Media

Wendy has led KIND since 2009, and brings extensive immigration policy experience to the organization. Prior to KIND, she served as Chief Counsel on Immigration Policy in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. She held prior immigration policy positions with organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Women’s Refugee Commission, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the National Council of La Raza. She has also written numerous articles, reports and cutting-edge op-eds on the plight of unaccompanied children. Wendy has received a number of awards and honors for her work on immigration rights including: 2017 Williams College Bicentennial Medal Award; 2016 Keepers of the American Dream Honoree by the National Immigration Forum; Women Inspiring Change 2015 Honoree at Harvard Law School’s 2nd Annual International Women’s Day Celebration; Foreign Policy’s Leading Global Thinker of 2014; Nominated as one of two NGO representatives to participate in Seminar XXI Program on U.S. Foreign Policy by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and National Defense University (2002); Honored by Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center for work on behalf of women and children detainees (2002); Child Advocacy National Certification of Recognition, American Bar Association, in recognition of contributions advancing the welfare of children (2001); Human Rights Award, American Immigration Lawyers Association, in recognition of the work of the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children on behalf of women and child asylum seekers (1999). Wendy earned a joint law degree and master’s degree in international relations from American University in Washington, DC, and a bachelor’s degree from Williams College in Massachusetts.

An international human rights lawyer and an expert on child migration in the United States, Jennifer Podkul is KIND’s Chief of Global Policy and Advocacy. In this role, she manages the organization’s advocacy work to advance laws, policies, and practices at the local, national, and global level to ensure immigrant children are protected throughout their journeys to safety. To that end, Jennifer and her team provide technical assistance to policy makers on matters involving protection for children on the move. As a subject matter expert on child migration, Jennifer regularly presents at conferences, briefings, professional trainings, and testifies before the United States Congress. She has written broadly on the topic in news articles, handbooks and reports including serving as co-author of “Forced from Home: The Lost Boys and Girls from Central America” and a contributing author to “Childhood, Migration, and Human Rights in Central and North America: Causes, Policies, Practices and Challenges.” Fresh out of law school in 2006, Jennifer was hired as an attorney at Ayuda in Washington, D.C., first as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and later as a KIND Fellow. In 2011, Jennifer began work at the Women’s Refugee Commission as a senior program officer where she researched issues facing vulnerable migrants seeking protection in the United States and advocated for their improved treatment. From 2015 – 2017, Jennifer served as adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center’s Human Rights Institute. Jennifer joined KIND in 2019. Earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies and Spanish from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, Jennifer then honed her Spanish-speaking skills as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. Jennifer returned to school to earn a law degree from American University’s Washington College of Law where she was a Public Interest/Public Service Scholar.

A seasoned immigration rights attorney focused on the needs and rights of immigrant and refugee children, Christie Turner-Herbas currently serves as KIND’s Senior Advisor for Global Legal Representation, Assistance and Litigation. In this role, she oversees KIND’s family unity work and informs and contributes to the development of KIND’s legal services strategy globally. A subject matter expert on family separation and the U.S.-Mexico border, Christie’s work includes maintaining public dialogue on family unity and advocating for systemic change to achieve safe pathways and lasting solutions for immigrant children and families. Christie joined KIND in August, 2013 as Managing Attorney (local executive) of our Washington, DC/Northern Virginia field office. In 2017, she was named Deputy Director, Legal Services, overseeing KIND’s east coast field offices. In 2018, she transitioned to a role leading special initiatives, including KIND’s family separation response and our involvement in the Ms. L v. ICE litigation. She also launched KIND’s programming in Mexico and at the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to joining KIND, Christie was a Supervising Attorney at Catholic Charities’ Hogar Immigrant Services, where she represented low-income immigrants in deportation cases, family-based immigration matters, and applications for humanitarian relief. Previously, Christie was an education and employment policy fellow at the National Women’s Law Center. She started her legal career at the Federal Trade Commission, supporting consumer protection investigations and federal litigation before returning to school to obtain her law degree. Christie earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Tufts University in 2002 and her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 2008. While in law school, Christie worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Catholic Charities, and American Gateways, and participated in the Immigration Law Clinic and Transnational Worker Rights Clinic.

Maria M. Odom is the Senior Vice President, Global Legal at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), where she leads a team of immigration legal experts advancing the representation of unaccompanied children in removal proceedings. In this role, Ms. Odom oversees the management of KIND’s 10 field offices, leading the development and implementation of legal services programming nationwide, including pro bono representation of over 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children per year as well as the provision of innovative legal trainings and technical assistance in immigration law and policy. Her department also delivers comprehensive social services programs to address the special needs of unaccompanied children. In the near past, Odom served as the DHS Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman in the administration of President Barack Obama. In that role, she worked with community leaders and immigration professionals across the country to improve the quality of citizenship and immigration services delivered to the public. As Ombudsman, she reported to and testified before the U.S. Congress regarding systemic issues in our country’s immigration system. Odom is a nationally recognized legal and policy expert with a wide range of immigration experience in the private, government, and charitable sectors. She previously led the country’s largest network of charitable legal immigration programs as Executive Director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). For a decade, she practiced immigration law in the southeast, leading a successful private practice in the areas of deportation defense, humanitarian protections, as well as business and family-based immigration. Early in her career, Odom served at the U.S. Department of Justice as Assistant District Counsel for the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service and as a judicial law clerk at the Executive Office for Immigration Review. At DHS, Odom led the department’s human trafficking prevention, training, and public education efforts as Chair of the DHS Blue Campaign. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Freedom Network, which works in coalition with service providers and survivor leaders to advance a rights-based approach to address human trafficking in the United States. Odom is a graduate of The Florida State University College of Criminology and the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law. She currently lives in New York City.

Lisa serves as KIND’s Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships. Lisa was a co-editor and contributing author of Childhood, Migration, and Human Rights in Central and North America: Causes, Policies, Practices, and Challenges, a study on children affected by migration in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States, written in collaboration with organizations from each country and funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Previously, she was Managing Attorney at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). Throughout her eight years at CGRS, Lisa worked to advance law and policy for immigrant women, children, and asylum seekers through impact litigation, national policy advocacy, and extensive training and mentoring of attorneys. Prior to CGRS, Lisa practiced child immigration and child welfare law at Legal Services for Children. She began her legal career as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center representing immigrant children before the Immigration Court and Board of Immigration Appeals. Lisa has trained and mentored attorneys across the country and has presented to federal judges, immigration judges, and asylum officers. She is a 2002 graduate of Berkeley Law, Order of the Coif, and a 1996 graduate of the University of Maryland, magna cum laude.