President and CEO
Carol Baldwin Moody
Carol Baldwin Moody has developed a reputation for her outstanding efforts to fight for equality. Her work specifically focuses on educational, economic and gender equality. Known as a tireless mentor and advocate for diversity for decades, Carol has taken on many roles to serve the community. Carol serves as President and CEO of Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund. Carol assumed this role in April 2018 after serving on the Legal Momentum Board for two years and receiving its Aiming High Award in 2011.
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Legal Director
Azaleea Carlea
Azaleea is the Legal Director at Legal Momentum, overseeing the organization's litigation and policy initiatives. She has dedicated her career to advancing social justice, with a particular focus on promoting and defending the rights of survivors of gender-based violence. She spent over a decade providing direct legal services to survivors at various nonprofit organizations across NYC where she represented clients in complex family, matrimonial and domestic violence cases in the NYS Family, Supreme and Integrated Domestic Violence Courts.
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Senior Vice President, and Director of the National Judicial Education Program
Lynn Hecht Schafran
Lynn Hecht Schafran, Esq. is Senior Vice President at Legal Momentum and has been Director of Legal Momentum's National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts (NJEP) since 1981. Lynn also serves as a senior staff attorney, litigating and writing in the areas of rape, domestic violence, the intersection of sexual assault and domestic violence, and gender bias in the courts.
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Deputy legal Director and Director of Economic Justice
Seher Khawaja
Seher is the Deputy Legal Director and Director of Economic Justice at Legal Momentum, where she leads the Women Valued Initiative. Seher engages in litigation, policy advocacy, and educational outreach to advance economic security and workplace equality for women and girls, with a focus on assisting low-income and immigrant women.
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Director of Development, Events & Appeals
Crystal Williams
Crystal Williams joined Legal Momentum in 2013, bringing over twenty years of experience in non-profit fundraising management, development revenue-generating strategies, and event planning. Currently the Director of Development, Events & Appeals, her responsibilities include the renowned Aiming High Luncheon and Women of Achievement Awards Dinner. Crystal also oversees the day-to-day operations of the development department.
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Chief of Staff
Sandra Brown Basso
Sandra Brown Basso joined Legal Momentum in December 1995 with extensive experience managing a diversity of high priority projects for executive-level personnel in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. As Chief of Staff, she supports the President and Board of Directors and works closely with all Legal Momentum departments and leadership teams. Sandy holds a B.A. degree in English from Wesleyan University.
staff attorney
Dorea Kyra Batté
Kyra works in the Legal Department to advance laws and policies that promote expanded protections for victims of gender-based violence and equality in schools and the workplace by engaging in impact litigation, legislative advocacy, and training initiatives.
Before joining Legal Momentum, she was an Associate at a law firm in Washington, D.C. Her pro bono work includes litigating before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for domestic violence survivors. She received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School where she was a member of The George Washington Law Review, on the Executive Board of GW Moot Court, and a Pro Bono Honors Recipient. She received her LL.M. at Columbia Law School where she interned with Legal Momentum both her fall and spring semesters.
Office Manager
Cynthia D. Foulks
With almost three decades of service at Legal Momentum, Cynthia is the indispensable backbone of the office, keeping the organization running and staff members support service.
DEVELOPMENT, EVENTS & APPEALS ASSOCIATE
Alejandra Hamel 
Alejandra joined Legal Momentum in 2023 and serves as the Development, Events & Appeals Associate. Prior to joining Legal Momentum, she worked in Outreach & Communications at BIGVISION, a nonprofit that provides community for youth in recovery from addiction; later holding roles in hospitality management. A long time recovery room volunteer at Planned Parenthood NYC, Alejandra was the first young adult board member at Planned Parenthood of Arizona. Her interest in nonprofits began at a young age growing up in Phoenix, AZ and transitioned with her when she moved East.
She holds a M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University & B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in English Literature and Spanish.
Program manager
Waleska Cabrera
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT FELLOW
Sharon Ceron Espinoza
LEGAL FELLOW
Maria McCabe
