National Headquarters
Founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1968, MALDEF is currently headquartered in Los Angeles, California and maintains regional offices in San Antonio, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. In 1991, it purchased the MALDEF Nonprofit Center, its permanent home. The center houses MALDEF’s National Headquarters and Western Regional Office, as well as other nonprofit organizations that represent minority and under-served communities. This helps MALDEF perform its mission by enabling dialogue, cooperation, and broad-based coalition building.
The National Headquarters oversees litigation from all of the regional offices. In addition, the office litigates on behalf of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands.
National Headquarters
634 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Phone: (213) 629-2512
President and General Counsel
Thomas A. Saenz
Thomas A. Saenz, a nationally recognized civil rights attorney, returns to MALDEF as President and General Counsel. Previously, as Counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Saenz served on the four-person executive team to the mayor, where he provided legal and policy advice on major initiatives. During his four-year tenure with the City of Los Angeles, Saenz helped to lead the legislative effort to change the governance of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the effect of which has been to take the City a step closer to securing a quality education for all students in Los Angeles. Saenz also served as the lead liaison on labor negotiations, with a goal of addressing serious financial challenges in partnership with the City’s workers.
Previously, Saenz conducted civil rights litigation at MALDEF for 12 years. During that time, he was a leader in the successful challenge to California’s unconstitutional Proposition 187, and he led numerous civil rights cases in the areas of immigrants’ rights, education, employment, and voting rights. Saenz achieved several victories against ordinances unlawfully restricting the rights of day laborers, served as lead counsel in the 2001 challenge to California’s congressional redistricting, and initiated the employment discrimination lawsuit resulting in a $50 million settlement with Abercrombie and Fitch. He served as MALDEF’s lead counsel in two court challenges to Proposition 227, a California English-only education initiative. Saenz was also the lead drafter of the Amicus brief on behalf of Latino organizations supporting affirmative action in the Supreme Court case, Grutter v. Bollinger.
Saenz has been recognized on numerous occasions for his work. He was selected as one of Hispanic Business Magazine’s “100 Top Influentials” in October 2009. The National Hispanic Bar Association presented him with the Ohtli Award in 2008. In 2007, Saenz received the Peace and Justice Award from Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California; the Latino Law Students Association of Yale Law School Public Service Award in 2007; and the Mexican American Bar Foundation Professional Achievement Award in 2006.
Saenz was born and raised in southern California. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale University, and he received his law degree from Yale Law School. Saenz served as a law clerk to the Honorable Harry L. Hupp of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For eight years, Saenz taught Civil Rights Litigation as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Southern California (USC) Law School. His board service includes the Alliance for Justice (AFJ), Los Angeles County Board of Education, Alliance for Children’s Rights, ENCOMPASS and the Impact Fund
Director of Strategic Development Initiatives
David Damian Figueroa
As Director of Strategic Development Initiatives, Figueroa will lead the organization’s efforts to increase partnerships with corporate and philanthropic sectors, improve organizational capacity, and raise the poignancy of MALDEF for all Latinos. In this role, Figueroa will enlist the support of MALDEF’s staff throughout the regional offices, board members and work with Araceli Campos, Corporate Counsel, Joss Jeri, Donor Relations & Grants Compliance Coordinator and Matthew Barragan, Development Associate.
Figueroa previously served at MALDEF under Antonia Hernandez from 1998 to 2001, as Director of Public Relations & Creative Marketing. Figueroa served as Associate State Director of the Los Angeles County Region for AARP California from 2002 to 2009 where he oversaw the implementation of social campaigns, community alliances, volunteer management and membership development. Figueroa also helped launch AARP’s Segunda Juventud bilingual magazine in Los Angeles.
Prior to committing to service in the non-profit sector full-time, Figueroa had achieved an influential role in the entertainment industry, fostering the success of clients including José José, El Show de Johnny Canales, Boyz II Men, Arista Latin, MCA Polygram, BMI Latin, Motown Latino, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Marc Anthony, and India for RMM/Universal.
For the past 20 years, Figueroa has served as a philanthropic advisor to numerous Latino artists and specializes in connecting celebrities to non-profit organizations, such as Familia Unida Living with MS, AltaMed Health Services, The Dolores Huerta Foundation, The Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, and the United Farm Workers of America. Figueroa is a former Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles, a former board member of Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero and an advisory board member for PBS flagship television station KCET. He currently serves as an advisor for Shine Global and as a board member for Eva’s Heroes, Eva Longoria Parker’s foundation for children faced with developmental challenges.
Chief Financial Officer
Shelley Mallchok
Chief Administrative Officer
Gina Montoya
As Chief Administrative Officer, Gina Montoya is responsible for revamping MALDEF's communications, technology and human resource infrastructure. Gina brings nearly 20 years of experience in non profit management and legislative experience. She has served as the Chief of Staff for two mayors and a state senator. In those positions, she oversaw the operations of several offices with large staffs and varied constituencies.
In addition to managing the complexities of high constituency focused and high demand offices, she has extensive legislative experience, including policy advocacy. Gina has cultivated a vast network of invaluable contacts and community liaisons as well as corporate relationships. She has led and coordinated strategic planning, mobilized community advocacy outreach campaigns, coordinated multi-media communications and organized successful fundraisers.
Additionally, Gina was chief administrator for an internationally recognized Chicano arts non-profit organization and has served on several non-profit boards. She is a practicing artist and has exhibited her work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, UCLA's Wright Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Director of Litigation
Nina Perales
Ms. Perales is a leading civil rights litigator and an expert on a range of issues, including immigrants’ rights, voting rights, and redistricting litigation. For the past 8 years, she has been MALDEF’s Southwest Regional Counsel and has also served as National Senior Counsel and Staff Attorney.
Among her current cases, Ms. Perales recently successfully argued in the lawsuit challenging Arizona’s anti-immigrant law known as SB 1070; she also leads the litigation that has struck down repeated anti-immigrant laws in Farmers Branch, Texas. In the area of voting rights, Ms. Perales recently secured a Ninth Circuit ruling invalidating a discriminatory Arizona voter registration law and is currently defending a test case involving the constitutional guarantee of equality in redistricting.
Ms. Perales’ voting rights work has included representing Latino intervenors in the defense of the federal Voting Rights Act in 2009 and successful statewide redistricting cases in Texas and Arizona. Ms. Perales also served as lead counsel for Latino challengers in the Texas 2003 congressional redistricting lawsuit and argued the case successfully to the U.S. Supreme Court (LULAC v. Perry, 548 U. S. 399 (2006)).
Ms. Perales received her Bachelor's degree from Brown University and earned her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.
