NYCLU Board Elections
Each year, the NYCLU Board of Directors elects a Nominating Committee, including current and non-board members from across the state, to assemble a slate that will strengthen the Board of Directors by increasing diversity and representation of the state’s residents and assuring that the Board has the full range of skills and experience necessary to fulfill our responsibilities.
Candidates recommended by this year’s Committee were interviewed and carefully considered under a number of key criteria, including but not limited to: the need for regional balance in leadership; the board plan for equity, inclusion and diversity; professional backgrounds and expertise; understanding of the NYCLU’s mission; and personal initiative on NYCLU priority issues. The Committee believes that our recommended slate represents a wide range of perspectives and has the ability to provide deep expertise on a number of civil liberties issues to the Board.
In accordance with the NYCLU bylaws, the NYCLU Nominating Committee nominated thirteen people this year to fill thirteen vacancies.
All votes must be received by 5:45pm on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
WHO MAY VOTE
All current NYCLU members are eligible to vote. To be a member, you must have a New York state address and you must have made a non-tax-deductible contribution to the NYCLU or ACLU—notwithstanding any tax-deductible donations to the NYCLU Foundation or to the ACLU Foundation—since February 1, 2024 and no later than June 7, 2025, or you must be a lifetime member. If you have any questions about your membership status, please call the NYCLU at 212.607.3364 or email kkole@nyclu.org. There is still time to become a member until June 7th: Go to nyclu.org/join.
VOTING INSTRUCTIONS
To vote online you will need to visit the link below and enter the personal key code that was sent to you via email on May 21st, 2025 and on the postcard that was sent to your address on file. These codes are the mechanism to ensure the security and privacy of the election.
Please remember to check your spam/junk folder if you do not see an email from the NYCLU dated May 21st, 2025. If you cannot locate your personal key code, please contact Juan Diego Jaramillo at jdjaramillo@nyclu.org or 212-607-3338. If you would like to request a paper ballot by mail please contact Juan Diego Jaramillo with your name and the address where you’d like the ballot to be sent. Please allow sufficient time to ensure that your ballot will be received by June 25, 2025.
If you have a joint membership, you will need to go to the ballot link twice, and enter the individualized key codes for each person in the joint membership. As stated above, you can find these key codes in an email regarding the NYCLU Board of Elections that was sent on May 21st, 2025 or on the NYCLU Board of Election postcard that was sent to your address on file.
CANDIDATE BIOS
To view full candidate statements before casting your vote, visit nyclu.org/about/boardelections#candidates
ANNUAL MEETING
The annual meeting of the members of the NYCLU will be held virtually on June 25th, 2025 at 6 p.m. for the purposes of electing directors and receiving the annual report. Please register in advance.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
CANDIDATE BIOS
Asterisks indicate new, non-incumbent candidates.
Claudia Angelos*
NYU Law Professor, teaching civil rights and racial justice clinics in partnership with the NYCLU and ACLU. NYCLU board member 1993-2019; board president 2002-2007; representative to ACLU board 2008-2020; ACLU executive committee 2010-2020
Claudia stands for election to the NYCLU board after 25 years of service there and, more recently, six years of absence. Much has changed since Claudia left, and extraordinary challenges have arisen.
Claudia is a professor at NYU Law, where she works to transform law students into effective, reflective social justice lawyers. She has taught more than a generation of students in partnership with brilliant NYCLU and ACLU National lawyers.
She takes pride in what the board accomplished during her time in NYCLU/ACLU leadership. They transformed their governance. The board became much smaller, younger, and diverse. They created an effective development program. They became a united statewide organization. They came into compliance with long-neglected legal requirements. It was hard, worthwhile work.
If elected to return, Claudia will again devote whatever useful experience and skill she has to the NYCLU. She is motivated by these profoundly difficult times and inspired by the skill and dedication of the staff of the ACLU family. She would be privileged to come home to help.
Jonathan Askin*
Jonathan Askin is a professor at Brooklyn Law School, focusing on technology, communications, and entrepreneurial law. He is the founder of the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic, providing pro bono legal support for bootstrapped startups exploring issues the law hasn’t anticipated. He is the Faculty Chair for Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship and Justice Lab. Jonathan was a Visiting Professor and Codex Affiliated Faculty at Stanford University, a Visiting Professor at the MIT Media Lab, a Fulbright Scholar with the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Information Law, a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School. Jonathan chaired the Internet Governance Working Group for the Obama ’08 Presidential Campaign and served on the Biden ’20 Presidential Campaign Technology Committee. Jonathan is an honors grad of Harvard College and Rutgers Law School.
