A team dedicated to fight for more progressive, diverse courts.
Jeremy Paris
Executive Director
In nearly a decade with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jeremy Paris was a lead staffer for six Supreme Court nominations, and spearheaded the confirmation process for hundreds of Federal judges and Justice Department officials. Since leaving his role as Chief Counsel for Nominations and Oversight, Jeremy has become a trusted advisor to senators, civil rights advocates, and progressive movement leaders, and a strategist at the center of the fight to put diverse, progressive judges on the bench who will respect individual rights, do justice, and protect democracy. As a principal with the Raben Group, Jeremy is a public affairs expert and policy counsel who combines federal and local experience. He works to build strong collaborations to achieve significant community goals for public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders in Washington DC, Cleveland, Ohio, and around the country.
Erika West
Campaign Strategist
Erika brings over over 15 years of experience in electoral and issue campaigns and government affairs to campaign strategy and message development. She works collaboratively with sector leaders and subject matter experts to identify precisely what they want to achieve, and loves learning what they know best and do uniquely in order to craft the strategies and messages that will help them win campaigns for justice and equity.
As a principal at The Raben Group, Erika brings a deep understanding of electoral politics, issue advocacy, and messaging to her work with social justice organizations and coalitions seeking campaign and movement strategies. Prior to joining Raben, Erika served as Political Director at NARAL Pro-Choice America, overseeing their PAC, Independent Expenditures, and ballot measure engagement. She has served as legislative staff for a Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, campaigned for numerous state candidates, advised candidates at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and led message research for the reproductive rights and justice movements. Erika is a graduate of Howard University and George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management.
Elliot Williams
Advisor
Elliot spent 15 years across all three branches of government, as a law clerk to two federal judges, trial attorney at the Justice Department, head of legislative affairs at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department. He is now a principal in The Raben Group's Government Affairs Practice Group. Elliot is a CNN Legal Analyst, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Constitutional Accountability Center.
Nancy Zirkin
Senior Advisor
Since 1971 Nancy M. Zirkin has worked to advocate public policy that improves the lives of all people by promoting civil and constitutional rights and equity in education and in the workplace. From 2001-2017, Zirkin was the executive vice president and director of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights(LC) and The Leadership Conference Education Fund (LCEF). In that role she led many lobbying efforts on issues, including education, financial reform, voting rights, disability, LGBTQ, criminal justice reform. Zirkin, along with Wade Henderson (LC President and CEO), led the coalition in the fight for progressive judicial nominations, including the Supreme Court, and on various administration nominees.
Joe Onek
Senior Advisor
Joe Onek served as law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Judiciary Committee counsel under Senator Ted Kennedy, Deputy Counsel to the President under President Carter, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General under Attorney General Reno, and Senior Counsel to Speaker Pelosi. He has litigated before the DC Circuit, the Supreme Court and other courts.
Rachel Motley
Chief of Staff
As a director at The Raben Group, Rachel Motley is an advocate who believes in the power of centering constituent and activist voices to press for equitable policy change. Much of her work at the firm is focused on legislative strategy, Capitol Hill and third-party outreach, and building mission-oriented events and stakeholder engagements to elevate the work and impact of nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups.
Steve Sereno
Steve Sereno is a Government Affairs and Policy Counsel Associate at the Raben Group. Through CFJ, Steve manages and coordinates our Capitol Hill and Executive Branch outreach and engagement. Steve is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin having studied Government and the intersection of business and public policy.
Dylan Tureff
Dylan Tureff is an Associate in The Raben Group’s Government Affairs & Policy Counsel practice area. Previously, Dylan was a Litigation and Policy Intern at the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and a Teacher of English and American Sociopolitics in Bangkok, Thailand. Dylan also has extensive internship experience with the U.S. House of Representatives, The Maine Youth Court, and the U.S. District Court, District of Maine. Dylan graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Political Science and American Studies.