Alma A. Godinez is a Senior Attorney at the New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children (NJCIC). Alma leads NJCIC’s Rapid Response Initiative, which seeks to provide representation and services to youth at high risk of removal. Before NJCIC, Alma was a Staff Attorney at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) for two years where she represented unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings as they sought humanitarian based immigration relief. Prior to joining KIND, Alma worked briefly as a civil litigator in the private sector. Upon graduating from Rutgers Law School, Alma clerked in the Family Part of the Passaic County Superior Court of New Jersey. While attending law school part time, Alma served as a Program Coordinator for a joint project of the Child Advocacy and Immigrant Justice Clinics at Rutgers Law School, providing immigration representation to children and youth involved in the New Jersey foster care system for four years. Alma also served as the inaugural fellow for the law school’s Center for Immigrant Justice, where she co-authored a symposium essay titled, “Sanctuary States,” published in the Southwestern Law Review. Alma obtained her undergraduate degree from Dominican University of New York with a B.A. in Social Sciences and minors in English and History. Prior to attending law school, Alma worked as a paralegal in a boutique immigration law firm for four years. Alma is admitted to practice law in the state and district court of New Jersey. Alma is also fluent in Spanish.