Mayo Bartlett
Mayo Bartlett is the Principal Attorney at the Law Offices of Mayo Bartlett, PLLC. He worked for the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for more than ten years, serving as a litigator in the Superior Court Trial Division and Chief of the Bias Crimes Unit. He is a co-founder of SAFE PASSAGE, a youth law forum that brings issues of law and policy to the classroom. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Westchester Holocaust Education Center, assisting the Center in the development of a Juvenile Hate Crime Offender Program.
Mayo has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Pace Law School, and he was an active member of the New York State Hate Crimes Coalition in support of passage of the Hate Crime Act of 2000, the first comprehensive hate crime legislation in New York State. He is a former Vice President and Director of the Westchester County Bar Association, where he served as Co-chair of the Criminal Justice Section, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, and as a delegate to the New York State Bar Association. Mayo is a former Director of the Westchester County Black Bar Association, and former Chair of the Westchester County Human Rights Commission.
Mayo is a convener of We Are Westchester, which is a coalition of not-for-profit organizations focusing on social justice. He is also a founding member of New Bridges, which is a coalition of not-for-profits focused on alleviating hate, and bringing different cultures together, and which originated when the Urban League of Westchester County, the African American Men of Westchester, OCA, the India Center and the NAACP joined together to address anti-Asian Hate.
He is a past Director of the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County, a past Trustee of the Music Conservatory of Westchester, a past Director of Congregations Linked in Urban Strategy to Effect Renewal. He presently serves as a Director of the New York State Civil Liberties Union, and Hudson Link. He is a member of the White Plains – Greenburgh NAACP, and a Director of the Urban League of Westchester and he has served on the Advisory Board of the Westchester Children’s Association. Mayo serves as Co-Chair of the Westchester County Police Reform and Reimagining Task Force, and he works with the Westchester County Human Rights Commission addressing acts of hate and discrimination. Mayo is Chair of the Defense Counsel Committee for Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah’s Transition Team, and he serves as a policy consultant for police departments.
Mr. Bartlett is a Board member of Hudson Link, and he is a member of the Board of Visitors for the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Mayo was selected as a Super Lawyer, as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers, and as a member of the Westchester Power 50 by City and State.
For nearly a decade, Mayo regularly appeared on the television news forum “Richard French Live” on WRNN as a member of the legal panel, discussing current issues concerning law and policy.
Mayo is also the author of the Children’s book A Day at the Museum.
Waqaas Fahmawi
Waqaas Fahmawi is Associate General Counsel at NorthMark Strategies Group, a multi-strategy investment firm, where he leads a global team of legal professionals responsible for supporting investments in public markets. Over his two-decade-long career as an attorney in financial services, he has served as a strategic partner to securities businesses in a constantly evolving regulatory environment. Regarded as an expert in market structure and regulation, Waqaas regularly participates in legal education seminars and financial services industry working groups. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Waqaas has served on the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union since July 2022, where he has served on the nominating committee and as chair of the audit committee. Waqaas earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his law degree from Columbia University. He is licensed to practice law in New York.
Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Miller is honored to be nominated to serve on the New York Civil Liberties Board of Directors. Stephanie was born and raised in the Boston area before attending Northwestern University to earn her Bachelor’s of Science in Social Policy and Education. She earned her Masters in Childhood Education from Relay Graduate School of Education and her Masters of Public Administration from Columbia University. Stephanie worked as an elementary special education teacher in New York City, before joining New York City Public Schools to focus on strengthening the teacher pipeline as the city faces record need for high-quality educators. Stephanie has been a member of the ACLU since she was 16 years old and a proud NYCLU Board member since 2019 where she has served as Co-Chair of the Governance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. Although she has focused her work on issues related to education, she has followed and supported with passion the organization’s broader mission to secure individual rights and freedoms. Given the opportunity to serve a third term on the Board, she is hopeful that she can continue to support the important work of the NYCLU, which feels more critical than ever as the nation faces an onslaught of attacks on civil liberties and freedoms.
Terry McGovern
Terry McGovern, JD, is a human rights lawyer, advocate, and academic who is internationally recognized for her work in health and human rights, sexual and reproductive rights and health, gender justice, and environmental justice. She is Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy and previously served as the Harriet and Robert H. Heilbrunn Professor and chair of the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Between 2010 and 2013, McGovern served as senior program officer in the Gender, Rights, and Equality Unit of the Ford Foundation, where she oversaw global and domestic programming relating to HIV, gender, LGBT, and human rights.
In 1989, McGovern founded the HIV Law Project, where she served as executive director until 1999. While there, she successfully litigated numerous cases against federal, state, and local governments including S.P. v. Sullivan, which forced the Social Security Administration to expand HIV-related disability criteria so that women and low-income individuals can qualify for Medicaid and Social Security benefits; and T.N. v. FDA, which eliminated a 1977 FDA guideline banning women of childbearing potential from early phases of clinical trials.
