Schedule and Education

Elyssa Goldstein, CLM, PHR, SHRM-CP, is the Firm Administrator of Rebenack, Aronow & Mascolo, LLP, with three offices located in Central New Jersey. She served on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Chapter of ALA for eight years, including one year as President. At the Association level, Goldstein has served as Chair of the Membership Development Committee, as well as on the Certification Committee and the 2021 Annual Conference & Expo Planning Committee. She will officially join the Board of Directors this May. Goldstein graduated with a bachelor’s in music from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

Stephanie A. Hood is the Executive Director of Hirschler, a Richmond, Virginia-based 90-attorney law firm. Hood has more than 30 years of extensive managerial and leadership experience within professional service organizations. Prior to joining Hirschler, she worked as the Executive Directors of midsize firms in the Greater Boston area. Hood has been an active member of ALA for over 25 years and has held a number of leadership positions with the Boston Chapter and the international Association. She is currently serving the organization as a member of the Chapter Leadership Team. 

Rose A. Jaworecki is the Legal Office Administrator at Thompson Hine LLP’s New York office. She is also the Co-Manager of the Firm’s National Resource Group. Jaworecki has more than 30 years of managerial and leadership experience at small to large firms in New York. She served on the ALA New York City Chapter Board for five years, including one year as President. At the Association level, she served on the 2018 Annual Conference & Expo Planning Committee. Jaworecki is currently a member of the Chapter Resource Team and in May, she will begin another two-year term on the team.

Michael Keatts is a Regional Office Administrator for Bowman and Brooke LLP where he manages branch offices in Richmond, Virginia; New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Orlando, Florida. Keatts has been a member of ALA and the Richmond Chapter for 19 years. Locally, he has served as the President of the Richmond Chapter for two years and has been a committee member of the Virginia ALA Statewide Retreat for 11 consecutive years. Currently, Keatts serves as a member of the Chapter Resource Team and previously served on the Membership Development Committee, the Annual Conference Committee and the Annual Nominating Committee.

Karie Rivkin, CLM, is the Chief Financial Officer for Eichelbaum Wardell Hansen Powell & Muñoz, PC. Rivkin has been a member of ALA and the Austin Chapter for over 20 years, serving in various volunteer positions. Currently, she serves as a Director on ALA’s Board of Directors. Devoting her career to the legal industry, Rivkin is a futurist, always looking for solutions to implement in all areas of the business of law. 

Tina White, CLM, is the Firm Services Manager for Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. She has been a member of ALA and the Greater Kansas City Chapter for over seven years, is currently the President of the Greater Kansas City Chapter, part of the chapter’s Business Partner Relations Committee, and Scholarship Committee. White serves as a member of ALA’s Chapter Resource Team and the 2023 Intellectual Property Conference for Legal Management Professionals Planning Committee. Additionally, she served as a member of the ALA Annual Conference Planning Committee, Regional Legal Management Conference Planning Committee, and the Compensation and Benefits Working Team. 

Kevin S. Lee, FMP, JD, MDiv, is the Building Management Administrator for the City of San Jose. He has been in the legal profession for more than 25 years, working as a Senior Litigation Legal Analyst — specializing in intellectual property and general business litigation with several prominent law firms — and as a Legal Support Manager at the City of San Jose Attorney’s Office. Additionally, he served as a board member for ALA’s Silicon Valley Chapter and as a member of the Chapter Resource Team. He is currently serving on ALA’s Board of Directors.

Jerry McPeake, MSLA, is the Chief Operating Officer at Minor & Brown, PC. He has worked in the legal field his entire adult life first as a data entry clerk, then as a paralegal for 17 years, and finally in legal administration for the last 19 years. He served on the Board of Directors at the Mile High Chapter for 11 years, including as Chapter President. He was an ALA Regional Representative from 2014–2016; and was on the 2017 Annual Conference Committee. He currently serves on the ALA Board of Directors.

Kathryn Vidal, CLM, SHRM-CP, is a Consultant with We’re Boss, LLC, a resource for small and midsize law firms. She has worked in legal management since 1992 as an Administrator and Office Manager. Additionally, she has served ALA in several capacities, including Vice President and President of the Houston Chapter and member and Chair of the Regional Legal Management Conference Planning Committee. She is currently a member of the Certification Committee and the Chapter Resource Team. 

