A community lawyer at heart, Natanya has more than 17 years of experience in public service, including the past eight years working and volunteering in Chicago’s legal nonprofit community. Before becoming an attorney, Natanya worked at Illinois Legal Aid Online developing programs that prepared court forms for people representing themselves in legal matters. She also worked with community partners to increase access to justice for lower-income people seeking to resolve their civil legal issues. As a lawyer, Natanya managed a court-based help desk for people with criminal records. In addition to supervising a staff of law student interns and volunteers, Natanya represented all help-desk clients, ultimately assisting with the clearing of more than 1,000 criminal and juvenile records. She remains an active member of the Illinois Ready-to-Work community and applies her experience in legal aid and access to justice to empower people both inside and outside the civil legal system. Natanya has long been involved with the public interest legal sector in Chicago and nationally. She helps facilitate entry into public interest careers by mentoring law students and in her work with Equal Justice Works. Natanya also volunteers as a subject matter expert and content contributor to Illinois Legal Aid Online and Illinois Free Legal Answers, a service that provides advice and information for people who cannot afford a lawyer. Natanya is a member of the National Bar Association, Cook County Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers Association of Chicago, the Chicago Bar Association and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.