About Us

Baca joined Colorado Legal Services as its executive director in 2023, after four years as Director of Community Engagement at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Before working for Attorney General Phil Weiser, Baca worked as a Staff Attorney in CLS’s Migrant Farm Worker Division, and before that, he was an attorney at Earthjustice, a public interest environmental law firm. Baca grew up in Colorado and attended the University of Colorado Boulder before graduating from New York University School of Law, where he was a RootTilden-Kern Scholar, and simultaneously earned a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a board member of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and a commissioner on the Colorado Access to Justice Commission.

Minor joined CLS from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, where he served as the Environmental Justice Program Manager. Minor previously served in the Natural Resources and Environment Section of the Attorney General’s Office as rulemaking counsel to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Prior to joining the AG’s Office, he was a senior associate attorney at Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law firm, where he represented community members in environmental justice and oil and gas cases. Before joining Earthjustice, Minor clerked for the Hon. Carlos F. Lucero of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Minor earned his J.D. and M.S. in environmental science at Stanford, and a B.A. in Environmental Policy at Colorado College.

Jahanian, the advocacy director for Denver, was previously Senior Counsel at Denver Public Schools, where his main responsibility involved the District’s longstanding consent decree relating to services for English Language Learners and their families. Jahanian’s prior legal experience includes working as Director of Policy and Civil Rights Litigation at the Meyer Law Office, PC, staff attorney at the ACLU of Colorado, attorney at the civil rights firm Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, and judicial clerk for the Honorable Wiley Y. Daniel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Jahanian has served as president of the Colorado LGBT Bar Association and chair of the Denver LGBTQ Commission. A graduate of the University of North Carolina and Georgetown Law, he is currently secretary of the board of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado and on the ACLU of Colorado’s legal panel.

Lipka is the Advocacy Director for Southern Colorado. She was formerly the Managing Attorney for the Colorado Springs Office of Colorado Legal Services. She has been with CLS since 2008 and began managing the Colorado Springs office in 2015. She has previously worked in the Denver, Alamosa, and Pueblo CLS offices. Sarah has practiced in the areas of family law, foreclosure defense, public benefits, and eviction defense. She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law in 2007 and Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy from the University of Colorado in 2003.

Molly has worked at CLS since 2022, initially as CLS’ website coordinator, Technology Manager and currently as Director of Information Technology and Innovation. She began her career in marketing web and graphic design, then followed her interests, curiosities and experience into her current position. Molly earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Business Administration, and while working full-time in the university’s graduate school, her Master’s in Agency Counseling at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. She earned her Project Management Certification in 2017 and is currently PMP certified. She served on the first Denver Parks and Recreation Advisory board, and currently serves on the Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project Advisory board. She happily volunteered for several years with Reading Partners and on Habitat for Humanity projects.

Vilner (Masciulli) has 18 years of experience as a talent and professional development expert and was most recently the Director of Legal Talent for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, Karen received a B.A. from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in 2000 and a law degree from the University of Colorado Law School in 2004. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Karen helped lead Diversity Lab’s OnRamp Fellowship program and held several positions at the University of Colorado Law School. She also served as Vice President of the Board of Directors of Westgate Community School in North Denver and is a mentor for Law School… Yes We Can!

Prior to her work at CLS, Melinda served as Clerk of Court of the Denver Juvenile Court, and prior to that was Training Coordinator for the Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative after having served as the Executive Director of the Resource Center for Separating and Divorcing Families at the University of Denver, the first demonstration project for advancing interdisciplinary services to separating and divorcing families. Melinda previously worked for eight years as Court Executive for Colorado’s 17th Judicial District. Melinda started her career at the Colorado Judicial Branch State Court Administrator’s Office working in judicial education and policy analysis in the family area. Melinda graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from Regis University. She earned her Master’s degree in legal administration from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Choi is a proud generalist with a design background. Prior to joining CLS, she worked at Design Workshop as a landscape designer, where she managed a public park project and organized community outreach events. She earned her Master of Landscape Architecture from University of Tennessee, Knoxville and her Bachelor of Arts from Centre College, where she took philosophy, music, art, and art history classes. She is a lifelong learner with a great interest in organizational efficiency and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.