Washington, D.C.—The board of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) voted in October to add four new trustees from Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago. Joining the CLASP board will be Michael C. Camuñez, David Hansell, Marielena Hincapié, and Michelle Saddler.

“These four leaders offer CLASP an extraordinary breadth and depth of expertise from their decades of experience in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors,” said Joe Onek, chair of CLASP’s board of trustees. “All four bring a deep commitment to the well-being of individuals and families in poverty and a record of highly successful leadership in government—at the federal, state, and local levels—or the nonprofit sector. Their expertise spans immigration, health and human services, economic development, finance and administration, and legal services—among other fields. Their diversity of background and experience will help CLASP achieve its mission of reducing poverty by strengthening policy not only at the national level but also in states and cities across the country.”

CLASP’s new board members will begin their service in January 2016. Here is brief biographical information about each.

Michael C. Camuñez served from 2010 to 2013 as one of the nation’s leading commercial diplomats as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Commerce. In that role, Mr. Camuñez visited more than 30 countries to advance U.S. trade and economic policy and held key leadership positions in a wide range of bilateral trade dialogues with developed and emerging markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Eurasia, Asia, and Latin America. Mr. Camuñez is widely recognized for playing a critical role in rebalancing U.S. economic policy toward Mexico, leading numerous trade and policy missions to Mexico and helping to lead efforts to update and modernize a range of initiatives to enhance cross-border trade and investment.

Prior to his role at the Department of Commerce, Mr. Camuñez served in the Obama White House as special counsel to President Obama in the Office of the White House Counsel, as well as special assistant to the president. Previously he served as a senior policy advisor in the first term of the Clinton Administration where he was part of the original team that created and launched the AmeriCorps program in 1993.

Mr. Camuñez currently serves as president and chief executive officer of ManattJones Global Strategies, which provides strategic advice and advocacy to help clients identify new opportunities and resolve problems in the international marketplace, with a particular emphasis on Mexico and Latin America. ManattJones is the international consulting subsidiary of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, where Mr. Camuñez is also a partner in the firm’s Government & Regulatory division in both the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., offices. He earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his B.A. from Harvard University.

David Hansell recently led the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), serving as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary. In that capacity, he was responsible for a broad range of programs including economic support and workforce engagement, child welfare, early childhood development, and social support for vulnerable populations. During his tenure, ACF supported a subsidized employment program that created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the wake of the financial crisis and enhanced its support for integrated health and human services delivery at the state and local levels. In addition to his management responsibilities, Mr. Hansell provided policy guidance to the U.S. Secretary of HHS on policy issues relating to programs under the direction of ACF.

Prior to his work with the U.S. HHS, Mr. Hansell served as commissioner for the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and previously was the chief of staff for the City of New York’s Human Resource Administration. In those roles, he focused on expanding workforce development programs and access to work supports for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families. He launched myBenefits NY, New York State’s first on-line benefits tool; created the state’s first Career Pathways program; and launched the Working Families Food Stamp Initiative.

He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. in Psychology from Haverford College.

Marielena Hincapié is the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), a leading organization that serves to defend and advance the rights of low-income immigrants and their families. Ms. Hincapié is highly respected for her legal and political strategies and is seen as a bridge builder within the immigrants’ rights field as well as across broader social justice sectors. A highly sought after commentator in English and Spanish, Marielena has deciphered the nuances of immigration law and policy for readers and viewers of the New York Times, PBS News Hour, Univision, and many others.

Ms. Hincapié began her tenure at NILC in 2000 as a staff attorney leading the organization’s labor and employment program. During that time, she successfully litigated law reform and impact-litigation cases dealing with the intersection of immigration laws and employment/labor laws. She then served as NILC’s director of programs from 2004 to 2008, after which she became executive director.

Before joining NILC, Ms. Hincapié worked for the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco’s Employment Law Center, where she founded the Center’s Immigrant Workers’ Rights Project. She holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, served on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration, and is currently a member of the Jobs with Justice and Welcome US Board of Directors. She is an immigrant from Medellin, Colombia.

Michelle Saddler served from October 2009 to January 2015 in Governor Pat Quinn’s administration as secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. In this role, she successfully guided and administered the largest state agency in Illinois. Ms. Saddler helped create and oversee programs for Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients. She also created new initiatives under the Work Support Strategies (WSS) project and developed programs to help persons with disabilities. As the prior chief of staff and director of policy for Governor Quinn, Ms. Saddler helped oversee the administration of more than 40 state agencies.

Her previous professional experience includes service as vice president for international adoptions with Lifelink, executive director of the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund, and director of investments and deputy for investment policy for the Illinois State Treasury. Ms. Saddler is also the former executive vice president of the Mid-America Leadership Foundation/World Vision. She has served on numerous civic boards, including service on the national American Public Human Services Association, and has served as chairman of Protestants for the Common Good and as board president of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Ms. Saddler received her master’s degree from Northwestern University and her B.A. from Princeton University.

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CLASP is a national, nonpartisan, anti-poverty organization advancing policy solutions that work for low-income people. With nearly 50 years of trusted expertise, a deeply knowledgeable staff, and a commitment to practical yet visionary approaches to opportunity for all, CLASP lifts up the voices of poor and low-income children, families, and individuals, equips advocates with strategies that work, and helps public officials put good ideas into practice. The organization’s solutions directly address the barriers that individuals and families face because of race, ethnicity, and immigration status, in addition to low income. For more information, visit clasp2022.tealmedia.dev and follow @CLASP_DC.