To contact our North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center staff, please call 919.890.1090 or email staff@ncprobono.org.
Sylvia Novinsky
Director
sylvia@ncprobono.org
Sylvia K. Novinsky is the Pro Bono Resource Center’s inaugural director. Sylvia is tasked with supervising all of the Pro Bono Resource Center’s activities including serving as a clearinghouse for pro bono projects across the state, managing pro bono reporting and recognition, facilitating impactful pro bono projects which directly serve North Carolinians who would not otherwise have representation, uplifting the work of legal aid and other legal non-profits, coordinating trainings and CLEs for attorney volunteers, and recruiting and connecting volunteers directly to projects.
Sylvia comes to this role after nearly twenty years of service to the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she most recently held the role of Assistant Dean for Public Service Programs. During her tenure at Carolina Law, Sylvia founded and advised the UNC Law Pro Bono Program, a national model for inspiring students and alumni to participate in pro bono service. She has also served as the institution’s Associate Director for Public Interest Law, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, and Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Sylvia also spends time inside the classroom as an adjunct professor, teaching “Spanish for American Lawyers” and “Leadership for Lawyers.”
Prior to her work in higher education, Sylvia worked as a legal aid attorney. After law school, Sylvia litigated federal employment-related issues and administrative unemployment, wage and hour claims, and consumer cases, for Peninsula Legal Aid in Virginia. She then served as Legal Director for the Center for Immigrants’ Rights in New York, New York, where she supervised a statewide hotline for immigrants and advocates and represented domestic workers on employment matters.
Sylvia grew up in Queens, NY, and is from Argentina. She is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Industrial & Labor Relations and The American University’s Washington College of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Maryland, the District of Columbia and New Jersey. She is a member of the N.C. Bar Association serving on the Pro Bono Activities Committee, the Minorities in the Profession Committee and the Government and Public Service Section. She volunteers with the Fairfield Summer Swim Team and is a member of Judea Reform Congregation in Durham. She lives in Durham, with her husband, who teaches at Durham Public Schools, and her daughter.
To learn more about Sylvia and her work with the Pro Bono Resource Center, watch this video.
LaKiesha Donley
Office Administrator
donley@ncaccesstojustice.org
LaKiesha is the newly appointed Office Administrator of the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission and Pro Bono Resource Center. A native of Upstate New York, she is the eldest girl of a beautifully blended family of thirteen children. She is a strategist who is results-oriented, innovative, and analytical with a drive for change demonstrating excellent acumen in administration.
She formerly served as the Executive Assistant to the Director of the Office of Civil Rights for the State of North Carolina Department of Transportation. Prior to relocating from New York, she served as the Director of both Arbor Hill Community Center Incorporated and the Youth Empowerment and Mentoring Program. She has several years of leadership experience building social organizations and guiding youth who have been misrepresented and underserved. Her style offers a rare blend of creative organizational and operational strengths. LaKiesha brings her corporate management and administrative experience to bear in the context of her service to the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission in many roles, with various assignments.
LaKiesha earned Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees in Communications and Africana Studies from the University at Albany. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management.
Some of LaKiesha’s greatest joys are serving her family, reading, and a new self-taught skill – graphic design. She is married to her best friend and greatest supporter, Dimicio. Together they instill the same love and care they received growing up into their beautiful daughter, Jáyde.
Meghan Martie
Staff Attorney
meghan@ncprobono.org
Meghan Martie serves as a staff attorney with the Pro Bono Resource Center focusing on driver’s license restoration. Meghan oversees pro bono volunteer work and communicates with clients.
Prior to joining the Resource Center, Meghan spent two years volunteering part-time as an attorney with the Wake County Office of the Public Defender, representing clients in District Court. She also clerked for Justice Robin Hudson on the Supreme Court of North Carolina for four years.
Meghan grew up in Raleigh, spent her undergraduate and law school years in D.C., attending Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Law Center, and then found her way back to Raleigh after law school graduation. She and her husband have two young boys and in her (infrequent) spare time, Meghan enjoys reading, running, and dancing.
To learn more about Meghan and her work with the Pro Bono Resource Center, watch this video
Rachel Royal
Paralegal Consultant
royal@ncaccesstojustice.org
Rachel is a Certified Paralegal through both the National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) and the North Carolina State Bar. She serves as a Finance Manager for the Commission, as well as a Project Manager for several projects, including the Pro Bono Resource Center’s Driver’s License Restoration Project and the Commission’s Wake County Legal Support Center. She contracted with the Commission for two years as project coordinator for the Driver’s License Restoration and Housing Stability Projects before coming on as a full-time employee in January 2023. Most of Rachel’s work with the Commission involves pro bono project and volunteer coordination, technology implementation and maintenance, as well as process improvement. Prior to her work with the Commission, Rachel worked in family law, insurance defense, and municipal law and has been the owner of Royal Touch Project Solutions as a freelance paralegal and project management consultant since 2020.
Rachel graduated with honors from Carteret Community College in 2017, as the Paralegal Graduate of the Year. She has been in leadership with the North Carolina Bar Association Paralegal Division since 2018, including co-chairing the Division’s Pro Bono Committee. In her spare time, Rachel has volunteered for multiple projects through Legal Aid of North Carolina, the NC Pro Bono Resource Center (PBRC), NCAJ High School Mock Trial NC Bar Foundation, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, and many other pro bono projects. She is currently completing her Bachelor’s in Paralegal Studies through Charter Oak State College. Rachel lives in Wilmington, North Carolina with her husband, two sons, and Toy Australian Shepherd and enjoys outdoor activities, cooking, and reading.
B. Leigh Wicclair
Senior Staff Attorney
Restorative Justice Project Director
leigh@ncprobono.org
Leigh Wicclair serves as the Pro Bono Resource Center’s Senior Staff Attorney focusing on driver’s license restoration and relief from the collateral consequences of a criminal record. Leigh conducts attorney trainings, coordinates pro bono opportunities for attorney volunteers, and works on policy issues.
Since graduating law school, Leigh’s work has centered on addressing barriers caused by criminal justice involvement. Prior to joining the Center, Leigh worked as a public defender in Philadelphia, worked for Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, an organization committed to assisting people whose criminal records are holding them back from achieving their potential, and clerked for the PA First Judicial District Court of Common Pleas.
Leigh was born in Asheville, NC, raised in Lewisville, NC and is a proud double Tar Heel. She enjoys spending time with her family, running, and playing soccer.
To learn more about Leigh and her work with the Pro Bono Resource Center, watch this video.
Milton Barba
Contract Spanish Language Attorney
milton@ncprobono.org
Milton was born and raised in Ecuador and speaks Spanish fluently. Milton worked as a pipe welder and utility foreman for 14 years until he lost his job due to the Great Recession. At the time, the construction industry was struggling and he knew he needed to change careers. Looking for guidance, Milton remembered all the help he had received when his livelihood was threatened. He sought a career where he could give back to the community and became a paralegal. In 2020, Milton graduated from NCCU School of Law.
Milton opened The Barba Law Firm in early 2021, where he handles traffic tickets, misdemeanors, workers’ compensation, and personal injury cases. Milton’s understanding of the construction world’s intricacies and his intercultural communication abilities are assets for his clients. His goal is to build his practice to the point where he can represent clients regardless of their ability to pay.
Milton comes to the PBRC with an awareness that many North Carolina drivers have lost their licenses for financial reasons, and he looks forward to using his legal knowledge and language skills to help the Driver’s License Restoration Project serve more individuals who need help.