McGovern’s research focuses on health and human rights, sexual and reproductive rights and health, gender justice and environmental justice. Her publications appear in journals including the BMJ; Health and Human Rights, the Journal of Adolescent Health, Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, and PLoS One, and she was lead author of Sexual and reproductive justice as the vehicle to deliver the Nairobi Summit commitments: the 2022 Report of the High-Level Commission on the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 Follow-up. She is a member of the BMJ North America Advisory Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the UNFPA Global Advisory Council.
Ademola Oyefeso
Ademola Oyefeso is an International Vice President and Director of the Legislative and Political Action Department (LAPAD) at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), the largest private sector union in the United States. In this role, he advances the union’s legislative priorities and works with elected officials and candidates at every level of government to support the issues that matter most to the UFCW’s 1.2 million hard-working members and their families.
Under Ademola’s direction, the LAPAD won 67 percent of all the races targeted in 2022. During the pandemic, the LAPAD helped to create the Farm and Food Workers Relief grant program to help members with COVID health and safety costs, and supported the American Rescue Plan, which protects the retirement benefits of workers and retirees in multiemployer pension plans, as well as the Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act, which provides essential protections to UFCW members. The LAPAD also played a role in several state legislative victories, including recreational cannabis legislation with labor peace agreements in New York; Paid Family and Medical Leave legislation in Maryland; overturning right-to-work in Michigan; premium pay legislation in Minnesota; a fair scheduling ordinance in Seattle; and the creation of the first union dues tax credit in California.
For multiple years, Ademola has led the UFCW’s legislative outreach and national sponsorship surrounding the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, helping to ensure it remains the largest single-day food drive in the United States. He also helped to pass New York City’s fresh food financing initiative, which brought grocery stores to underserved communities.
Prior to joining the UFCW International office, Ademola served at the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and the Speaker’s Office of the New York City Council.
He has extensive campaign experience and has held leadership positions on Gubernatorial, U.S. House, New York Mayoral and New York City Council races.
Ademola graduated from the State University of New York College at New Paltz. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with his wife and two children.
Shaireen Rasheed*
Shaireen is extremely honored to be considered for the New York Civil Liberties Union board. She has been an active member on the NYCLU Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee since 2024 and a board member of the Nassau County chapter since 2017 working with and under the guidance of the chapter director of Susan Gottehrer. As a board member of NYCLU in Nassau County, Long Island she worked as an educational liaison with the Nassau County districts on Long Island. Ensuring policies relating to equity for all students were properly implemented. She was specifically looking at the suspension rates for non-white students in k-12 schools.
Shaireen isa professor of Philosophy, Race, and Social Justice at Long Island University. She has been writing, researching and lecturing on issues of academic freedom, racial literacy, Islamophobia, anti-racism, LGBTQIA, migration, and issues of inclusion in the United States as well as internationally. As an educational consultant for the Long Island school districts, she conducted district wide trainings on creating inclusive pedagogies with educators, activists and administrators. She was on the diversity task force in the Port Washington School District. As part of her commitment to diversity She currently serves on the board of the Shirley Chisholm Cultural Institute ensuring her legacy is impacting young people today.
Shaireen’s commitment to issues of intersectionality afforded her the opportunity to be a senior fellow at the Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender and Sexuality, Harvard Divinity School and NYU’s Center for Sexuality and Gender working on issues of diversity and inclusion. As an immigrant from the Global South, she is very involved with issues pertaining to immigration and refugees. For the 2024-2025 year she received a Fulbright to Amman, Jordan to work with refugees in schools on issues of diversity and teaching on the topic. She has also received additional Fulbrights to the University of Salzburg and Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan working on creating diverse pedagogies of learning. This summer she will be a visiting professor at the Heidelberg University of Education in Heidelberg, Germany, teaching and researching the history of race in Germany after the second world war,exploring the intersections of racial, ethnic and national identities.
She has always been and continues to be very committed to the mission and principles of NYCLU in its pursuance of safeguarding justice, especially in the current climate. As a proponent of academic freedom and its protection, She has included NYCLU rulings and policies in her own research as well as with her students, especially as it relates to k-12 schools and institutions of higher education.
As a child of immigrants, coming of age in a post 9/11 America she was forced to reckon with the history of civil liberties and curtailment of certain fundamental rights affecting particular groups. Being on the NYCLU board and part of its community would make her feel that she is finally giving back, in kind, the debt owed to marginalized communities whose rights NYCLU has always and continues to protect and uphold.
Corey Stoughton*
Corey Stoughton is a special counsel at Selendy Gay PLLC. A nationally recognized expert on constitutional law and civil rights, she began her career as a legal fellow in the national office of the ACLU and spent ten years at NYCLU, where she coordinated upstate litigation and led on Hurrell-Harring v. New York, a landmark case establishing the right to counsel at arraignments that prompted historic reforms to New York’s public defense system. Apart from her work at Selendy Gay and NYCLU, Corey was appointed by President Barack Obama as senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Department of Justice and has worked as the Attorney in Charge of Law Reform at the Legal Aid Society. While living in London, Corey served as the Acting Director of Liberty, the UK’s counterpart to the ACLU. She also was an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law.
