News & Commentary written by Vania Leveille

Vania Leveille is the senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union National Political Advocacy Department and serves as the organization’s chief lobbyist and campaign strategist for women’s rights and disability rights. Through her work, Leveille works to protect and expand the rights and opportunities for women and people with disabilities.

Ms. Leveille covers a broad portfolio of issues. She is known for her visionary leadership and tenacious, creative, and strategic approach to federal advocacy. She has led several successful legislative campaigns including ones that improved workplace harassment laws, secured congressional funding for abortion care for women serving in our armed forces, prevented the abuse and trafficking of domestic workers employed by foreign diplomats in the United States, and protected the rights of people with disabilities to live in their homes and communities instead of institutions. Most recently, she was a leader in the successful congressional campaigns to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act. She is currently a Board Member of the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities.

Ms. Leveille came to the ACLU in 2006 with experience in both non-profit organizations and New York law firms. She led the advocacy work at Reading Is Fundamental, the nation’s oldest and largest children’s literacy organization. At a time when Congress was trimming its budget, she secured RIF’s federal funding and expanded congressional support for the organization’s work. She previously served as program director at the National Mentoring Partnership, where she helped shape the organization’s national efforts. She co-founded and served on the Board of Directors of DC Cares, which connects volunteers with opportunities to serve the DC community. DC Cares is modeled after New York Cares, where Leveille served as assistant director.

Ms. Leveille also worked as a commercial litigator in New York law firms and clerked for the late Honorable Judge George Bundy Smith in the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York. She graduated from Columbia University and earned her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law on a full academic scholarship.