ATJI Staff
- Diana Singleton, Director
- Jennifer Werdell, Associate Director
- Celeste Miller, Assistant Director
- Clay Wilson, Moderate Means Program Attorney
- Angeline Thomas, Foreclosure Mediation Outreach Project Attorney Coordinator
- Kerri Kline, Program Assistant
Diana Singleton
Director
206.398.4168 | singletd@seattleu.edu
Ms. Singleton joined the ATJI staff in June 2007 and brings almost a decade of experience as an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project. As a staff attorney for the King County office, she represented low-income people in a variety of matters ranging from foreclosure rescue scams to denials of government-subsidized in-home care services to child custody and support disputes to employment rights. Prior to joining the King County office, Ms. Singleton was a staff attorney for CLEAR (Coordinated Legal Education Advice Referral), Washington's centralized intake hotline where low-income people call for free civil legal assistance. She co-founded and co-coordinated the Legal Services Consumer Law Task Force and also collaborated with other advocates to conceive and supervise an immigrant financial justice project. She has served on several state and countywide committees and coalitions involving the Access to Justice estate-planning, predatory mortgage lending, low wage worker rights, child support advocacy, and equal access to government services. Ms. Singleton is a frequent presenter on consumer law and public benefits law. She earned her J.D. at Seattle University School of Law and a B.A. in Communication Studies at Westmont College.
Diana is the point person for:
- Seattle University Youth Initiative
- Lawyering in a Diverse World
- Social Justice/Public Interest Conferences
Jen Werdell
Associate Director
206.398.4455 | werdellj@seattleu.edu
Jennifer Werdell joined ATJI as Associate Director in July 2011 after several years of managing public service and pro bono programs in Seattle, New York, and Cambridge, MA. Jennifer most recently served as a Fellowships Program Manager at the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership, overseeing multiple public service fellowship programs for Harvard graduate students. Prior to that Jennifer worked in the Seattle area for three years, managing national initiatives for NPower, a nonprofit technology assistance provider, and then helping to oversee Microsoft's corporate employee volunteer program.
Jennifer received her B.A. from Amherst College (1998) and her J.D. from New York University (2001). After law school Jennifer clerked for U.S. Magistrate Debra Freeman in the Southern District of New York and then served as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and legal services attorney in New York City, addressing public benefits and economic justice issues through direct services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and pro bono recruitment strategies. She also served as board member and Director of Advocacy for Project FAIR, a collaborative, volunteer-based project providing assistance to low-income and homeless individuals maneuvering the public benefits process. Through Project FAIR she solidified her passion for helping students and professionals utilize their skills and talents to meet the needs of underserved and underrepresented individuals and communities.
Jennifer is the point person for:
- Student Organizations
- Leadership Development
Celeste Miller
Assistant Director
206.398.4341 | millerc5@seattleu.edu
Celeste joined the ATJI staff in September 2010. She had prior experience collaborating with ATJI as a law student at Seattle University School of Law, where she earned her J.D, cum laude, in May 2010. She is dedicated to working in public interest law and in the area of youth advocacy.
In her life before law school, Celeste lived in Portland and worked with at-risk youth in the public school system and the public mental health care system. This experience solidified her career goal of being a youth advocate. She attended Portland State University to earn her Master's of Social Work, and while she was there she met a dependency attorney who inspired her to go to law school so that she too could represent foster youth. She earned her MSW in June 2007 and started law school at SU in August 2007.
During law school, she was active in the Public Interest Law Foundation, joining the board as a 1L and eventually leading the board as Co-President her 2L year and President her 3L year. She was also an article editor on the board of the Seattle Journal for Social Justice. Also during law school, Celeste gained legal experience as a law clerk for Juvenile Rights Project, a juvenile defense and dependency firm in Portland, Oregon; as a volunteer for The Defender Association in their dependency division; as a Rule 9 dependency extern at Northwest Defenders Association; as a Rule 9 juvenile defender in the Seattle University Youth Advocacy Clinic; and as a volunteer intern at Street Youth Legal Advocates of Washington.
Celeste is now a member of the Washington State Bar Association and is currently honing her legal skills with a pro bono youth immigration case through Volunteer Advocates for Immigrant Justice.
In her free time, Celeste loves spending time with her family, especially her new nephew. She also likes extolling the virtues of Portland, Oregon to all of her Seattleite friends.
Clay Wilson
Moderate Means Program Attorney
206.398.4356 | wilsoncl@seattleu.edu
Clay joined the ATJI staff as the Moderate Means Program Attorney in November of 2010. Prior to joining ATJI, Clay was an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project for thirteen years. During that time he was an advocate on the CLEAR legal hotline, represented low-income individuals in family law matters and eviction cases, managed the Northwest Justice Project's Contract Attorney Program, and was a CLEAR supervisor. Clay also has experience as a health care administrator, policy analyst, and mental health counselor.
Clay has an extensive history of community volunteer experience; he currently volunteers at legal clinics for Kitsap Legal Services, a non-profit volunteer lawyer program, and has served on their board for the last nine years, most recently as Board President. Clay received B.A. and B.S. degrees from Washington State University, and an M.P.A. and J.D. from the University of Washington.
Clay is the point person for the Moderate Means Program
Angeline Thomas
Foreclosure Mediation Outreach Project Attorney Coordinator
206.398.xxxx | thomasan@seattleu.edu
Angeline joined the ATJI staff in March 2012 after serving as Session Counsel at the Washington State Senate Committee Services Office during the 2011 special session and 2012 regular session. She had prior experience working for ATJI as a law student intern with the Moderate Means Program at Seattle University School of Law, where she earned her J.D. in May 2011. She is dedicated to working in public interest law and is especially interested in public policy.
During law school, Angeline was active in the Public Interest Law Foundation where she served on the board as the Center for Professional Development Liaison and was responsible for planning SUs annual job shadow. She was also an article editor on the board of the Seattle Journal for Social Justice where her article entitled "Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Implementing Land Reform and Combating Climate Change in Brazil's Amazon an Analysis of Law 11952.09" was published in the Spring 2011 issue.
In addition to serving as a Moderate Means Program intern during law school, Angeline gained legal experience as a chambers extern to the Honorable J. Robin Hunt at the Washington State Court of Appeals Division II. Angeline also gained policy and legislative experience as a legal intern at Senate Committee Services and as a policy intern at the Alliance for a Just Society (formerly Northwest Federation of Community Organizations) where she worked on a range of issues including education, health care, and transportation policy.
Prior to law school, Angeline became a licensed cosmetologist at age 18 and used this skill to put herself through college. In her spare time, she enjoys keeping up her skills and having a creative outlet with a small clientele of friends and family.
Angeline is the point person for the Foreclosure Mediation Outreach Program.
Kerri Kline
Program Assistant
206.398.4173 | klineke@seattleu.edu
Kerri joined the ATJI staff in January of 2011 as the Program Assistant. Prior to working at ATJI, Kerri worked for Seattle Public Schools as a Special Education Instructional Assistant. She also has experience providing supplemental educational services to the lowest achievers in the public schools by offering tutoring services. With the organizational abilities gained through working in other office settings, along with her passion for working towards a more just society, Kerri is very excited to be a part of the wonderful work that ATJI does.
