Diane Gardener

Diane served as an in-house attorney at Boston University for 30 years, providing legal support for academic, research, health care, and business activities. Since retiring in 2016, she has volunteered as part of the legal resources group at the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network and as a board member of One Can Help, Inc. (a nonprofit focused on helping kids and families involved in the Juvenile Court system in Massachusetts). She graduated from Barnard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and worked in corporate law for two law firms in Boston before joining the Boston University Office of the General Counsel.

As an Access to Justice Fellow, Diane will work with The Right to Immigration Institute (TRII). TRII is the only group in the U.S. actively empowering students and community leaders to represent people in asylum, naturalization, and status adjustment cases. Since 2018, TRII has assisted over 125 people with their immigration cases. The TRII team, comprised of attorneys, accredited representatives, and trained advocates, works closely with a diverse community to ensure that no one must face the immigration process alone. Whether TRII clients flee extreme violence or are looking to apply for citizenship, our team enables them to receive the quality immigration representation they deserve. Diane will work with TRII’s team to provide legal representation in asylum and humanitarian immigration cases as well as assist in training students and community leaders to become legal immigration representatives. She will help to expand TRII’s services by taking on immigration cases, supervising TRII trained advocates and creating a welcoming space of clients and volunteers.