Staff
Juan Carlos Guzmán-Baigés (Executive Director)
Juan Carlos (he, him, el, él) comes to JustLead after years spent working in Puerto Rico as a public interest attorney. For several years, he worked for the three branches of the Government of Puerto Rico, focusing on public policy, program development, system transformation, social justice, and community supports. Prior to moving to Seattle, he oversaw several access to justice court programs, served as the Executive Director of Puerto Rico’s Advisory Commission on Access to Justice, and led the Advisory Council of the Gender Equity Court Program.
Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, Juan Carlos served as Senior Director of Judicial and National Engagement for Casey Family Programs, the nation’s largest operating foundation focused on safely reducing the need for foster care across the United States. During that time, he collaborated with the Federal Government and with other national organizations, such as the American Bar Association, the National Center for State Courts, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Prior to joining JustLead, Juan Carlos served as Juvenile Justice Program Manager for King County. He supported several youth programs which focused on preventing and minimizing criminal legal system involvement, in close partnership with local community-based organizations. Juan Carlos received his bachelor’s degree in Psychology and his JD from the University of Puerto Rico.
Board Members
Francis Adewale has served as Assistant Public Defender for the City of Spokane, Office of the Public Defender since May 2001. In addition to his work as city public defender, Francis also serves on several community based board and activities in Spokane. He is currently the Co-Chair of Spokane Homeless Coalition and a member of the Spokane County Regional Law & Justice Council’s Racial Equity Disparity Subcommittee. Francis is a 2009 fellow of Washington State Bar Association Leadership Institute (WLI) and 2015 fellow of our Leadership Academy.
Francis is a George Frederickson Honors Graduate of Eastern Washington University. He is one of the attorneys that helped establish Spokane Community Court. Francis is a recipient of City of Spokane Human Rights Award as well as the Spokane County Bar Association Smithmoore P. Myers Professionalism Award.
Judy Andrews (Treasurer) is an attorney and consultant focusing on nonprofit corporation law, tax-exempt organizations and public finance. For more than 20 years, she has represented nonprofit organizations on corporate and tax exemption issues including incorporation and determination of tax-exempt status, legal obligations of directors, organizational structure and roles of board and staff, conversion, merger and affiliation issues, and federal tax-exemption issues. In addition, she has worked as bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel on many special fund revenue bond and nonrecourse revenue bond financing. Many of these bond issues have involved nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations.
Judy is a recognized leader and frequent speaker on nonprofit corporate and federal tax topics. In addition to serving as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law, she gives workshops on the formation and maintenance of 501(c)(3) organizations for the Nonprofit Assistance Center and Wayfind. In 1992, Judy spearheaded the writing, editing and publishing of the handbook “How to Form a Non-Profit Corporation in Washington State,” as chair of the Community Involvement Committee of the King County Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Division. Before becoming a lawyer, Judy worked in nonprofit organizations, most recently as Executive Director of Legal Voice, formerly the Northwest Women’s Law Center in Seattle, Washington.
Ayanna Colman works with the Washington State Office of Financial Management as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Innovations Manager. Ayanna received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and her JD from Gonzaga University School of Law. She has worked for state government for the last seven years, beginning her state service with the Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Child Support, where she gained experience enforcing child support orders, representing the Division administratively in hearings, and writing policy for the Division. In 2017, she joined the Office of the Governor with an agency known as Results Washington, where she focused on performance management. Over the past year, Ayanna has worked closely with practitioners and partners throughout the enterprise in efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion work. In June 2019, she transitioned to the Office of Financial Management, into State Human Resources, to become the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Innovations Manager.
Jodi Nishioka (Secretary) has worked for over 20 years on behalf of low-income communities, particularly women, children and immigrant/refugee communities. She started her career as an attorney advocating for immigrant domestic violence survivors and single mothers fighting for child support in legal aid organizations in Boston and Honolulu. Jodi continued her work on behalf of disenfranchised communities within state and city governments in Hawaii and Seattle and later with grassroots nonprofit organizations. Currently, Jodi is the Executive Director of Wayfind, where she combines her legal skills with her dedication to improving the status of low-income communities. Wayfind provides pro bono legal services to community organizations.
Kurtis S Robinson (Vice President) is an active community leader in Spokane, serving as the current Spokane NAACP President, NAACP Alaska Oregon Washington State Area Conference Criminal Justice Chair, and as a Smart Justice Spokane Executive Committee member. He also serves as a Behavioral Health Advisory Board Member, Public Safety Assessment (PSA) implementation team member, Revive Center For Returning Citizen’s Board member, Community Court Advisory Board Member, Re-entry Task Force member, and a member of the Spokane Regional Law & Justice Committee and Racial Equity Subcommittee.
Mr. Robinson has been a Wildland Fire Fighter for 10 years and has a worked for the Department of Natural Resources and for Spokane County Fire District 10. After a period of incarceration from 1984 to 1987 Mr. Robinson has participated in I Did The Time and has served as a Certified Recovery Coach, Veterans Recovery Coach and Reentry Specialist, with 15 years concurrent abstinence from drugs and alcohol. He is a 2018 graduate of JustLead’s Leadership Academy.
Diana Singleton is the Access to Justice Board Manager at the Washington State Bar Association. She previously served for several years as the Director of Seattle University School of Law’s Access to Justice Institute (ATJI), which serves as a bridge between the law school and larger equal justice community. Through ATJI’s work, Diana and her team developed social justice opportunities for law students and graduates. Prior to joining ATJI, Diana was an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project for almost ten years, practicing in the areas of consumer, family, low-wage worker, and public benefits law.
Diana also serves on the Board of Wayfind which offers transactional pro bono assistance to nonprofit organizations and low-income microentrepreneurs. She is a volunteer attorney with Open Door Legal Services where she provides free legal advice to people who are homeless. She is a proud alumna of Seattle University School of Law, Westmont College, and the Leadership Academy.
Nick Straley (President) is a Staff Attorney with the Institutions Project of Columbia Legal Services in Seattle, working for communities to dismantle our racialized criminal justice system. Since 1997 Nick has served in a range of capacities supporting Columbia Legal Services’ work. Nick is a graduate of Oberlin College, Cornell Law School, and the Leadership Academy. His volunteer activities include prior board service with Consejo Counseling and Referral Service, supporting the Washington Race Equity & Justice Initiative (REJI), and serving as the volunteer president of Washington Legal Workers, a union of attorneys and other legal professionals employed by Columbia Legal Services.