GHLA Staff

Jamey Bell has been Executive Director since 2013, and has 40 years of experience as an attorney and policy advocate in the areas of health care access, education, child welfare, and family economic security.  She provides day-to-day oversight of the organization, including administrative, financial, advocacy, personnel, strategic planning, communications, and legislative issues. She serves on the CBA House of Delegates and Pro Bono Committee, the Judicial Branch Access to Justice Commission Libraries Work Group, the Advisory Board of the Connecticut Community Law Center, and the CT Dental Health Partnership’s Dental Policy Advisory Committee. She is also an Incorporator of the Hartford Public Library and a Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows Program.  Previously, she was appointed by Governor Dannel Malloy to be the Child Advocate for the State of Connecticut in November, 2012. From 2008 to 2012, she was the Executive Director of Connecticut Voices for Children, where she worked on health, education, child welfare, and tax and budget issues, and led the organization’s legislative advocacy.  She was an attorney at GHLA for 26 years. During that time she was lead counsel in successful federal class action litigation to require the Connecticut Department of Social Services to provide adequate dental care to children in the Medicaid program.  Jamey Bell has a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan and a J.D. degree from Northeastern University School of Law.  

Yetzael Clement joined the GHLA team in 2017 providing administrative support to immigration, policy, litigation, and family work. He has over 10 years of experience in family law, child services, and customer service. He gained direct legal support experience working in his previous positions with the State of Delaware Family Court, Department of Social Services, and Division of Child Support Services. Yetzael is fluent in Spanish and English, and provides interpreting support for GHLA’s clients and staff. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Central Connecticut State University magna cum laude and is an enlisted member of the reserve component of the Air Force serving in the Connecticut Air National Guard.

Thomas joined GHLA as a staff attorney in 2022. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2022 where he held leadership roles in the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review, the Mississippi Delta Project, and the Consumer Protection Law Students Association. He was a member of the Consumer Protection and Predatory Lending Clinic and interned at the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Thomas graduated from Bowdoin College with a Bachelor of Arts in Government & Legal Studies in 2017.

Veronica Halpine has been a staff attorney at GHLA for 25 years.  She primarily represents GHLA clients in Social Security disability appeals.   She is a graduate of Connecticut College and the University of Connecticut School of Law. 

Nancy Hronek has been a staff attorney in GHLA’s Housing Unit since 1986.  Her practice primarily involves representing tenants in eviction defense and other landlord-tenant issues, as well as representing clients threatened with loss of their federal and state housing subsidies.  Nancy has a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a B.A. from Bowling Green State University.  Prior to joining GHLA, Nancy worked at the Connecticut ACLU.  Nancy is a member of the steering committee of the Connecticut Alliance for Basic Human Needs (CABHN).

Michael Kelley joined GHLA in 2021 and is a Staff Attorney in the Housing Unit, proud to be part of the state’s pilot program for a right to counsel for tenants in eviction proceedings. Prior to attending law school, Michael worked in a variety of industries, including in the non-profit, entertainment, and service sectors. A Hartford native, he enjoys spending his free time exploring the city’s parks and urban landscapes with his dog, Philip. Michael earned his J.D. at University of San Diego School of Law in 2019, and his B.A. at the College of Santa Fe in 2007.

Jin works in the family law unit representing domestic violence victims in the areas of dissolution of marriage, custody, restraining orders and relocation.  She also represents victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in immigration matters which include Violence Against Women Act self–petitions and U visa petitions.  Prior to joining GHLA, she worked as an Administrative Law Judge at New York State Department of Labor – Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board in the Brooklyn office.  Jin received her B.A. and Master’s Degree with honors in International Studies from the Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, and obtained her J.D. degree from New York Law School, where she was a John Marshall Harlan Scholar and an associate editor of the New York Law School Law Review.  She is admitted to practice in Connecticut and New York, and is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association.  Fluent in Korean, Jin is working hard to reach out to various immigrant communities to inform them of their legal rights and GHLA’s services.

Maria Morelli-Wolfe has been a staff attorney at GHLA since 1997.  During her early years at GHLA, Maria practiced disability, family, employment, housing, and child protection law.  For the past 10 years, Maria’s work has focused on education, representing families of children with disabilities to enforce their rights to a free appropriate public education and related services, compensatory educational services, and due process in school discipline.  Maria obtained her J.D., cum laude, from The Washington College of Law at American University, where she served as Editor in Chief of the Journal of International Law & Policy.  Prior to law school, Maria was a full-time volunteer for a year in East Harlem, New York in a small social service and home health care agency.  She obtained her B.A. from Yale University.

Lucy Potter has been a staff attorney at GHLA since 1984. She has practiced in every area since that time, but came to focus on public benefits and child support enforcement.  While much of her work is representing clients in administrative forums, she has also been involved in federal litigation to reform access to the Department of Social Services, seeking timely processing of food stamps and timely distribution of child support collections. In state court she successfully argued several child support cases at the Appellate and Supreme Courts. At the legislature, she has advocated extensively around child support and public benefits issues, and helped shape Connecticut reforms to protect low income people and reunited families in the child support system.  She has also served on five Child Support Guideline Commissions.  She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Ryan V. Powell joined GHLA as a Staff Attorney in 2020.  Prior to joining GHLA, Ryan focused his practice on defending insurers, employers, and third-party administrators against workers’ compensation claims. Ryan received his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Connecticut before going on to earn his Juris Doctor from the University’s School of Law. As a law student, he worked with the Connecticut Urban Legal Initiative to provide transactional-based legal services to non-profit organizations. He also served as an intern in the Anti-Trust Division of the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General.

Edna Rodriguez has been a secretary at GHLA since 2000.  She provides support for education unit attorneys in a full range of activities including intake and eligibility determinations, closing cases, managing weekly unit meetings, maintaining electronic files, scheduling, and preparing routine correspondence.  Edna also maintains the short calendars and coordinates service of subpoenas and domestic violence shelter referrals.  Edna is bilingual (Spanish and English) and provides interpretation in attorney and client communications.  Prior to joining GHLA, Edna worked at a local private firm and as a paralegal in the legal department of a national insurance company.

Staff Attorney Kayla Steefel joined GHLA in 2022 and is a recently admitted member of the Connecticut bar. As a law student, Kayla interned at the Victim's Rights Center of Connecticut and the Office of the Federal Public Defender. She received her law degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from the University of New Haven.

Kathy Tracy has been an Executive Administrative Assistant at GHLA since 2008.  Kathy provides administrative support for the GHLA Foundation including scheduling, processing payments, generating mailings and acknowledgements, and maintaining donor lists.  She also supports human resources and provides backup assistance with financial procedures and payroll.  She assists the executive and administrative management teams in a myriad of tasks including preparing for board and other meetings, and maintaining an extensive ongoing “tickler” system for internal operations and grant applications and reporting.  Prior to working at GHLA, Kathy worked for a large corporation for 22 years, holding many different positions, most recently Administrative Assistant.

Linda has been a bookkeeper and/or financial administrator for over 30 years, working with various nonprofit organizations from the Amistad House to the Village for Families and Children.  She joined GHLA in 1998 and prepares and maintains the payroll and other financial records at GHLA.

Thomas “Tom” Zeffiro first joined GHLA in 2021 as a Community Justice Fellow, and stayed on as a staff attorney in 2022. Tom attended Western New England University School of Law, where he earned his J.D., also in 2022. Prior to pursuing a career in law, Tom graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in psychology, and worked closely with adults with mental disabilities.