About Us

Hit enter to search or ESC to close

Our Services
About Us
News & Events
Publications
Contact
DONATE NOW
Spanish
English

Our Services
About Us
News & Events
Publications
Contact
DONATE NOW
Spanish
English

Our Story

Pegasus was founded in 2002 by two Albuquerque lawyers, Tara Ford and Liz McGrath. Both attorneys worked as lawyers for children and youth in foster care and had seen the benefits of having a skilled lawyer to advocate for these children. Their experience led them to believe that children and youth outside of the foster care system would also benefit from access to legal services.

Pegasus provides civil legal services to children and youth in dire situations. Most of the clients we serve have suffered extreme hardships such as abuse and neglect. Pegasus is committed to helping them find positive, long-term solutions. We offer a unique range of services to homeless and runaway youth, teen parents, children in the abuse/neglect system, children being raised by their grandparents, and children who have been denied appropriate educational services. Pegasus prides itself on providing comprehensive, high quality legal services to children and youth in New Mexico.

Staff

Mary Cianflone
Grant & Accounting Administrator

Morgan Demic
Kinship Guardianship Program Director

Maranda Aguirre

Staff Attorney

maranda@pegasuslaw.org

Maranda Aguirre (she/her) was born in El Paso, Texas and raised in Chandler, Arizona. In 2016, she received a double major in Justice Studies and Communication at Arizona State University. She earned a JD from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law – ASU in 2019, where she worked in Family Law, Immigration Law, and Juvenile Law. In 2020, she relocated to Albuquerque where she began her legal work as an Assistant District Attorney. At Pegasus, Maranda assists caregivers in obtaining kinship guardianship of children.

Mary Cianflone

Grant & Accounting Administrator

mary@pegasuslaw.org

Mary Cianflone (she/her) is the Grants and Accounting Administrator for Pegasus. She has over 15 years of experience with grants management, and five years of development, fundraising, and finance experience. After supporting a variety of student-focused initiatives at the University of New Mexico, she began working with the local Albuquerque non-profit community in 2016. While she loves writing grants, her passions outside of work include creating digital art, reading in bed with her dogs, and cooking any new recipe she can find.

Morgan Demic

Kinship Guardianship Program Director

morgan@pegasuslaw.org

Morgan Demic (she/her) grew up in Albuquerque and obtained her BA in English in 2013. After spending some time in Florida, she moved to Laramie, Wyoming to earn a JD from the University of Wyoming in 2018. There, she developed a passion for family law and immigration law, so much of which directly affects children. After serving as a judicial clerk in Laramie, Morgan relocated to Albuquerque to give back to the community that raised her and to serve New Mexico’s youth. Morgan’s work at Pegasus primarily focuses on kinship guardianship, and she also works with young parents as they navigate parenthood

Lucia Espinosa-Gonzalez

Client Advocate

lucia@pegasuslaw.org

Lucia Espinosa-Gonzalez (she/her) helps our clients access the community and state resources available to them. Lucia obtained her Master’s in Social Work at New Mexico State University in 2001. Lucia began her professional career as a Treatment Care Coordinator for a number of foster care agencies in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Lucia has developed extensive connections in working with different communities, including the LGBTQ and Latino community. Lucia habla español.

Dani Garcia-Grijalva
Program Specialist & Outreach Coordinator

Bette Fleishman

Executive Director

bette@pegasuslaw.org

Bette Fleishman, JD, MA, (she/her) is the Executive Director at Pegasus Legal Services for Children. She provides legal representation as a youth Attorney and Guardian ad Litem to children in the Child Welfare System. She has also served as a Respondent Attorney. She is a Commissioner on the Children’s Court Improvement Commission and a member of the Children’s Court Rules Committee. Prior to becoming an attorney, she was a licensed behavioral health practitioner and the Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Center Of Central New Mexico.

Jennifer Gamboa

Senior Paralegal

jennifer@pegasuslaw.org

Jennifer Gamboa (she/her) was born in Los Angeles and moved to Albuquerque in 2007. She received her Associates in Paralegal Studies from Central New Mexico Community College, and during her last semester interned at New Mexico Legal Aid. When possible, Jennifer volunteers at New Mexico Immigration Law Center (NMLIC) in their Spanish translator group. During her free time she enjoys learning to knit and spending time with her two dogs.

