Janet Varon is the founder and Executive Director of NoHLA. Janet is a member of the Medical-Legal Partnership advisory board and serves on the steering committee of Health Care Is a Human Right -Washington.  She previously chaired the state's Medical Assistance Advisory Committee and has served on the National Health Law Program board and statewide advisory groups. Before starting NoHLA, Janet worked for 13 years as a staff attorney at Evergreen Legal Services. Janet is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Honors include Agent of Change from the Washington Jewish Historical Society and the 2018 Marcia Howery Award from the Washington Healthcare Access Alliance.

The National Health Law Program Board President Rob Weiner presents a plaque to NoHLA Executive Director Janet Varon in appreciation of nine years of service on the NHeLP board.

Emily Brice previously served as a Staff Attorney at NoHLA and is pleased to be returning to the organization after serving in government in two states, first as the Senior Health Policy Advisor to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Kreidler and later as the Deputy Chief of Policy & Strategy for the Massachusetts Health Connector, a state-based Marketplace agency. Emily began her career in clinic-based social services as the Chicago Site Director for Health Leads. She is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law and University of Chicago.

Emily is enjoying being back in the Pacific Northwest after 5 years on the East Coast and looking forward to hiking, volunteering, and snowshoeing with her spouse and toddler in tow!

Ann Vining came to NoHLA in 2016 after a career as a legal services staff attorney that began in 1979. Since 1982 her work has included benefits issues, including Medicaid, Medicare, and long-term care services, with a special focus on issues for older adults and people with disabilities. Ann served as law clerk for a federal district court judge in the Eastern District of Washington after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1977. Her undergraduate degree is from Harvard University.

Other experiences significant to her work included growing up in the Ozarks, attending Little Rock Central High School after federal authorities secured its desegregation, working with children with intellectual challenges, staffing a Wisconsin Governor's Task Force that developed a comprehensive agenda for accessibility for people with disabilities (years before the ADA), and serving as a caregiver for family members with disabilities.

Hafoc Yates joined the NoHLA staff in August 2006. She holds NoHLA together and keeps it functioning – no small task! She coordinates fundraising, administrative and database management, training, communications and NoHLA trainings, and she provides creative troubleshooting support. Hafoc is NoHLA’s Web Administrator, and specializes in Tech support with a smile.

Hafoc has a long history working with nonprofit organizations. She volunteered and fostered many rescued animals from pets to possums to owls in Portland, OR. Moving to Seattle she volunteered for Seattle’s famous P-Patch program. She enjoys animals, gardening, science fiction/Steampunk, hacking, Kettlebells, & vegan cooking with her son.

Lee Che P. Leong is NoHLA’s Senior Policy Advocate, bringing extensive experience in public health, higher education, international human rights, youth engagement, and reproductive justice in New York City and Washington state. Lee Che has worked for non-profits at the local, state and national levels including directing the NYCLU’s Teen Health Initiative and collaborating in the launch of two of Washington’s Accountable Communities of Health.  In her spare time, she enjoys the dining & cultural opportunities that living 30 minutes from Canada offers and is proud to volunteer as Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood’s board treasurer.

In 2023 Families USA honored Lee Che with its Health Justice Advocate of the Year Award for Health Coverage for her work on immigrant health expansion in Washington.

Leslie Bennett has more than twenty years of experience in health care policy, advocacy, and communications on both the east and west coasts. Most recently, she was Senior Communications Manager at the Washington Health Alliance, a nonprofit collaborative of purchasers, providers, insurers, and consumers working to improve the quality and reduce the cost of health care across Washington state. Previously, she was the Director of the Commercial Insurance Appeals Project at Health Law Advocates in Boston, Assistant General Counsel at the Massachusetts Health Connector, Assistant Attorney General in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and Staff Attorney with the Community Health Assets Project, where she represented community interests in nonprofit hospital conversions at Consumers Union in San Francisco, the advocacy effort of the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. Before that, she worked as a radio news reporter at KUOW in Seattle and National Public Radio affiliated stations in New Hampshire and California. Leslie attended Emerson College and Northeastern University Law School.

In her free time, Leslie enjoys gardening, yoga, and all kinds of film.

Lori Buchsbaum has over 30 years of experience working with local, regional and international health and legal programs in the Pacific Northwest, Washington, D.C. and along the U.S.-Mexico border.  She is currently a mediator, facilitator and trainer with Bermuda Associates, LLC, the Center for Dialog & Resolution, the King County Interlocal Conflict Resolution Group and Conflict Intervention Services.

