housing trainings and provides general information about the Center and its work.