Spokespeople Lisa Navarrete, Vice President Lisa Navarrete is Vice President of Special Projects and the Director of NCLR s Wave of Hope campaign, which focuses on the rise of hate targeting the Latino community, particularly in the immigration debate. She also oversees NCLR s media advocacy and telecommunications activities and is the coauthor of the report, Out of the Picture: Hispanics in the Media. From 1989 to 1997, Ms. Navarrete served as NCLR s Public Information Director. Before that, she was the Senior Civil Rights Policy Analyst for NCLR s Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation. Prior to joining NCLR, Ms. Navarrete spent ten years on Capitol Hill working with the staff of Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressman Robert Garcia of New York. Ms. Navarrete has a master s degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor s degree in politics from The Catholic University of America. Clarissa MartĂnez De Castro, Director, Immigration and National Campaigns Clarissa MartĂnez De Castro, Director of Immigration and National Campaigns, oversees the organization s work on immigration and efforts to expand opportunities for Latino engagement in civic life and public policy debates. She previously managed NCLR s state policy advocacy efforts and civic engagement work, and in 2007, she served as manager of the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a broad network of national, state, and local organizations committed to advancing policy solutions on immigration. Prior to working with NCLR, she served as a public policy coordinator for the Southwest Voter Research Institute, as assistant director of the California-Mexico Project at the University of Southern California, as an organizer with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and as a union representative with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) Local 11. A Salzburg Seminar Fellow, she received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College and her master s degree from Harvard University. A naturalized U.S. citizen, she was born and raised in the Mexican State of Sinaloa. John Amaya, Associate Director, Immigration John Amaya is the Associate Director of Immigration. He oversees federal strategies, field work, and research activities in support of immigration policy, criminal justice, and civil rights enforcement. John began his career as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. There he gained a wealth of experience as a federal litigator representing U.S. interests in federal circuit courts of appeals and federal district courts. Prior to joining NCLR, John was a legislative staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). He designed and executed federal legislative
strategies related to civil rights enforcement, immigration policy, criminal justice, and judicial nominations. A native of Southern California, John holds a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Washington where he served on the Board of Regents. He is currently pursuing a Master of Laws degree at the Georgetown University Law Center. If you wish to communicate with the following spokespeople, please contact Jackeline Stewart, Senior Media Relations Specialist, at (202) 776-1771.