Lori served as Staff Attorney for Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA) from 2006 to 2010.  She has also done legal work for:  Center for Health Training; the Washington State Department of Health, Tobacco Prevention and Control Programs; Public Health Seattle King County; Medstar/Georgetown University Hospital; the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; the Maryland Court of Special Appeals; the Center for Medicare Advocacy; Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal, LLP; and the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Lori led and contributed to public, community and international health efforts with Development Associates, Project Concern International and many local health organizations based in San Diego, CA.  She received her J.D. in 2004 from American University, Washington College of Law, a Master’s Degree in Public Health in 1991 from San Diego State University, and a BA/BS from University of California, San Diego in 1988.  Lori loves to travel, hike, ski, swim and “explore” with her son Max, husband Steve and their lab Zeus.

Audrey Sheffield came to Seattle in 1989 after receiving her MBA from the Yale School of Management. Since then, she has worked in health care management for both Northwest Hospital and Group Health Cooperative. She has also served in a variety of volunteer capacities in connection with the Seattle Public Schools: PTA Treasurer, Annual Fund Chair, Garfield Jazz Foundation Co-President, and girls soccer team manager. She is currently a volunteer college coach for Garfield High School students with College Access Now. Audrey lives in Madrona with her husband, John, a UW faculty physician at Harborview Medical Center, and has two daughters in college.

Abby Goldy is the managing attorney for the ACLU-WA’s Information and Referral Program. She has worked in public interest organizations serving communities impacted by poverty for almost 20 years beginning with her work at the Northwest Justice Project as a CLEAR attorney and volunteer coordinator. Her work also led her to advising law students seeking public interest law opportunities at the Access to Justice Institute at Seattle University before coming to the ACLU-WA in 2021. Abby lives in Seattle with her spouse and video-ready Frenchie, Po Tater.

Cezanne Garcia has more than 30 years serving as a health systems redesign consultant, providing technical assistance and training to diverse health systems.  She served in Olympia as Director of Practice Transformation for Healthier Washington, worked with Public Health- Seattle King County overseeing the safety net clinic network investment, Senior Consultant with the Institute for Patient and Family Centered Care, patient care administrator at UW Medical Center and educator at Seattle Children’s designing programs to improve patient and family partnerships in the care experience, and worked as Senior Health Planner for the Navajo Nation.   She has dedicated her practice to provide capacity building services to care delivery systems convening its many stakeholders - staff, clinicians, and administrative leaders, in partnership with patients and families, to improve health care access, experience of care, equity, access, and quality.

Dedicated volunteer, including founding member of Jewish Women’s Funding Network and Harborview’s Community Service League.  Board member of the Burke Museum and former Board member of Artist Trust, Society of Public Health Education, Washington Health Education Resources Exchange, Alternative and Non-Traditional Employment for Women, and Navajo Nation Family Planning nonprofits.  She currently is lead cook for a team that prepares meals for homeless teens in the University District and has served for over two years outside the release gate of the NW ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, present to welcome released immigrants and support them to reunite with community and loved ones.

Cezanne lives in Seattle with her husband David Grossman and enjoys backpacking, bicycling, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her family. She is recommitting her time to create fused glass and collage art work.

Omid Bagheri Garakani works in the Executive Office of Public Affairs and Equity at the Washington State Department of Health working to advance equity and social justice. He is a Clinical Faculty member at the University of Washington School of Public Health where he teaches anti-racism practice within public health. Omid is organized with organizations and collectives to advance health justice, including the End Police Violence Collective (www.endingpoliceviolence.com) which authored APHA policy statements focused on centering policing and incarceration as public health crises, Public Health Awakened, a national network of public health practitioners working to support social justice movements, and as a Board member for Northwest Health Law Advocates to bring healthcare to all in Washington State. Omid's previous work includes capacity-building services and consulting at JustLead Washington focused on leadership and organizational development for legal advocates and organizations in Washington with a focus on anti-racism. Omid seeks health justice in his work, taking his experience as an Iranian American and familiarity with harms perpetuated by unjust systems, to drive his work to ensure all communities, particularly those structurally marginalized and experiencing the most health inequities, have the resources and power necessary for health.

Michelle Francis is a digital health attorney for Microsoft and works at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and ethics. Prior to Microsoft, she worked for healthcare organizations such as Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System. Michelle serves on the board of Legal Voice and is a member of the Washington State bar. Michelle lives in Seattle with her 7-year-old son. In her spare time, you can find her surfing, roller skating, and practicing yoga.

Shirley Prasad has spent more than 10 years working in health policy and advocacy, with a focus on increasing access to health car for low-income and other underrepresented populations. She has worked extensively in both Washington State and Washington, DC. She has engaged in issues that includes behavioral health, data privacy, Medicaid financing, and workforce. She is also an experienced community organizer, working with patients to elevate their voices with state and federal policymakers. Prior to working in health policy, she was an attorney working in tax law.

Shirley earned both her Master of Health Administration and Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Washington, a Juris Doctor form the University of San Diego, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia. She lives in Seattle and is excited that professional hockey has finally arrived in the city.

Raymond Yeung