Board & Staff

Board of Directors

Kim MarksKim Marks

Kim has her BS in Forest Ecology from The Evergreen State College. She has spent twenty years working in the environmental non-profit sector, alongside groups such as Earth First!, Rising Tide, Cascadia Forest Alliance, and more. Ms. Marks specializes in providing trainings in leadership development, burn-out avoidance, strategic avoidance, strategic planning, consensus, facilitation, project management, and capacity-building skills. She is a former board member of IMPACT Personal Safety, ASJE, NFPA, & Bark. Kim works with indigenous and frontline communities in the United States, Canada, and South America on climate justice issues, fighting the root causes of climate change, and is currently working for GreenPeace as an organizer on the coal export campaign. Kim lives in Portland, Oregon.

Rebecca SmithPresident

Rebecca Smith

Rebecca is a public interest attorney in Missoula, Montana specializing in public interest law for low-income clients in Montana and Idaho, including representing low-income or marginalized individuals and non-profit community groups in cases involving environmental protection, activist criminal defense, and police misconduct.  Rebecca formerly served on the board of directors for the Buffalo Field Campaign.

SecretaryDana Johnson

Dana Johnson

Dana is a public interest attorney in Moscow, ID with a legal practice focusing on federal environmental litigation in the Big Wild of the Northern Rockies and criminal defense.  Dana offers litigation, education, and support services, including Legal Observer coordination, to regional non-profit groups and activists working in the fields of environmental and animal protection.  She is committed to providing creative legal analysis and representation realizing that social and environmental justice often demand a firm challenge to the status quo.

Kerul DyerKerul Dyer

Kerul is currently the Communications Director for the Klamath Riverkeeper, working with indigenous communities on water issues affecting Northern California and Southern Oregon. She is a recently retired Communications Director for Rainforest Action Network’s Energy and Finance Program. For over two decades, Kerul has worked with communities on the frontlines of environmental, social justice and humanitarian causes by providing strategic communications support. Her positions have ranged from co-founder and Communications Director of Common Ground Relief to Communications Director for the Environmental Protection Information Center. She studied investigative journalism at Southern Oregon University where she founded and directed SOU’s Media Center and edited a weekly newspaper. Kerul co-founded the Independent Media Center, a global network for citizen journalism and provides media trainings and support to grassroots activist networks across the US. She is a member of the International Journalists’ Network and Media Professionals Worldwide. Kerul lives on the Klamath River, California.

Jessica Campbell1277682_10201672681086078_581084073_o

Jessica is a rural and small town community organizer with the Rural Organizing Project. Working with some of the smallest towns in Oregon, she has provided support for all-volunteer groups organizing to address the root causes of environmental, economic, and social injustice. Before joining the Rural Organizing Project, Jessica spent a combined six months in Gaza and the West Bank, learning about their awe-inspiring poplar resistance organizing, participating in Israeli-and Palestinian-led direct action, and leading a cultural exchange between Gazan and Oregon schools. Jessica lives in Cottage Grove, OR.

Amanda Sigler

Amanda has a Master’s of Nonprofit Management from the University of Oregon and head shota Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Youngstown State University. She has assisted in the founding and development of several nonprofit organizations in Oregon and Ohio, as well as consulted on the topics of; board recruitment and development, capital campaign feasibility, fundraising basics, whole board fundraising and strategic planning. Her experience spans outreach, advocacy, event planning, program development, and fundraising. She has a passion for social justice, animal welfare and environmental causes. She continues to consult farm sanctuaries around the state of Oregon and is a current board member of the Cascades Raptor Center in Eugene, Oregon.

Treasurer

Amber Mongan

Amber website

Amber is our former Associate Director. Amber has a degree in sociology and business administration from the University of Oregon, and worked for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center at the University of Oregon School of Law.

Amber lives in Eugene, Oregon with her family and volunteers on the Board of Directors for the National MPS Society, which provides support to families affected by MPS and promotes research initiatives for MPS-related diseases.

 

 Staff

Executive Director

Lauren Regan, AAL
info [at] cldc.org

Lauren is the founder and executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC), where she serves as our staff attorney as well. Ms. Regan operates a public interest law firm, The Justice Law Group, specializing in constitutional law, civil rights, and criminal defense. She is a founding board member and past president of the Cascadia Wildlands. She also serves as a Lane County Teen Court judge, Oregon State Bar Leadership Fellow, National Lawyers Guild, Eugene co-chair, and volunteers hundreds of hours a year to various progressive causes.

Associate Director

Charles Denson
Charles [at] cldc.org

Charles started as the membership director for the Civil Liberties Defense Center in January of 2015. He helps keep the CLDC connected to our members. Charles has a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Oregon.  Charles has been organizing with nonprofits and progressive causes since 2008 when he first was drawn to activism through the environmental movement.

 

Staff Attorney

Amanda Schemkes
ashemkes [at] cldc.org

Amanda is a staff attorney with the Civil Liberties Defense Center; she received her J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law and M.S. in Writing & Book Publishing from Portland State University. Amanda decided to become an attorney because of her experiences in the animal liberation movement, through which she saw a need for legal support that is grounded in solidarity and resistance. She has traveled throughout the country to work with grassroots communities that are fighting to protect the earth and its inhabitants.

 

Staff Attorney

Cooper Brinson
cbrinson [at] cldc.org

Cooper earned his J.D. from the University of Oregon. Throughout law school he clerked for the CLDC. Cooper also represented clients in misdemeanor cases through the UO advanced criminal defense clinic (a partnership with Public Defender Services of Lane County, Inc.). Prior to entering the legal profession, he volunteered with a number of environmental and social justice groups.

 

Administrative Associate

Lynette Williams
admin [at] cldc.org

Lynette handles the administrative responsibilities for Civil Liberties Defense Center and she has been working with nonprofit organizations for over 20 years. As a paralegal, she specialized in helping organizations apply for and obtain tax-exempt status. Lynette has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Oregon and a Certificate in Paralegal Studies from San Jose State University. Lynette and her family have been a part of the Eugene community for over 25 years.

You can reach our staff members by calling our office at 541-687-9180.