The work of the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and its network is profiled in the 23rd season of Visionaries, the award-winning public television series hosted by acclaimed actor Sam Waterston of Grace and Frankie, and formerly of The Newsroom and Law & Order. The episode, now being shown on PBS stations across the country, profiles NCLC attorneys and its civil legal-aid partners on location in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Washington, DC as they work to protect low-income families from wrongful eviction, foreclosure, and other unfair and deceptive consumer abuses.

NCLC is grateful to the supporters who underwrote NCLC’s involvement in this program:

Martha Tamayo is a Community Advocate and a member of the Board of Directors for Central California Legal Services. Martha has worked with the Kings Community Action Organization since 2012 to help residents and communities achieve self-sufficiency. She has also worked with the humanitarian program Palomas Mensajeras to arrange visits in the U.S. between elderly residents of Mexico and their family members now living in the U.S.

Ariel Nelson is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center focusing on credit and background reporting and criminal justice debt issues. She is a contributing author to NCLC’s Fair Credit Reporting and Collection Actions. Previously, Ariel litigated administrative and environmental law cases as a staff attorney/clinical teaching fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge David O. Carter of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and to the Honorable Judge Dorothy W. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, California, and the District of Columbia.

Karen Lusson is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, who focuses on energy and utility issues that affect low-income customers. Previously she was the assistant bureau chief in the Public Utilities Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.  Her duties included representing Illinois residential ratepayers in litigation involving utility rate increase requests, rate design, ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs, mergers, rulemakings and low income customer affordability issues. Prior to that, Karen was a staff attorney at the Illinois Citizens Utility Board and an assistant public counsel at the Illinois Office of Public Counsel. She received her degree in Journalism and Political Science from Indiana University and her law degree from DePaul University College of Law.

Andrea Bopp Stark is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center Boston office focusing on writing and teaching about fair debt collection practices and mortgage servicing issues. Andrea is also involved in advocating for foreclosure prevention and fair debt collection policies on the state and federal level. Andrea is a contributing author to NCLC’s Fair Debt Collection, Home Foreclosures, and Mortgage Servicing and Loan Modifications legal manuals. Previously, Andrea was a partner at Molleur Law Office in Biddeford, ME, and worked as an attorney for Northeast Legal Aid in Lawrence, Massachusetts where she was one of NCLC’s first recipients of the John G. Brooks fellowship. Andrea holds a B.A. from the University of Vermont and obtained her JD and Masters of Social Work from Boston College. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Elijah is responsible for engaging and informing new and existing supporters of the NCLC’s work via email, social media, and other communications channels. Previously, he was a grant writer at the International OCD Foundation, a development officer at Capital Good Fund in RI, and a labor organizer for a hotel and food service workers union. Elijah received his B.A. in Psychology from Brown University.

Mike assists with the day-to-day operations of NCLC’s finance and human resources work, including processing of checks and invoices, budget preparation, and payroll. Previously, he worked at New England Newspapers in its finance department. Mike is a graduate of Western New England University in Springfield, MA.

The National Consumer Law Center is sad to announce the passing of John Andrew (Andy) Spanogle, Jr. on December 18, 2020 on his 86th birthday. Andy was a longstanding consumer advocate, NCLC Partners Council member, and co-chair of NCLC’s Campaign for the Future.

Throughout his remarkable life, Andy was a fierce advocate for consumers: as one of the original “Nader’s Raiders;” as an advocate for pro-consumer state statutes on banking, commercial, and consumer law; as a law professor at universities including the University of Maine and George Washington University Law School; and as lead author of law textbooks, including Consumer Law, the first casebook of its kind which helped law schools develop new consumer law courses.

Andy played a key role in establishing credit card liability limits, and in the efforts leading to the creation of the Fair Credit Billing Act and improvement of the Truth in Lending Act. He also contributed to including pro-consumer protections in common mortgage contracts and standardized credit underwriting guidelines promulgated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All consumers today benefit from the work done by Andy and other leading advocates in the early days of the modern consumer rights movement.

After retirement, Andy returned to his consumer law roots and became a leading supporter of NCLC’s advocacy for consumer rights, and an attendee at Consumer Rights Litigation Conferences. Through a generous, multi-year and planned gift, Andy pledged $1.5 million to help launch NCLC’’s 50th Anniversary Campaign for the Future, and help sustain NCLC’s Washington, D.C. office, which is now named for him. The Spanogle Institute for Consumer Advocacy, dedicated in November 2017, helps ensure that NCLC will be a permanent voice for consumers in the nation’s capital.

Through his advocacy, writing, teaching, and philanthropy, Andy impacted countless consumer law advocates, and inspired action for consumer rights and a fair and level playing field for all. NCLC is extraordinarily grateful for his leadership and support.