Milli Atkinson is the Director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She is also the Legal Lead of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC). In her role with SFILDC, she oversees and coordinates the removal defense representation provided by the 16 partner organizations in the SFILDC, including legal strategy, collective advocacy, intakes and referrals, rapid response services, and legal training. Prior to joining JDC, Milli was a Supervising Attorney with the Immigration Center for Women and Children (ICWC) in San Francisco. At ICWC, Milli provided pro bono representation to recently arrived children and their families before the San Francisco Immigration Court on behalf of the SFILDC.  As a Supervising Attorney, Milli also oversaw ICWC’s Legal Orientation Program for Custodians, which provides support for unaccompanied minors after reunification with family members in Northern California. Milli has been participating in the SFILDC Rapid Response program since it began in 2017. Prior to her time at ICWC, Milli worked in private practice where she represented detained individuals in immigration court, including at bond hearings. She transitioned to non-profit work in 2013 as the Lead Attorney for Centro de Ayuda Legal para Inmigrantes (CALI) in Santa Clara, CA. While at CALI, Milli supervised the work of the legal staff and managed her own diverse caseload.  She is a graduate of Pepperdine University and holds a law degree from UC Law SF (formerly UC Hastings).