Bringing an Arizona perspective to national issues of justice
The Seeking Justice in Arizona Fall Lecture Series, now in its 20th year, brings in experts from our local communities to discuss critical national issues in an Arizona context. Each lecture is followed by a question and answer period and time to interact with the speaker informally. These events are free and open to the public. Read about the 2024 series here!
All talks take place virtually (Zoom Webinar) and the recordings are posted on the SST YouTube page.
Watch previous sessions below!
Registration for each event below.
Fall 2024 Speakers and Talks
Adrian Fontes, Secretary of State of Arizona
Voting access and rights are integral components of a democratic society. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes knows this better than anyone. As part of the Seeking Justice Lecture Series, Secretary Fontes discussed how his office has championed efforts to ensure that all Arizona citizens have access to vote, and how he is helping to combat misinformation in this election cycle.
Thursday, August 29th, 2024
About Fontes
In 2022, Adrian Fontes was elected as Arizona's 21st Secretary of State. Secretary Fontes is a proud Arizona native, an honorable veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and the father of three daughters, who has spent a lifetime defending our Democracy.
Secretary Fontes served on active duty from 1992 to 1996 and was nominated for a meritorious commission. His service to our country taught him the importance of dedication, discipline, and sacrifice to forcefully fight for the American dream. After graduating from law school, Secretary Fontes spent his career advocating for justice and fighting for the disadvantaged — first as a prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney, then at the Maricopa County Attorney’s office. He later led the International Prosecution Unit at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. He practiced law for 15 years before running for office in 2016 when he was elected Maricopa County Recorder. As Recorder, Secretary Fontes revolutionized the election system by ensuring every eligible Arizonan had the access they needed to vote. Adrian enhanced ballot tracking technology and increased process transparency, winning awards from election organizations across the country.
Secretary Fontes is committed to preserving integrity in our elections, making voting easier for registered voters, and ensuring that Arizona’s business community has a non-partisan partner in the Secretary’s office.
Patrick Andler, Fire Investigator and Founder of Andler Fire
Wrongful convictions have become a critical issue within the US justice system. Using specific case studies, Patrick Andler highlights flawed forensic techniques and outdated fire science which have led to wrongful convictions and the need for reform in criminal justice procedures and case investigation.
Thursday, September 19th, 2024
1:30 - 2:45 p.m.
About Andler
In 1989, Patrick A. Andler founded Andler & Associates, an industry leading fire investigative firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Andler has been a fire investigator since 1980 and has investigated over 4,000 fires throughout his career and is recognized as one of the leading fire experts throughout the United States. He is certified by two nationally recognized organizations as Certified Fire Investigators and Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator, and is also certified as a vehicle fire investigator as well as fire investigative instructor.
Andler and Associates has provided fire expert services to governmental agencies on a Federal level as well as state and local levels, and has done work for a variety of attorney firms across the country in both plaintiff and defendant roles. Andler and Associates also routinely provides fire expert services for a number of Insurance and product manufacturing companies.
Reyna Montoya, CEO and founder of Aliento
Issues of immigration represent a significant space in our current political climate. Reyna Montoya, Founder and CEO of Aliento will be speaking to the challenges faced by immigrant youth in the US, specifically DACA students.
Thursday, October 17th, 2024
1:30 - 2:45 p.m.
About Montoya
Reyna was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and migrated to Arizona in 2003, fleeing violence. She is a DACAmented social entrepreneur, community organizer, educator, non-profit executive, and dancer. She won multiple national & global fellowships, which enabled her to start Aliento. She was also a founding member of the first Teach For America DACA Advisory Board. Reyna holds bachelor's degrees in Political Science and Transborder Studies, a Dance minor from Arizona State University, an M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University, and an executive education certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She has engaged in local, statewide, and national platforms to advance justice for immigrant communities. In 2013, she was the lead organizer who prevented an immigration bus of undocumented immigrants from deportation in Phoenix, AZ, for the first time in the nation’s history. The same year, with the community's help, she stopped her father’s deportation.
Under Reyna’s leadership, Aliento impacted over 50,000 people, educated close to 100,000 voters in the 2020 and 2022 elections, and strategically organized a non-partisan coalition that led to the passage of Prop. 308, advancing education equity through gaining in-state tuition rates for DACA recipients in Arizona. Her contributions have earned her recognition from local to global contributors from #NBCLatino20 and the Muhammad Ali Center as the Humanitarian Recipient for Spirituality, 73rd Woman of the Year by Valley Leadership, Legends, and Legacy Honoree by NCAA, among many others. She hopes to continue to share her talents and skills with the community to co-create healing spaces, political change, and leadership development for our immigrant youth and mixed-status families. In her volunteer time, she also serves as a member of the Arizona Alumni Association board of directors and sits on many advisory boards.
Ray Ybarra Maldonado, Principal Attorney and Founder of Ybarra Maldonado Law Group
Our final speaker for the 2024 Seeking Justice lecture series, Ray A. Ybarra Maldonado, is a prominent Arizona attorney. His talk focuses on the intersections of law, immigration, and human rights.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
1:30 pm - 2:45 pm
About Ybarra Maldonado
Ray A. Ybarra Maldonado is a human rights activist, author, filmmaker, and public speaker. As a lawyer, Ybarra Maldonado is an aggressive trial attorney who has attained not guilty verdicts for his clients in both state and federal courts. In addition to attaining not guilty verdict he has won motions to suppress evidence that have resulted in complete dismissal of cases and has attained victories at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the immigration context, his clients have successfully been bonded out of immigration detention, attained U Visas, have had VAWA applications approved, won appeals after denials from USCIS, and attained permanent resident status following an individual hearing (equivalent of trial in immigration court), and he has had multiple cases completely dismissed or had stay of deportations granted. Ybarra Maldonado co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary, “Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the Border,” was instrumental in bringing about a major civil rights lawsuit against one of the vigilantes, and created and coordinated the Legal Observer Project during the Minutemen’s operations. He has trained hundreds of volunteers and spent months following the minutemen as they patrolled along the U.S. – Mexico Divide. His book “Born on the Border: Minutemen Vigilantes, Origins of Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Movement, and a Call for Increased Civil Disobedience” was published in 2013 and was a required reading in an Immigration class at Harvard Law School.