Our Leadership
Elena
Elena is Xiomara’s mom and the Executive Director and Co-founder of Little Lobbyists.
Elena believes in the power of stories to change hearts and minds. She loves connecting with families with medically complex and disabled kids.
Prior to Little Lobbyists, she had been an immigration lawyer since 2006: helping families to reunite, U.S. employers to sponsor workers, and asylum seekers to flee persecution.
Elena likes tater tots, dresses with pockets, and happy houseplants. She had lots of hobbies before becoming a mom, like painting, pottery, hoop dancing, travelling, and yoga. Now, she is usually just sleepy and hungry.
Elena can be reached at elena@littlelobbyists.org
Laura
Laura is Simon’s mom and the Director of Communications for Little Lobbyists.
Laura is a creative consultant, entrepreneur, and design educator. She understands the power of great design for great organizations and specializes in the development of creative communications for education, health care, and the arts. Laura loves being in the classroom, helping students turn their creative passion into a sustainable profession. Laura is also a graduate of the Maryland Partners in Policymaking Program. She uses her education, the expertise gained through her lived experience, and her skill as a designer and communicator to help Little Lobbyists learn about the policies that impact them and share their families’ stories with those who need to hear them.
Laura loves being a mom to both her amazing kids, does yoga, bakes impressive cakes, and really appreciates a nice manicure.
Laura can be reached at laura@littlelobbyists.org
Jenny
Jenny is James' mom and Little Lobbyists’ Policy Director for Home and Community Based Services.
Jenny believes that access to care at home makes life work for disabled people, and that the dignity of people who receive care and people who provide care are two sides of the same coin. She believes that living at home works when disabled people have access to a full spectrum of care from nurses, attendants, and paid family caregivers.
Jenny works out of California, where she writes for the California Health Report about issues that affect children and youth with special health care needs. In her life before kids, Jenny worked as a police officer. In her life after kids, she went back to school to be a Licensed Vocational Nurse.
Jenny's favorite hobby is diving into new hobbies. 3D printing? Pokemon Go? Cosplay? Drone photography? CrossFit? Carnivorous plants? Joining the Rancho Gordo Beans subscription club and cooking so many bean dishes that her family stages a mutiny? These hobbies are all great, but Jenny's favorite hobby is reading and commenting on Medicaid 1915(c) waivers.
Jenny can be reached at jenny@littlelobbyists.org
Stacy
Stacy is Emma's mom and the Director of Community Engagement for Little Lobbyists.
Stacy believes in the right to accessible, quality health care for everyone in our country. She believes in removing barriers with the goal of truly integrating people with disabilities into everyday life and their communities.
Before she was a mom, she used to be cool. She paused her work career when her twins were born at 28 weeks to become their primary caregiver. She has served as a parent advisor at her local children's hospital since 2017 and become heavily involved in county and statewide voter registration efforts. She enjoys cooking for her family, especially trying to recreate items from restaurants at home. She aspires to earn a green thumb with plants, but has not yet been successful.
Stacy and her husband are avid NCAA football fans who repeatedly debate the merits of the Big Ten vs. SEC conferences. She also loves taking the girls on local adventures to the grocery store, pools, parks and farms.
Stacy can be reached at stacy@littlelobbyists.org
Jeneva
Jeneva is Robert’s mom and the Little Lobbyists Blog Manager.
She's worked as a teacher, a government editor, and a Hill staffer. Jeneva is also a writer, with numerous publications in poetry and nonfiction. She lives with her son Robert, who has complex medical needs and disabilities, her husband Roger, their two cats and a dog in Bethesda, Maryland. Her other son, Castin, is a recent graduate of Middlebury College.
Jeneva can be reached at jeneva@littlelobbyists.org