Ilona loves doing “neutral” work, including investigations, mediation and training. It lets her draw on her natural empathy for all sides to help resolve difficult, painful problems in a way that provides all the participants the dignity, respect, and care that enables them to be heard and, ultimately, to heal.
Ilona’s work includes investigations across a variety of industries such as tech, nonprofit and government agencies.
She has extensive experience with labor and employment law and Title IX, having spent 12 years litigating civil rights cases. She served as the legal director for the national Transgender Law Center from 2012-2017. Prior to that, she was a staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights and an associate at the labor law firm of Cohen, Weiss and Simon in New York.
Ilona also worked for the California State Assembly and as a lobbyist for Equality California.
She authored numerous articles and book chapters on sex discrimination and LGBT legal issues and teaches a class on Law and Sexuality at the University of California, Berkeley. She also serves on the mediation panels for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Ilona plays a little piano, mandolin, guitar and ukulele. She sings with the Oakland Symphony Chorus.
AWI Workplace Investigations Virtual Seminar Series | Association of Workplace Investigators
- September 12, 19 and 26, 2023
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Conflict Resolution in the Workplace | Bar Association of San Francisco
- January 19, 2023
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Conflict Resolution Options to Consider Before, After, or In Place Of an Investigation | Association of Workplace Investigators
- March 15, 2021
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CALPELRA’s 2021 Annual Training Conference | CALPELRA
- November 16 - 19, 2021
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Association of Workplace Investigators 2020 Virtual Conference | Association of Workplace Investigators
- November 5 - 6, 2020
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Mediating Across Differences | Association of for California Governmental Human Resources Professionals (CalGovHR)
- March 8, 2023
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Beyond Investigations: Repairing and Enhancing Workplace Culture With Conflict Resolution Tools | CALPELRA
- November 14 - 17, 2023
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University of California, Berkeley School of Law, J.D.
University of California, Santa Cruz; B.A., honors, Phi Beta Kappa
Investigations
Title IX
Trainings
Coaching
Mediation and Conflict Resolution
State Bar of California
New York State Bar Association
New Jersey State Bar Association (inactive)
U.S. Supreme Court
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
Northern District of California
District of New Jersey
Eastern District of New York
Eastern District of Wisconsin
Southern District of California
Southern District of New York
AWI-CH