RIF STAFF
MARIA BLACQUE-BELAIR, FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Maria has worked at several international humanitarian assistance non-profit organization around the world. In 2003, she founded RIF.
Lili Gilpin, Immigration and Asylum specialist
Lili has an M.A. in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies from University of London, and has spent the past four years working in immigration and public defense.
Martha Rubin, Program Coordinator
Martha is a first-year law student at Brooklyn Law school. She speaks Spanish.
RIF TEAM
tanzilya oren, education advisor and legal navigator
Tanzilya is a NYS-licensed Master Social Worker. After a career in civil society development abroad, in Uzbekistan and South Africa, since 2010 she has worked in New York in the area of immigrant services.
madelyn miller, mental health ADVISoR
Madelyn Miller, PhD, LCSW, works with adult survivors of trauma and loss in her psychotherapy practice and community work and teaches and trains on these issues.
fABIENNE pEYRAT, LEGAL NAVIGATOR
Fabienne has many years of experience working with RIF providing asylum orientation and reviewing asylum applications on a case-by-case basis. She speaks French and English.
cAROL SKYRM, LEGAL NAVIGATOR AND BOARD MEMBER
Carol speaks French and English. She reviews asylum applications on a case-by-case basis.
H. Esteban Figueroa-Brusi,
Consulting Attorney
Esteban is a consulting attorney with RIF’s legal team. A graduate of the NYU School of Law, Esteban has spent the entirety of their legal career advocating for immigrants’ rights in a variety of contexts, but they are proudest of the pro bono work they’ve done on behalf of Central American victims of gender violence.
Amir Rasoulpour, consulting attorney
Amir graduated from CUNY School of Law where he was a Haywood Burns Fellow in Civil and Human Rights.
