Legal Rights Center

Author: clients

  • Joshua Esmay, Deputy Director – Community Legal Services

    Joshua Esmay, Deputy Director – Community Legal Services

    Joshua Esmay

    Deputy Director, Community legal services

    Josh (he/him) joined the Legal Rights Center in 2016 after serving as the Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for the Council on Crime and Justice. He brings seven years of experience as an LRC Attorney to his current role as LRC’s Deputy Director, Community Legal Services. In this role, Josh manages and oversees LRC’s work related to criminal defense, expungement, and community-based legal support.


    Josh specializes in advocacy and legal assistance that helps individuals overcome the burdens of criminal records, and maintains his subject expertise to support the training and education of others on the topic. He has served as president of the Minnesota Community Corrections Association and co-chaired the Second Chance Coalition.

    Josh graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School.

  • Samara Eltahir, Director of Strategic Initiatives

    Samara Eltahir, Director of Strategic Initiatives

    Samara Eltahir

    Director of strategic initiatives

    Samara Eltahir (she/her) joined the Legal Rights Center as a Restorative Facilitator and Youth Advocate in 2021 and later served as the Restorative Justice Program Director, overseeing LRC’s school-based restorative services and partnerships in the Twin Cities area surrounding education, advocacy, and restorative practices. In her current role as Director of Strategic Initiatives, she is focused on cross-organizational program development, evaluation, and impact.

     

    Earning her degree in Youth Studies from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Samara’s experience surrounds engagement in a variety of school, after-school and non-profit settings and includes all ages youth-work, advocacy for survivors of sexual violence, group facilitation, and non-profit management. Samara’s approach to her work seeks to uplift creativity and possibility, centering the importance of building meaningful relationships, designing strong organizational systems, and streamlining pathways for collaboration.

  • Malaika Eban, Executive Director

    Malaika Eban, Executive Director

    Malaika Eban

    Executive Director

    Malaika is the Executive Director of the Legal Rights Center, focused on supporting our community’s visions and the organization’s mission of transformation in the criminal legal system. 


    Malaika joined the Legal Rights Center in 2019 as a social work intern. Her experience includes direct programming with youth and families, issue-based advocacy with community-based coalitions, racial equity facilitation, political campaign management, and nonprofit development. She is a Licensed Graduate Social Worker with dual master degrees in Public Policy and Social Work from the University of Minnesota.


    Malaika is responsible for management and oversight of all grants and contracts on behalf of the Legal Rights Center and can be contacted at meban@legalrightscenter.org.