Wendy Stryker
It has been my great honor to serve on the NYCLU Board, including for the past four years as President.
My experience working at the ACLU before law school inspired me to go on to a career as an employment lawyer also working in the areas of civil rights and defamation defense. I am a member of my firm’s diversity committee and have a deep interest in and commitment to workplace fairness and equity issues.
Since joining NYCLU’s board, I have devoted countless hours to supporting NYCLU’s business goals and the overall organization. I have held leadership roles including serving as Vice President (3 years), and chairing the Nominating Committee (twice), the Election Policy Committee, and the Aid in Dying Policy Committee. I have served as an active member of the DEI (Diversity) and Executive Committees. I have also provided substantive support in areas including with respect to new state and city anti-sexual harassment legislation as well as COVID compliance issues.
NYCLU has been incredibly successful in its campaigns to educate the public and promote and protect the rights of New Yorkers. I thank you for taking the time to evaluate candidates and hope to be able to continue bringing my skills, experience, institutional knowledge, and interest in civil liberties and social justice to the NYCLU for another term on the Board.
Meg Thompson*
Meg Thompson (they/them) is a dedicated public servant of NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services where they serve as Senior Director of Finance overseeing the budget and reporting, accounts payable, and contracts and procurement teams. With a strong background in financial management and strategic oversight, Meg is committed to ensuring the smooth and effective financial operations of the organization, which provides critical healthcare services to New Yorkers in correctional facilities or who are in custody.
As a queer and non-binary individual, Meg is deeply passionate about advancing the rights and freedoms of marginalized communities. Their personal experiences have shaped their commitment to advocating for equality and justice for all. Meg has personally found inspiration and hope from the work that New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) does. This personal connection to the cause makes joining the NYCLU as a board member particularly meaningful.
With a strong belief in the NYCLU’s mission to protect and expand civil rights for all New Yorkers, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, income, or immigration status, Meg looks forward to contributing their expertise and perspective to the organization. Meg has spent their career investigating the intersections of policy and public life, social determinants of health, and how to break down systemic barriers that inhibit special populations from living with dignity.
Meg brings both professional expertise and a personal passion to the NYCLU, and they are eager to contribute to the organization’s efforts in advancing equality and social justice across New York State.
Virgil Wong
Virgil Wong is an incumbent NYCLU Board Member, serving as Affiliate Equity Officer and Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. Over the past three years, he has brought a deep commitment to equity, governance, and strategic planning. He has helped shape DEI policy, led belonging and board culture exercises, and supported staff hiring practices that reflect the communities NYCLU serves.
Professionally, Virgil is a nationally recognized digital health strategist with over 25 years of experience working with major hospitals, insurers, and pharmaceutical companies. As a business technology leader currently at the world’s largest research and advisory firm, he has led transformative healthcare initiatives integrating artificial intelligence, personalized medicine, and virtual reality. His work has been featured in The New York Times, CBS News, and NPR.
Virgil is also a practicing artist, former startup CEO, and longtime educator at The New School. He believes in the power of visual storytelling to spark empathy and social change. His interdisciplinary expertise allows him to offer unique insights into the ethical and civic implications of technology, health equity, and civil liberties.
As a dedicated NYCLU Board Member, Virgil actively contributes to strategic discussions on organizational structure, fundraising, and governance. He continues to advocate for inclusive practices that align with the mission of the NYCLU and the ACLU.
Robin Yates
Robin Yates is the Founder and CEO of Yates Advisory, a nonprofit consulting and coaching firm specializing in the areas of strategic planning, developing partnerships, program design and implementation, plus team and executive coaching. In her work as a nonprofit consultant, she is known for engaging, facilitated sessions that allow teams to collaborate effectively using tools and techniques from her experience both in the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds. Prior to starting her business in 2014, Robin spent 26 years at IBM, where she executed acquisitions and divestitures, negotiated outsourcing agreements, managed diverse teams, helped launch new businesses, and managed the ThinkPad brand across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
A certified Women Business Enterprise with the city of New York, Robin focuses on nonprofits and government agencies working to make improvements in social justice, healthcare, education, and the environment. Prior to joining the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Robin served on the boards of the Berkshire Kripalu Community, Denver Partners, and Colorado Women’s Employment and Education. Robin received her BS from Vanderbilt University, an Executive MBA from the University of Colorado, and Certificates in Arts Administration and Leadership Coaching from NYU. She is also an ACC certified coach with ICF, plus certified by the International Coach Academy and Positive IntelligenceTM.
