Symposia

Vanessa Roberts Avery was sworn in as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut on May 9, 2022. President Joe Biden nominated Ms. Avery to serve as U.S. Attorney on January 26, 2022, and the U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination on April 27, 2022.

Under Ms. Avery’s leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to prioritize a variety of federal crimes and suspected violations of federal law, including gun violence, fentanyl/opioids overdose deaths, civil rights and hate crimes enforcement, child exploitation, human trafficking, financial frauds, public corruption, cybercrime, and national security issues. Prosecutions and investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its federal partners are often coordinated with state and local law enforcement. Community engagement is also a critical component of the law enforcement response.

Prior to her appointment as U.S. Attorney, Ms. Avery served as the Associate Attorney General and Chief of the Division of Enforcement and Public Protection at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. From January 2019 to April 2022, she led the affirmative litigation and investigations on behalf of the State of Connecticut in the areas of antitrust, opioids, government program fraud, consumer protection, child protection, environment, energy, finance, privacy, and civil rights. Ms. Avery served on the Attorney General’s Litigation Management Committee, the Connecticut Bar Association Policing Task Force, and led the COVID-19 Fraud Task Force in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Chief State’s Attorney’s Office.

From 2014 to 2019, Ms. Avery was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division in this District, prosecuting a variety of complex civil fraud cases under the False Claims Act, asset forfeiture cases, environmental violations, civil rights matters, and defending Bivens and medical malpractice cases. From 2006 to 2014, Ms. Avery was a litigation attorney at McCarter & English LLP, where she focused on business and financial litigation, intellectual property, trust and probate, and product liability cases. From 2003 to 2005, Ms. Avery was a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division in Washington, D.C. From 1999 to 2003, she was an attorney in the Hartford Trial Group at Cummings & Lockwood LLC.

Ms. Avery is a graduate of Yale University and the Georgetown University Law Center. She is a New Haven native and a graduate of the New Haven Public Schools.

Detective Alvin Chen has worked for the Connecticut State Police since 2019. Det. Chen began his career as a Trooper working out of Troop H (Hartford, CT) barracks. In late 2021, Det. Chen transferred to Troop C (Tolland, CT) barracks. In 2022, Det. Chen was promoted to detective and is currently assigned to the CT State Police Hate Crimes Investigative Unit at CSP Headquarters (Middletown, CT).

During the height of COVID-19, as Anti-Asian Hate Crimes increased dramatically worldwide, Det. Chen reflected on himself as an Asian American CT State Trooper and the only Mandarin and Cantonese speaker within the CT State Police. Det. Chen is a member of the National Asian Peace Officers’ Association (NAPOA) and the Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut (APAC).

Det. Chen is compassioned to bridge minority communities and law enforcement through trust and provide a voice for future officers.

Attorney Dembo is a skilled litigator with substantial experience in matrimonial, civil, personal injury, criminal cases and appeals. He is widely respected & routinely handles complex cases involving multiple legal issues.

A James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, Attorney Dembo is a Special Master, Family Division, with the Hartford and Middletown Superior Courts. He is also a member of the Town of West Hartford’s Board of Personnel.

Attorney Dembo holds a B.S. from the State University of New York at Binghamton and earned his J.D. from Western New England College of Law. He is admitted to practice in Connecticut (1990) and is a member of the Hartford County, Connecticut and American Bar Associations.

Tony Ferraiolo is the Director of Health Care Advocates International’s Youth and Family Program whose mission is to provide a safe place for LGBTQ+ youth and their families to be supported and emphasizes that love, kindness, and diversity can empower youth to walk their truth and authentically live the lives they truly deserve.

He is also known as a compassionate and empowering Life Coach and a motivating and thought-provoking trainer. Since 2005 Tony has provided trainings to over 75,000 people around the country. Tony has dedicated himself to both promoting competent and respectful health care for the transgender community, by educating providers, and advocating on behalf of patients. He encompasses a unique ability to make light of a sometimes-challenging situation which puts his audience at ease to fully participate in his trainings.

In 2008 Tony started several support groups to support transgender youth and their families, the groups meet concurrently, providing a complete support system for these families, drawing families from New York and throughout New England. Since 2008 these groups have served over 1000 families. In 2017 Tony was a Contributing Author for Article in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry “Ten Things Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth Want Their Doctors to Know”.

In 2019 he received his teaching certification in Mindfulness and incorporates mindfulness in all his trainings. In 2020 he was a Contributing Author for the Springer Publication "Pediatric Gender Identity" Overview and Terminology Chapter.

Tony is the subject of the award-winning documentary “A Self-Made Man” and the Author of the book series “Artistic Expressions of Transgender Youth”. He also hosted the A&E miniseries Transitioning, were he coached three transgender young adults through social transition.

Tony is also the Co-Founder of the Jim Collins Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to transgender people for gender-confirming surgeries. Tony also held the position of the President of the board for 10 years.

Steve Ginsburg is a founder of August Strategic Communications and an expert in bias-related crisis management. Steve has deep experience as a legal and p.r. adviser to corporate CEOs and government officials, a community leader and organizer, a policy change advocate, and a media spokesperson. He has been appointed to serve on the State of Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council, the Police Accountability Task Force and the Racial Profiling Task Force Advisory Board.

Before his current role, Steve Ginsburg spent 10+ years as an executive at the Anti-Defamation League in Chicago and later as the Director of the Connecticut region.
Prior to his ADL career, Steve had a 15+ year career as a private sector and government lawyer in Chicago. He was a Principal at Mission Measurement – where he worked closely with philanthropists, corporations and nonprofits to maximize their social impact. He served as in-house counsel at Huron Consulting Group, as Chief Legal Counsel in the Office of the Governor of the State of Illinois, and as a corporate lawyer at Katten Muchin Rosenman primarily working with sports industry clients including the Chicago White Sox and Bulls. In the late 1990s, Steve also led the American Bar Association Rule of Law reform project in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Patrick J. Griffin was appointed Chief State's Attorney by the Criminal Justice Commission on May 12, 2022. As Chief State's Attorney, Attorney Griffin is the administrative head of the Division of Criminal Justice, the independent agency of the executive branch of state government that is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all criminal matters in the State of Connecticut.

Attorney Griffin has been a prosecuting attorney with the Division of Criminal Justice for more than 25 years. Prior to his appointment to Chief State's Attorney, Attorney Griffin was the State’s Attorney for the New Haven Judicial District. Before serving in New Haven, Attorney Griffin worked at the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office from 1996 through 2011, the last approximately eight years of which he spent in the Part A court where he successfully tried numerous felony cases to verdict. In 2013, Attorney Griffin was promoted to Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney in charge of the Cold Case & Shooting Task Force Bureau at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. As the supervising prosecutor, he directed a combined staff of prosecutors, inspectors, federal agents, municipal police detectives and Connecticut Department of Correction personnel who were responsible for the investigation and prosecution of unsolved violent crimes throughout the State of Connecticut as well as staffing local shooting task forces in Hartford and New Haven.

In 2014, Attorney Griffin was designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut and tasked with the investigation and prosecution of cold case homicides in federal court. In 2015, Attorney Griffin received the Oliver Ellsworth Connecticut Prosecutor of the Year award.

Attorney Griffin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Bonaventure University in New York and his law degree from Creighton University School of Law in Nebraska.

Mike Keo is a storyteller and community builder. When COVID-19 broke, and anti-Asian discrimination started to rise, Mike, a professional photographer, founded #IAMNOTAVIRUS, an online campaign to take back the narrative by and for Asian Americans. He and others successfully advocated for federal hate crime legislation, known as the No Hate Act.

Mike co-founded another movement to pass historic legislation including AAPI History in CT public schools with fellow parents, educators, and young people. Mike also launched a program for Asian American and Black students to find deeper understanding of each other and their families.

In 2023, Mike was recognized in CT Magazine’s 40 Under 40 – influential young people changing the game in Connecticut and beyond. He currently serves on Governor Lamont's Hate Advisory Crimes Council and is a board member at the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut as well as the National Museum of Cambodian Heritage and Killing Fields Memorial.

Maryam Khan was elected during a 2022 special election in March to represent the 5th District, serving Hartford and Windsor and is the first Muslim member of the Connecticut House, a historic triumph. Last November, she was re-elected to serve her first full legislative term which now includes South Windsor. For the 2023 legislative session, she was appointed Vice Chair of the Housing Committee and a member of the of the Aging, Education, and Judiciary Committees.