Travis Armstrong, CLM, CPA, is the Chief Operating Officer for English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP (ELPO Law), a regional firm with three offices and 32 attorneys, headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He has been a member of ALA since 2005, when he first accepted a position in the legal management profession. He immediately joined ALA and became a member of the Middle Tennessee Chapter, where he served as Treasurer for six years, then Vice President and President. In addition to his local chapter service, he served two years as a Regional Representative before becoming a member of the 2017 and 2018 Annual Conference Planning Committees. He then served as Chair of the 2019 Annual Conference Planning Committee, followed by two years on the Certification Committee. He is currently in his second year as a member of the ALA Board of Directors. Armstrong holds his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license, as well as the CLM.  

Michelle Friends is a Law Firm Operations Professional with over a decade of business development and administration experience. She particularly enjoys focusing on strategic planning for culture, information technology, compensation and bonus structures, and recruiting and retention. Currently, she serves on the Chapter Resource Team for ALA. Friends holds a master’s in legal administration from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Her career in legal began in marketing and business development. She has served in numerous roles for the Legal Marketing Association, including the role of Treasurer for the International Board of Directors in 2022. She received her undergraduate degree from Metro State. 

Kameelah Hakeem, MBA, is the Administrative Director at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. She attended law school and earned her MBA. Additionally, she is a Notary Public and a certified life insurance agent and a professional singer in the family vocal group, Royalty, previously signed with the Warner Bros. recording label; she lends her voice to the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic. As the immediate Past President of the Greater Los Angeles Association of Legal Administrators Chapter (2021–2022), she championed innovation and creativity by leveraging diversity and the talent in their chapter to offer continued education to its members. She is a member of the ALA Chapter Resource Team and was recently appointed to ALA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee. 

Sarah Cramer is Director of Human Resources at Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice LLC where she oversees all HR functions for the firm’s four Midwest locations. Cramer has more than 14 years of law firm experience in many legal support and management roles. She joined ALA in 2013 and is an active Greater Kansas City Chapter member, serving in various roles, including President, Business Partner Committee Chair and Membership Committee Chair. She is also a member of the Gateway Chapter. Cramer currently serves on ALA’s Chapter Resource Team.

Nick Manty is the Marketing Manager at Barnes & Thornburg’s Minneapolis office. He started his career working as a Firm Administrator for a boutique law firm specializing in bankruptcy and creditors’ rights. At Barnes, working with a team of skilled professionals from across the country, he oversees all marketing initiatives for the Minneapolis market and the firm’s alumni program. In addition to his marketing work, Manty is passionate about professional development and is active in the Legal Marketing Association and ALA, where he serves on the Chapter Resource Team. In that role, he advises local chapter leadership across the country.

Clara Onderdonk, CLM, is Office Manager of Ernstrom & Dreste, LLP in Rochester, New York. Within ALA, she is Past President of the Western and Central New York Chapter, served on the Annual Conference Committee three times, Regional Nominating Committee twice, Association Nominating Committee, Student Scholarship Mentor with the Foundation of ALA, Region One Team, and Chapter Resource Team. She currently serves as a Director on ALA’s Board of Directors. 

Judy Hissong, CLM, PCC, is the President of Nesso Strategies, a law firm consultancy that speaks, trains and coaches on leadership. Hissong is a Certified Legal Manager and Professional Certified Coach. She is a Past President of the San Diego Chapter of ALA, the 2006 Annual Conference Chair, and currently serving the Association on the International Board of Directors.

Terri Moore-Natal, SPHR, is the Director of Administration at Holzer Patel Drennan, a boutique intellectual property and business law firm in Denver, Colorado. Moore-Natal is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and has served on the Mile High Chapter ALA Board of Directors in many roles, including President. She is currently serving ALA as a Membership Ambassador and Chapter Resource Team member. In May 2023, Moore-Natal will become a member of ALA’s Board of Directors.

Carrie Valenzuela is the Branch Office Manager for the Scottsdale, Arizona, office of Meagher & Geer, PLLP. She began her career as a legal professional in Tucson and has been in the Phoenix area since 2012. She has been a member of ALA for over 10 years and is an active member of the Arizona Chapter serving in various roles, including Chapter President (2021–2022). Valenzuela is continuing her service to ALA as a Chapter Resource Team member.