n ngo in consultative status with ecosoc 

american indian law alliance 
to hear the voices of our people, even unto the SEVENTH generation 

Why International Work 

Border Crossing Rights

Our Own Voices

Legal Services Project

Documents & Reports 

Links to Other Web Sites

Tonya Gonnella Frichner, Esq. (Snipe Clan, Onondaga Nation, Haudenosaunee) is President and founder of the American Indian Law Alliance, a lawyer and activist, whose academic and professional life has been devoted to the pursuit of human rights for Indigenous peoples.  Ms. Frichner earned a Bachelor of Science Degree, magna cum laude, from St. John’s University in NYC, and her Juris Doctor from the City of New York Law School at Queens College, where she is a member of the Board of Visitors.  She sits on the Board of Directors and serves as legal counsel to the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team, international competitors at the World Cup level representing the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. 

In 1987, shortly after graduation from law school, she served as a delegate for and was of legal counsel to the Haudenosaunee at the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights/Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva, Switzerland.  Since that time, Ms. Frichner has been an active participant and legal (as well as diplomatic) counsel to Indigenous delegations in virtually all United Nations international forums affecting Indigneous peoples.

She has worked most closely with elders from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (especially the Onondaga nation) and the Lakota Nation (through the Teton Sioux Nation Treaty Council and the Owe Aku).  Her work at the American Indian Law Alliance is known by others to be principled, effective and transparent, thus facilitating collaborations with other groups and nations based on shared traditional values.  She has considerable experience in the process of the establishment of the Permanent Forum On Indigenous Issues, and in the negotiation process concerning the draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the OAS Proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

For her work with Indigenous peoples, Ms. Frichner has been honored with the Harriet Tubman Humanitarian Achievement Award, the Female Role Model of the Year (one of 10) of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Thunderbird Indian of the Year Award, Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the NY County Lawyers Association Award for Outstanding Public Service, among others.  She sits on several boards including the Roundtable of Institutions of People of Color and the Seventh Generation Fund.

TONYA GONNELLA FRICHNER closing the 4th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

11 Broadway 

Second Floor
New York, NY
10004

1.212.477.9100 phone

1.212.982.5346 fax

aila@ailanyc.org

Jessica Earley, Programs Director, is from Syracuse, New York.  She attended New York University and majored in Political Science and Philosophy.  While at NYU, she studied in Argentina and gained an interest in international law and policy.  Her professional career has always included work with public interest organizations and she began her tenure with the American Indian Law Alliance in 2003.  Displaying good writing skills and an inherent understanding of the nature of AILA’s work, she has gone from a part-time administrative assistant to an invaluable legal assistant, drafting complex diplomatic communications and organizing international events.  Her special focus at AILA involves the International Indigneous Women's Caucus at the United Nations, regional organizing assistance to Indigenous women and health and environmental issues which affect our peoples and territories.  She has also assumed much of the responsibility for information technology at AILA, a critical component of our network of international communications with Indigenous nations and organizations as well as allies and other NGOs.

Teresa Calabrese, Director of Legal Services, is a graduate of the City University of New York School of Law at Queens College.   CUNY is known for specifically training public interest law attorneys and provides an important legal foundation for the work that Ms. Calabrese does at the American Indian Law Alliance.  In addition to serving as AILA’s legal services director, Ms. Calabrese has a private legal practice specializing in elder and family law.  This serves our Project well, since family law (including the Indian Child Welfare Act) is the second most requested service (after border crossing rights) of our Legal Services Project.  Ms. Calabrese is also a member off the Community Legal Resources Network which focuses on general practice, immigration and family law.  Ms. Calabrese is also an active member of the Community Legal Resources Network with respect to tenants’ rights and eviction proceedings, again making her expertise a valuable asset for our community.   

Maivân Clech Lâm, J.D., LL.M., Academic Counsel, is from Huê, Vietnam and can speak English, French, Vietnamese and Thai.  She currently serves as AILA’s Academic Counsel, providing expert legal advice on every aspect of international law and policy.  She is a Professor of Law and the Associate Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at City University of New York’s Graduate Center.  She also serves as the Head of the New York Liaison Office of the Academic Council for the United Nations.  She has an LL.M. for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, a J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai’I, an M. Ph. in Anthropology and a M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies both from Yale University, and a B.A. magna cum laude, with double majors in English and Economics from Marygrove College in Detroit.  Finally, she has a General Certificate of Education form Loreto College, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England.   She has impressive credentials having taught and worked in international legal venues since 1984.  Her publications and seminars include extensive work on Indigenous rights to self-determination, sovereignty and the administration of Indigenous lands and territories.

June Lorenzo (Laguna/Navajo), of Counsel, New Mexico, graduated magna cum laude from Colorado Women’s College and earned her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School in 1984.  Ms. Lorenzo was born and raised on the territory of the Laguna Pueblo and continues to be of service to her Native community.  In addition to her international advocacy work at AILA, she works as a Pro Tem Judge at the Court of the Pueblo of Laguna and has worked on several projects including preparation of the Pueblo of Laguna Children’s Code.  In 2005, she began working as a tribal court judge at two Pueblos neighboring her own community.  She has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Mexico teaching criminal justice, federal Indian law and the American legal system.  She has also worked in Washington, D.C. as a staff attorney for the Indian Law Resource Center, a U.S. Trial Attorney on the Voting Rights Act, served as Deputy Counsel for the Congressional Subcommittee on Native American Affairs and as Staff Attorney for the Committee on Indian Affairs in the United States Senate. Since 1997 much of her work continues to focus on international advocacy specializing in the international application of human rights law to Indigenous peoples.  She has vast experience in the OAS process and has attended United Nations Indigenous forums at all levels.  

Board of Directors

 Joanna O. Bigfeather (Western Cherokee/Mescalero Apache) is an internationally recognized artist and curator.

 Curtis Harris (San Carlos Apache) is the founder of the HIV/AIDS Project at the American Indian Community House, where he is now an active board member.

 Chief Oren Lyons (Onondaga) is Faithkeeper, Grand Council of Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee; an international activist for Native sovereignty; and Director of the Native Studies Program, SUNY Buffalo.

 Sammy Toineeta (Lakota Nation) is the Acting Director for American Indian Relations for the United Church of Christ and is a community activist.

 Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga) President and Founder of the American Indian Law Alliance is an attorney, activist, and recipient of numerous awards for community service, as well as an adjunct professor of Native America law.

 Maxine Nolan Gonnella (Onondaga) (1929-2003), Emeritus, served AILA since its inception and was one of the mentors and leaders upon whom we depend for guidance.

 Herb Frichner, Treasurer, is a NYC businessman and is an adjunct Associate Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology.