Okan Sengun, Esq. (he/him)
Executive Director, CIP
​
Okan Sengun is the Executive Director and Co-founder of the LGBT Asylum Project, the leading San Francisco-based nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to providing legal representation for LGBTQ+ immigrants who are fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in the United States. The LGBT Asylum Project is the very first immigration law group to be located in the historic Castro, a beacon of hope just across the rainbow crosswalk. 

Okan is also the founding attorney of Okan Immigration Law Group, a private law group that handles marriage-based green card and naturalization applications as well as asylum cases based on political opinion, race, nationality and religion.

Okan served as the San Francisco Asylum Office Liaison, the LGBT Coordinator and on the Advisory Council of American Immigration Lawyers Association, Northern California Chapter between 2012 and 2018.

Okan Sengun serves as a panel attorney at AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) and was awarded as the “Attorney of the Year” in 2016 by the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. 

Okan is also a mentor immigration attorney at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and he is a member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF). Okan worked at several non-profit organizations and law firms in California and Turkey prior to starting Okan Immigration Law Group and the LGBT Asylum Project. Okan is admitted to New York Bar and U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. 

Brooke A. Westling, Esq. (she/her)
Co-Founder and Legal Director

​Brooke Westling is a California-licensed attorney  who is dedicated to fighting human rights abuses by challenging social and legal constraints on gender and sexuality. She first realized the crucial need for greater social awareness and legal advocacy in this realm after serving as a high-school peer group facilitator, addressing gender and sexuality biases among high school students, as an undergrad at The Ohio State University. After graduating with a BA in Psychology, Political Science, and Women's Studies, Brooke went on to obtain a JD from Capital University Law School in 2009 then relocated to the Bay Area. In 2015, she received her LL.M. in International Legal Studies from Golden Gate University School of Law,  where she focused on human rights. Brooke began working on asylum cases with Okan Sengun in January of 2015. The two co-founded the Center for Immigrant Protection in order to alleviate the financial burden placed on their clients. Brooke currently serves as a Panel Attorney for the Aids Legal Referral Panel, is a member of BALIF (Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom)  and of the Policy Subcommittee of Women Get It Done. She is also a member of the State Bar of California. 

Gervy Jhon Tesoro (he/him)
Staff Attorney

Jhon is a long-time immigrant rights activist who started his career in advocacy with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) as a Development Coordinator.
 
After graduating law school, Jhon worked in various high volume immigration defense firms in San Francisco, representing clients in immigration court, and matters within the jurisdiction of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
 
Additionally, Jhon’s appellant experience includes writing appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). During this time, Jhon has also served as Of Counsel for numerous private attorneys in relation to obtaining predicate orders in state probate and family courts in eight counties, for immigrant minors applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile visas.
 
After six years of private practice, Jhon served as an Assistance Chief Counsel, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). During his tenure at the DHS, Jhon received valuable training to ensure immigration laws are enforced equitably and applying legal strategies allowing for all parties to be treated with respect and dignity during all stages of litigation.
 
Jhon proudly joins the LGBT Asylum Project as a deportation defense attorney, representing Trans, and Gender Non-Conforming members of the community facing deportation. He is thrilled to apply more than eight years of legal experience, to serve the legal needs of the LGBTQ+ community.

Rachael Stronach (she/her)
Immigration Removal Defense Paralegal

Rachael joined the LGBT Asylum Project team in August 2022 as an Immigration Removal Defense Paralegal. Her deep interest in social justice and human rights issues along with her experience working as a lead paralegal and legal researcher on immigration matters provides her with keen insight and a unique perspective. She is a certified Spanish-English Community Interpreter that graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Geography. Over the years, she has partnered with diverse organizations that share her value to advocate for and support underserved communities.

Andres Molina (he/him)
Development and Communications Coordinator

Andres Molina graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a degree in Marketing. He takes great pride working at the intersection of immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. As Development and Communications Coordinator at The LGBT Asylum Project, he's looking forward to directing people to the right resources and get them the help they need. When he's not replying to your messages on social media, Andres directs and edits videos.

