Joan Meier
Executive Director
Ms. Meier is the Founder and Executive Director of DV LEAP and Professor of Clinical Law at George Washington University Law School. Over the past 20 years she has litigated hundreds of domestic violence cases at both the trial and appellate court levels. She has also engaged in national and local domestic violence advocacy efforts in collaboration with the domestic violence community, consulted for numerous organizations including the Department of Justice and American Bar Association, and delivers regular trainings and workshops for lawyers, judges, advocates, and mental health professionals. She has served on the Mayor’s Commission on Violence Against Women and several other boards and commissions addressing domestic violence. At the law school, Ms. Meier has founded three pioneering inter-disciplinary domestic violence clinical programs and has received awards for her scholarship. Ms. Meier was a featured commentator in the PBS documentary, Breaking the Silence: Children’s Voices, which aired in Fall 2005. Professor Meier received her B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1980, her J.D. cum laude from the University of Chicago Law School in 1983, and clerked on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nirupa Narayan
Senior Staff Attorney
Before joining DV LEAP, Ms. Narayan was the Managing Immigration Attorney at the Tahirih Justice Center where she managed the immigration and pro bono programs and represented immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. She previously worked at Boat People SOS providing immigration and family law representation to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Prior to joining Boat People SOS, Ms. Narayan was a staff attorney with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society’s family law division and AIDS Legal Project. Ms. Narayan has provided training and technical assistance to domestic violence and immigration service providers, pro bono attorneys, courts, law enforcement agents and community groups. She currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project. Ms. Narayan holds an LL.M. degree from American University,Washington College of Law and a J.D. degree from New York Law School.