LEADERSHIP

Ms. Clay is the founder and CEO of The Village Legal and Community Project. With over 17 years as a licensed attorney, Ms. Clay has spent almost half of her career as a public interest attorney committed to providing access to justice to overlooked and underserved communities. Ms. Clay received her B.A. in Communications from Loyola University of Chicago and her J.D. from The University of Detroit Mercy. 

Ms. Mendez is a first-generation black Dominican American with over 20 years of experience with community engagement, case management, and mental health services. She has worked with non-profit organizations, school districts, and businesses to promote equitable and just community, parent, and family engagement efforts in the Chicagoland area and the Northern suburbs. “My purpose is grounded in social and equity justice, empowering individuals and families and connecting people to resources within their community.”

As a first-generation lawyer, Shannon is passionate about the intersection of social work and legal advocacy as a method to deconstruct systems of oppression. Prior to and throughout law school, Shannon worked alongside adolescents and emerging adults at a Chicagoland residential treatment facility, providing holistic therapeutic services. Shannon has worked with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in compliance and policy development, with legal aid organization, Ascend Justice, as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence, as a guardian ad litem in the Cook County Child Protection Division, and as a juvenile justice defense attorney specializing in arrest response. A double alumna of Loyola University Chicago, Shannon has a Master of Arts degree in Literature and a Juris Doctorate with a certificate in Child and Family Law. Outside of work, Shannon enjoys comic books, cooking, and caring for her houseplants. She lives on Chicago's south side with her partner and rescue dogs.