Dani Garcia-Grijalva

Program Specialist & Outreach Coordinator

dani@pegasuslaw.org

Dani Garcia-Grijalva (they/them) is the Program Specialist & Outreach Coordinator for all programs at Pegasus, helping prospective clients get connected with our services. They have been working towards youth rights for most of their lives, including policy work and groundwork at a youth homeless shelter. Born and raised in Albuquerque as first-generation, Dani was raised by activists that helped develop the base for the work they do now. In their free time, they like to take hikes with their dog Paco, and spray paint.

Febely Ibarra

Paralegal

febely@pegasuslaw.org

Febely Ibarra (she/her) is one of our recent additions to the Pegasus team, working as a bilingual paralegal. Originally from Albuquerque, she relocated to Medford, Massachusetts during her college years where she pursued a B.A in Sociology and Spanish Cultural Studies. It was here where she continued her work in helping the immigrant community, volunteering with a nearby non-profit to teach English classes as well as translating for pro se clients at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse. She returned to Albuquerque in 2021 after graduating as a first-generation student from Tufts University. In her free time she enjoys baking, reading, and creative writing. Current mom of two fur childs, Nala and Yuki. Febely habla español.

Jen Jones
Director of Finance and Administration

Jen Jones

Director of Finance and Administration

jen@pegasuslaw.org

Jen Jones (she/her) has worked at a variety of nonprofits since graduating with her BS in Economics from Westminster College in 2011. She worked in program management for several years before realizing that she preferred to be behind the scenes, creating systems and analyzing the results to help the team. With this in mind, she returned to school for her Masters in Accounting, which she received from UNM. In her spare time, she sings in two local choirs, makes quilts for her friends, spends time tending the plants in her yard, and hikes with her poochies, Misty & Olive.

Ana Rabut

Program Specialist

ana@pegasuslaw.org

Ana Rabut (she/her) began as an administrative assistant at Pegasus, was promoted to office manager, and has now expanded to the program side of our work as Program Specialist who helps prospective clients get connected with our services. Ana is from Baltimore, Maryland and moved to Albuquerque at the end of 2017. After five years she considers it a second home. She is a people person interested in working with nonprofits specifically oriented towards bridging social justice and mental health. In an attempt to pursue these passions, Ana is currently working towards completing her Masters in Clinical Social Work. In her free time she likes to listen to all kinds of podcasts, check out local breweries and dogsit for all her friends. Ana habla español.

William Townley

Staff Attorney

william@pegasuslaw.org

William Townley (he/him) represents clients in kinship guardianship proceedings and has worked with children as a Guardian ad litem in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Court in Bernalillo County. William graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law. Before coming to Pegasus, William worked at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty as well as the Arizona Center for Disability Law in Phoenix, Arizona. William was admitted to the State Bar of New Mexico in 2017.

Arielle Vicenti

Paralegal

arielle@pegasuslaw.org

Arielle Vicenti (she/her) is one of our recent additions to the Pegasus team, working as a paralegal. She is a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and grew up on their homelands in Dulce, NM. She received her B.A. in Humanities with a concentration in Sociology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. During her time in Durango, CO, she worked as a Paralegal and Pro Bono Coordinator at Colorado Legal Services for four years. When not working, she enjoys reading, taking care of her plants, making art, and trying new foods, preferably in the company of her family and friends.

Yehimi Yang

Office Manager

yehimi@pegasuslaw.org

Yehimi Yang (she/her) is thel Office Manager at Pegasus. Yehimi was born and raised in Cd. Juarez, Mexico. She went to Farmington, New Mexico at 13 years old. Yehimi enjoys spending time with her family and playing with her dachshunds, Lucas and Milo. She likes to listen to music and practice archery in her free time. Yehimi habla español.

DONATE NOW

NEWS & UPDATES

Missed Partnerships: Native American Resource Families in New Mexico February 9, 2023
Searchlight New Mexico: These Foster Kids Need Mental Health Care. New Mexico Is Putting Them in Homeless Shelters. November 30, 2022

CONTACT INFORMATION

(505) 244-1101
(505) 244-1101
505 Marquette Ave NW Suite 1350, 87102

DISCLAIMER

This website is provided for informational purposes only. Nothing on this website shall be construed as legal advice nor does the information provided constitute the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. We take no responsibility for errors.

Web Design by GriffinWink Advertising

twitter
facebook
linkedin