Kassandra Merlos (she/her)
Legal Assistant

Kassandra is a Latina immigrant from Mexicali, Baja California. She grew up in Southern California but moved to the Bay to start her professional experience, starting as a DreamSF Fellow for the LGBT Asylum Project. She has her B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside. Her professional goal has always been to work with immigrants and help them find the resources necessary to help them in their migration journey. Kassandra completed her 11-month DreamSF fellowship with the LGBT Asylum Project in May 2023, and she stayed as a Legal Assistant to work on declarations, consultations and assist in admin work.

​Outside of her professional interests, she has a keen eye for anything fashion and makeup art. In short, Kassandra is a Pisces who enjoys meeting new people, making new friends, and helping members of her community.

Laura Marini Ferreira (she/her)
SF Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) DreamSF Fellow​

Laura Marini Ferreira was born in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil and has been in the Bay Area since 2018.  Laura is currently studying Civil Engineering with a minor in interdisciplinary studies at San Jose State University, and hoping to to learn more about the paths available so that she can work on fields related to her major.  In addition to her studies, Laura enjoys listening to MPB, podcasts, and working on small sewing and crocheting projects.

Now that she has started the DreamSF fellowship, Laura is thrilled to be placed at The LGBT Asylum Project where she will be assisting them in document translations and grant narratives. She hopes to use this new experience to continue to help the undocumented community moving forward.​

Slater Stanley
Legal Services Funders Network (LSFN) Fellow​

Slater is a queer makeup artist and soon-to-be attorney from Southern California. He has a longstanding interest in multicultural education and queer community-building and is excited to support the important work of the LGBT Asylum Project.

After graduating from NYU with a major in East Asian Studies and a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Slater worked as a cook and a freelance makeup artist. In New York City, he developed his network and skills, doing makeup for weddings, fashion photography, music videos, and even a few celebrities like Björk and Alok Vaid-Menon. 

Law school brought him back to California in 2020. During his time at the University of San Francisco School of Law, he interned at two other nonprofits that provide legal aid to LGBTQ asylum seekers – Oasis Legal Services and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. These opportunities allowed him an understanding of how various organizations operate to collectively assist our international community. 

In this fellowship position he is particularly grateful for the ability to work in a historically queer neighborhood, alongside queer colleagues, and in support of LGB and TGNCI clients from around the world. 

Jupiter Peraza (she/her)
Community Outreach Strategist

Jupiter Peraza (she/her) is a San Francisco-based transgender and immigrant rights advocate, community organizer, and thought leader.

Earlier this year, she was elected to serve as a delegate to the California Democratic Party representing Assembly District 17th. In 2021, she wrote and spearheaded legislation that recognized August as Transgender History Month in the city and county of San Francisco. She currently serves on the board of the San Francisco Women's Political Committee. In 2022, State Senator Scott Wiener honored her as Senate District 11th 2022 Woman of the Year for her contributions and leadership as a transgender advocate.

Amit Patel (he/him)
Community Events Manager

Amit Patel (he/him) is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, and artistic director, living in the San Francisco Bay Area (unceded lands of the Ohlone people) He has toured all over the world teaching classes and creating safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community. Co-founder of ishamidancecompany, his work has also been recognized digitally on YouTube hitting over 25+ Million views around the world. As an artist, and first-generation born Indian American, Amit strives to create spaces to explore gender, cultural and sexual identities through the lens of the performing arts. Amit believes that through art we have the power to make people think and actively engage with new perspectives. His goal as an artist is to create work and community that has the potential to unite, inspire, and empower people across generations and cultures.

C. Huiling Qian (they/them)
 Senior Fundraising Manager

C. Huiling Qian (they/them) joined as the Senior Fundraising Manager. Since last fall, they have been doing grounding break work in uplifting our efforts.

They are a nonbinary Chinese person raised in Shanghai and Hong Kong and educated in New England. A longtime writer and musician, their passion is creating loving communities in which art can flourish.

Alejandra De La Vega
Program Manager - Trans Leadership

Alejandra De La Vega joined as Program Manager - Trans Leadership in the fall of 2023. Originally from Costa Rica, Alejandra moved to San Francisco 7 years ago to seek asylum. Ever since, Alejandra has been working with the Transgender LatinX community, providing services (housing, medical, professional development, name change, legal referrals, etc). De La Vega is the first transgender Latinx spokesperson for DACA in San Francisco. Alejandra has served as the MC of a number of events, including the SF Trans March, SF Pride, Transgender Day of Visibility, and Transgender Day of Remembrance.