Additions Enhance Capacity in Group Called a Key Player “in the Machinery of the Legal Resistance to Trump”

Team will Focus on Protecting the American People’s Rights at the Federal, State, and Local Levels and Transforming the Crisis in Our Democracy to Create Generational Change

Washington D.C. – Democracy Forward, which has emerged as a key player in protecting the American people from accelerating threats to their rights, is growing again, with five new staff members. The organization today announced the hiring of attorneys Laura Gaztambide Arandes, Anashua Dutta, and Louis Katz, as well as new program leaders Astrid Dorélien and Alissa Lopez, adding to Democracy Forward’s roster of experienced and accomplished professionals. The new team members will not only support Democracy Forward’s nationally prominent work to challenge violations of people’s rights but will also be engaged in its recently announced DemocracyWorks250 program, a future-forward initiative supporting efforts to build a true democracy that works for everyone.  

“As the threats to the people of our nation accelerate, so too does the commitment of dedicated professionals who are joining the fight to protect people and to build a democracy that works for all people, not just some,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “These exceptional additions will help us expand and enhance Democracy Forward’s ability to meet the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful overreach with swift action, continuing to build work in state and local communities, and drive generational change. We are pleased to be able to continue to grow our team at a time when the stakes could not be higher.”

Founded in 2017, Democracy Forward has emerged as a critical bulwark against the unconstitutional actions the Trump-Vance administration has taken since inauguration. The group’s work has resulted in significant victories that directly safeguard Americans from harmful policies, leading to Politico calling the group a key player “in the machinery of the legal resistance to Trump,” in the recent article, No One’s Going to Get Out of This Moment Intact by Keeping Their Head Down.

New attorneys joining Democracy Forward include the following:

Laura Arandes joins Democracy Forward as Deputy Managing Attorney. Before joining Democracy Forward, Arandes was Fair Lending Market Specialist in the Enforcement Division and Special Counsel to the Enforcement Director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Prior to the CFPB, she served as Managing Associate General Counsel for the Fair Lending, Anti-Predatory Lending & Equity team at Freddie Mac, Deputy Director of Litigation at Civil Rights Corps, and a Civil Rights Associate at Relman Colfax. Arandes clerked for Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Gladys Kessler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

Anashua Dutta joins Democracy Forward as a Senior Staff Attorney. Dutta comes to the organization after three years at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, where she litigated cases involving disability discrimination in the federal government and higher education. While in law school, Dutta was Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, and successfully represented an individual seeking asylum during their proceedings in immigration court. She also interned at Democracy Forward and the Immigrant and Employee Rights and Disability Rights Sections of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Before law school, Dutta pursued her passion for human rights through her work on refugee rights for Amnesty International USA. 

Louis Katz joins Democracy Forward as Counsel after most recently serving as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). While there, Katz advised the White House and executive branch agencies on a range of statutory and constitutional questions. Before working at DOJ, Katz was a litigator at Cohen Milstein, where he represented classes of workers, consumers, and businesses in complex antitrust cases. Katz clerked for Judge David Barron on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and, prior to law school, served on the policy staff for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. 

In addition, two additional leaders are joining the team:

Astrid Dorélien joins Democracy Forward to support its DemocracyWorks250 initiative as the group’s new Civil Service Fellows Program Director. Dorélien previously served at the U.S. Department of State, where she was most recently a Senior Congressional Advisor in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs. Prior to this role, Dorélien served in the Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator and the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs where she oversaw implementation of key pillars of the U.S. Government’s strategy following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Dorélien has over 15 years of experience in the federal government and started as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

Alissa Lopez joins Democracy Forward as the new Deputy Director for Democracy 2025. Lopez brings more than a decade of experience at the intersection of democracy, civil rights, and grassroots power-building, including work at American Oversight as Strategic Partnerships Director, where she launched and led a national coalition to enforce access to public records. Earlier in her career, Lopez advanced structural democracy reform at Democracy North Carolina and defended immigrants’ rights across the Southeastern United States with the American Civil Liberties Union. 

More information about Democracy Forward’s team is available at https://democracyforward.org/about/#Team. 

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.