About the Project on Predatory Student Lending

PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR

Eileen Connor joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending as Legal Director in 2016 and became Director in 2021. During that time, she has led PPSL’s landmark litigation efforts, representing over a million borrowers and canceling billions in fraudulent student loans. Previously, she was a Senior Staff Attorney in the Special Litigation Unit of the New York Legal Assistance Group Eileen has twice represented legal aid providers and their clients in the U.S. Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking sessions, by which the Department promulgates new student loan regulations. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and received her J.D. from New York University School of Law and B.A. from Brown University.

SENIOR ATTORNEY

Rebecca Ellis joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in 2020. Rebecca received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was an executive editor of the Harvard Law Review, and her B.A. from Wellesley College. After graduating from law school, Rebecca clerked for the Hon. Sandra L. Lynch of the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to joining PPSL, Rebecca was a senior associate in the Litigation and Enforcement Department at the Boston office of Ropes & Gray, LLP, where she represented clients before state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels. She also performed pro bono work, including representing survivors of underage sex trafficking in impact litigation.

ATTORNEY

Rebecca Eisenbrey joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in 2021. Becca received her B.A. in French from Yale University and her JD from Michigan Law School, where she was the winner of the Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship Award. After graduating from law school, she clerked for the Hon. James L. Dennis on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana. Prior to joining PPSL, Becca was an Equal Justice Works fellow and staff attorney at the Equal Justice Center in Austin, Texas, where her practice included litigating individual, collective, and class actions for unpaid wages, sexual harassment, discrimination, labor trafficking, and other employment matters.

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND ADVOCACY

Ashley Harrington joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in 2024. Harrington is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and New York University School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in New York. She most recently served as the federal advocacy director and senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). Ashley also assumed a lead role in federal advocacy efforts and was a primary negotiator for the Department of Education’s 2017 – 2018 Borrower Defense to Repayment Rulemaking Committee and has completed a brief project at UNCF (the United Negro College Fund). As Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy, Harrington will oversee PPSL’s policy priorities and identify additional advocacy opportunities for PPSL and its client community.

SENIOR DIRECTOR, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND STRATEGY

Kate Manning Kennedy joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending as senior advisor in 2018. Kate leads PPSL’s outreach and communications efforts, helping to significantly increase public awareness around the issue of predatory colleges and PPSL’s landmark cases. Previously, Kate was a strategic communications consultant where she designed and executed national communications campaigns for nonprofit clients. Prior to consultancy, Kate held senior communications positions at organizations including Social Finance, Inc., The Glover Park Group, and Fidelity Investments. Kate received her B.A. from Fairfield University.

PARALEGAL ADVOCATE

Reilly joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in June, 2022. Previously, Reilly worked as the Program Coordinator for the Emerson Prison Initiative where she supported formerly incarcerated students as they met their college continuity goals. Earlier in her career, she worked as a paralegal in New Orleans, advocating for criminal justice reform. She holds a B.A. in Human Rights from Bard College.

SENIOR ATTORNEY

Victoria Roytenberg joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in 2016. Previously, Victoria was a public defender at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, where she represented indigent clients who were charged with criminal offenses. Victoria received her J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law, where she was a staff member of the CUNY Law Review, a student clinician in the Adult Defender Clinic, and defended students facing long-term exclusion from New York City public schools through the Suspension Representation Project. Prior to law school, Victoria worked as a paralegal at The Legal Aid Society in the Juvenile Rights Practice, and as a legal assistant at the Central American Solidarity Association of Maryland. She holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

ATTORNEY

Eric Schmidt joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in 2019. Previously, he worked at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office as an attorney with the Division of Law. There, he represented state agencies in civil litigation and enforcement actions and investigated consumer protection cases. Eric is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School and Lehigh University.

ATTORNEY AND FELLOW

John Sigel is a retired partner formerly in the Corporate Department of WilmerHale, where he was a member of the debt finance practice and the bankruptcy and restructuring practice. He served on the firm’s pro bono committee for many years and represented Boston-based not-for-profit institutions on a pro bono basis in obtaining institutional financing for their operations and capital improvements. He is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. John is a member of the council of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is President of the Quissett Harbor Preservation Trust. John is a graduate of Middlebury College and Cornell Law School.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Lindsey Withem joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in 2017. Previously, Lindsey worked as a Compliance Officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While working at MIT, she developed best practices to ensure compliance with federal, state, and institutional financial aid regulations. Earlier in her career, she held multiple positions in higher education accreditation in Washington D.C. Lindsey holds a B.A. in Art History from James Madison University.

ATTORNEY

Jennifer Thelusma joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending in 2023. Jennifer received her J.D. from Duke University School of Law and her B.A. from University of Florida. Following law school, Jennifer served as a Public Interest Fellow at Tycko & Zavareei LLP where she worked on consumer protection class actions and whistleblower litigation. As part of her fellowship, Jennifer spent several months litigating in the Disability Rights Group at Washington Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights. Jennifer has also formerly worked on election law, lobbying, and campaign finance issues on behalf of her clients as a political law associate.

DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION

Noah Zinner joined the Project on Predatory Student Lending as Director of Litigation in 2024, after serving as Managing Attorney for Bay Area Legal Aid’s Consumer Rights Unit. Until 2019, Noah was Managing Attorney for Oakland, California-based Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, where he successfully addressed abusive and unlawful practices targeting low-income consumers through a wide range of class and individual litigation against financial institutions, debt collectors, and the Department of Education. Noah received a 2006 Equal Justice Works Fellowship for his work with homeowners impacted by predatory mortgage lending and foreclosure. From 2012-2013, he was a Visiting Clinical Professor at the UC-Irvine School of Law, where he also worked with the California Monitor for the National Mortgage Settlement. Noah received his J.D. from the UC-Berkeley School of Law and his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire.