Allegra L. Fishel is the Founder and Executive Director of the GELC. Allegra uses pronouns she/her/hers and identifies as a white female. She has been a civil rights lawyer for over 25 years with a focus on advocating for the rights of women and the LGBTQ community. She was previously Of Counsel at Outten & Golden, LLP, one the largest employee-side/civil rights law firms in the country. There she chaired the Disability and Family Responsibilities Practice Group and co-directed the Family@Work legal clinic providing free legal services to low wage earners who experienced caregiver and pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. Before Outten & Golden, Allegra was a founding partner of the law firm Beranbaum, Menken, Ben-Asher and Fishel, LLP, another civil rights law firm. Allegra has litigated numerous gender-discrimination cases in federal and state court and in a variety of administrative bodies. She is a frequent lecturer on gender-based discrimination issues both to the private bar and to nonprofit legal advocates. Allegra is a member of the Education Committee of the Congregation Kolot Chayeinu that focuses on diversity in the Children’s Learning Program especially in the areas of gender non-conforming children and Jews of Color. Allegra is also a member of the Diversity and Equality Committee of the Park Slope Food Coop. This Committee handles large and small-scale conflicts that arise within the 18,000-member community. In the last few years the Committee has focused on racial conflict within the Coop and on making the Coop a welcoming environment for LGBTQIA individuals. Allegra received a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.