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GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF 

CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS

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GACDL STAFF


Mazie Lynn Guertin

Executive Director & Policy Advocate

mazielynn@gacdl.org

Mazie Lynn invests her time in a variety of initiatives ranging from the daily growth and development of her two young children to supporting the work of the justice seekers - the incredible members of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Atlanta became home to Mazie Lynn when she arrived to study engineering at Georgia Tech over twenty-five years ago.

After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, she went on to teach English as a Second Language in Split, Croatia before returning to the United States for a role in operations at a national financial planning firm. Her love of the law and desire to serve led her to Georgia State University where she earned a Juris Doctor and Master of Public Administration on her way to becoming a public defender. She has invested her legal career in being a voice for those too often unheard: men and women accused of crimes ranging from petty shoplifting to capital murder.

For almost twenty years, Mazie Lynn has lived in the under-resourced southside of the City of Atlanta believing that community transformation requires, in part, the long-term commitment of neighbors willing to give of themselves for the greater good. In addition to volunteering with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop Mazie Lynn also serves on the Board of Directors of Wesley International Academy.


Jill Anderson Travis

Former Executive Director & Policy Advocate

jill@gacdl.org

In the fifth chapter of her legal career, Jill served as GACDL’s 4th Executive Director. Jill has been actively involved with GACDL since her law school days and served as the 2005 President. She served on the GACDL board of directors in various capacities and received the GACDL President's Award from five presidents. Jill was the Director of the Bill Daniel Trial Advocacy Program from 2008 to 2021 and served as an instructor with this program since its inception in 1999.

Previously, Jill served as Deputy Legislative Counsel for the Georgia General Assembly for 18 years, writing many of the laws that trial attorneys regularly use, e.g., Criminal Justice Reform, Juvenile Code rewrite, Evidence Code rewrite, and GPDC revisions. During her career, she wrote more than 10,000 bills and amendments.

Before joining the Office of Legislative Counsel, Jill practiced criminal defense for 14 years, serving as the Chief Public Defender for Douglas County for seven years. Her office received the 1996 Commitment to Excellence award from the Georgia Indigent Defense Council (now known as GPDC).

Before becoming the Douglas County Public Defender, Jill did civil, business, and criminal litigation in a small firm in the suburbs of Atlanta for four years and began her career in downtown Atlanta as a general practitioner working with another GACDL member in Kane & Anderson.

A Michigander by birth, Jill received her B.A. from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University but has lived in Georgia since attending law school at Mercer University. Jill completed the National Criminal Defense College in 1994.



Ophelia Attah

Operations Manager

ophelia@gacdl.org

Ophelia originally migrated  from Accra, Ghana with her mother to the United States in 1998 and settled in Alexandria VA where she enrolled and completed her Middle and High School education in 2006. She went on graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BSc Degree in Business Administration (Finance Major) in May 2010. She furthered her education and graduated in December 2015 with a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management from Strayer University.


Ophelia joined AMJ Financial LLC in August 2010 as a Client Service Associate and worked for 2 years. In January 2013, she relocated to Accra, Ghana and joined the newly formed Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) as a Human Resource and Administrative Executive in March 2013. Ophelia was very instrumental in the setting up of the company, and the hiring of staff. In 2015, she spearheaded the maiden International Conference of Ghana International Petroleum which was organized by CBOD.  She joined the Ghana Netherlands Business and Culture Council (GNBCC) in April 2017 as the Office Manager. Her responsibilities included the overall office and membership administration, and project/account management support of the GNBCC office.


In March 2021, Ophelia moved back to the United States and joined GACDL as the Operations Manager in June 2021.


       

Jasmine Bowden

Administrative & Membership Coordinator

jasmine@gacdl.org

Jasmine Bowden was born and raised in Detroit. She graduated from Central State University in 2020 with a Bachelor's in Political Science. At Central State, she focused her academic coursework on public administration, American State & local government, African American politics, modern political ideologies, and human resource management. Jasmine moved to Atlanta shortly after graduating from CSU.

She began her career as a Political Campaign Organizer with the Black Progressive Action Coalition.  While there, she worked on President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and Senator Raphael Warnock’s 2020 and 2022 campaigns. Her responsibilities included assisting in all canvasser recruitment activities, ensuring that recruitment goals were met and she was in charge of public relations management. She joined GACDL as the Administrative & Membership Coordinator in January 2023.

Jasmine has an interest in government service, law, non-profits, interest groups, parties, campaigns, polling, and aspires to be an attorney.

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