As Vice President of the Windsor Board of Ed, Maryam fought for access to quality education, funding community infrastructure, and inclusion in decision-making. Her experience opened her eyes to the vast disparities our communities face, inspiring her to lead the fight for change. She is committed and ready to take her advocacy to the next level as your State Representative and bring your voice to the state Capitol.

Maryam lives in Windsor with her husband and three children.

Sergeant Luke LaRue is a member of the Connecticut State Police Hate Crime Investigative Unit (HCIU), and started his law enforcement career at Norwich PD in 2006. Sgt. LaRue was later hired by the Connecticut State Police in 2012 and has worked at various State Police barracks as a Resident State Trooper. Community policing was a focal point throughout Sgt. LaRue’s career e.g., teaching DARE, coordinating community-based events, serving on juvenile review board (JRB) panels, etc. Sgt. LaRue was promoted to Sergeant in 2021 and has since worked as a patrol supervisor, the Sex Offender Registry Unit supervisor, and currently the Hate Crime Investigative Unit Supervisor. Sgt. LaRue has attained a Criminal Justice associate degree, Management and Leadership bachelor’s degree, and a Public Administration (MPA) master’s degree (Concentration: Public Safety). At the height of Anti-Asian Hate in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sgt. LaRue served on various panels, and was featured in an FBI Hate Crime public service announcement.

Judge Douglas S. Lavine is a native of White Plains, NY, where he attended public schools. He is a 1972 graduate of Colgate University, where he majored in history. After graduating from Colgate, he attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, earning a masters degree in journalism. He earned his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1977 and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School in 1981.

He was a reporter and editor for various newspapers before entering into his legal career. He worked in the Litigation Department of the Hartford law firm of Shipman & Goodwin from 1981 to 1986 and served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1986 to 1993. In 1993, Governor Lowell P. Weicker appointed him to be a Superior Court judge. He was reappointed by Governor John G. Rowland in 2001. In February of 2006, he was nominated by Governor M. Jodi Rell to a position on the Appellate Court where, following approval by the Legislature, he now sits. He has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut and Quinnipiac University Schools of Law. A resident of West Hartford, Judge Lavine is the author of two books on advocacy. His wife, Lucretia, is a social worker and his daughter, Julia, also a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law, is a practicing lawyer in Hartford.

Zahir Muhammad Mannan serves on a voluntary basis as the elected Secretary of Outreach, a position held for 14 years, as well as the Holy Quran Education and Temporary Devotion Secretary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of CT whose heart is Baitul Aman "House of Peace" Mosque in Meriden, CT. He also serves as the Northeast Coordinator of Youth Outreach for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association. He's served as the Chaplain for the CT State Police and Meriden Police Department. Professionally, Zahir is a High School Mathematics Teacher in Massachusetts.

Amy Lin Meyerson is the Co-Chair of the Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council, a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Executive Committee and Board of Governors, and a Past President of the Connecticut Bar Association. She is a Past Chair of the ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division, a Past President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), and a Past President of the NAPABA Law Foundation. Amy founded the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association (CAPABA) in 2000 and the CAPABA Educational Foundation in 2006. Amy serves in the ABA House of Delegates and has served on its Scope and Correlation of Work and Admissions and Credentials Committees, and as the ABA’s Deputy Alternate Representative to the United Nations.

She practices business, general corporate, and nonprofit law in Weston, Connecticut as a sole practitioner and is a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rated lawyer, a Woman Leader in the Law and a Connecticut Super Lawyer.

Amy received a 2021 NAPABA Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award and was honored to be included in the Gallery of Pioneers at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She received a 2023 CAPABA Impact Award, the 2015 CAPABA Ivan K. Fong Founders Award, a 2012 NAPABA Women’s Leadership Award, a 2003 NAPABA’s Best Lawyers Under 40 Award, a 2002 Connecticut Law Tribune New Leaders in the Law Award, the 2006 Edwin Archer Randolph Diversity Award from the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, and a Proclamation from then Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell proclaiming April 26, 2006 as Amy Lin Meyerson Day in Connecticut.

She earned her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law and received her A.B. with distinction from Duke University. Amy is admitted to the bars of Connecticut, Georgia, and the District of Columbia, the D.C. Circuit, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the U.S. Supreme Court.