Leadership

Erica Costa (President) (formerly “McMilin”) is a descendant of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians and Round Valley Indian Tribes and is an associate attorney at the law firm of Berkey Williams LLP. She is a graduate of UCLA School of Law, where she received her specialization in Critical Race Studies with an emphasis on Native American rights. At UCLA, Erica served as Vice-President of NALSA and participated in the National NALSA moot court competition. She also served as Executive Editor of the Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance. While in law school, Mrs. Costa clerked for the Wishtoyo Foundation and the Yurok Tribe’s Office of the Tribal Attorney, participated in the UCLA Tribal Legal Development Clinic working for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, and worked as a part-time legal extern at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. Prior to law school, she graduated from the University of California, Davis with a bachelor’s degrees in Native American Studies.
Current Term: 2018-2021. Committees: Fundraising, Conference, Scholarship, Pathway to Law

Janet Bill (Vice President) is a member of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians. She earned both her Bachelor of Arts, with honors, degree and Master of Arts degree from Stanford University. While at Stanford University, she was very active in the Native American community and was co-chair of the Stanford American Indian Organization (2010-2011). Prior to law school Janet worked at the Owens Valley Career Development Center's Big Sandy Rancheria Tribal TANF site and began her law school experience as a member of the Pre-Law Summer Institute (PLSI) Class of 2017. Janet is a graduate of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University (ASU), where she received the Indian Law Certificate and highest distinction for her pro bono hours. While in law school, she was a Legal Fellow for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and served as a Law Clerk for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and the ASU Indian Legal Clinic. Janet is honored to serve as a CILA Board member and looks forward to serving the California Indigenous community.
Current Term: 2020-2023. Committees: Conference (Co-Chair), Scholarship, Pathway to Law, Community

Cheyenne Sanders (Secretary) is a member of the Yurok Tribe, a descendant of the House of Tse-kwel from the Village of Weitchpec. She received her B.A. from the University of Washington and her J.D. from Cornell Law School. She previously served as Deputy General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe and Tribal Attorney for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Since 2019, she serves as Associate Judge for a Washington State tribe where she presides over criminal and civil matters.
Current Term: 2018-2021. Committees: Fundraising, Conference, Scholarship, Pathway to Law, Legal Journal, Community

Loretta Miranda (Treasurer) is a descendant of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and was recently appointed Chief Deputy Tribal Advisor and Special Counsel for the Governor’s Office of the Tribal Advisor by Governor Newsom. She previously served as General Counsel for the Karuk Tribe. She is graduate of Lewis and Clark Law School, where she served as Vice-President of NALSA and participated in NALSA moot court. While in law school, Ms. Miranda clerked for the Department of the Interior, the Office of the Regional Solicitor in Portland, Oregon, the Native American Rights Fund in Alaska, and for the Yurok Tribal Court. Prior to law school, she worked as the Outreach Coordinator for a Native American-owned community-based organization. Ms. Miranda was also the 2016-2017 Indian Law Fellow at Berkey Williams LLP.
Current Term: 2019-2022. Committees: Conference, Scholarship, Legal Journal

Alexandra Mojado is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a direct descendant of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, and is Associate General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe. She is a graduate of University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, where she served on the Native America Law Student Association and earned a certificate in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy. While in law school, she served on the National Native American Law Student Association's executive board and interned with the Tohono O'odham Nation's Attorney General's Office and the Pascua Yaqui's Public Defender's Office. When she is not working, she enjoys playing fast pitch softball, cheering for her daughter at various sporting events, and spending time with her family in Southern California.
Current Term: 2018-2021. Committees: Scholarship (Chair), Policy

Tamara Honrado is an Associate General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe. Before she exclusively represented the Yurok Tribe, she was a Staff Attorney at California Indian Legal Services with a focus on the Indian Child Welfare Act. She also assisted individuals with obtaining Individualized Education Plans and executing wills under the American Indian Probate Reform Act. She received a Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School’s accelerated SCALE program and holds a certificate in Working in Contemporary Native Nations Certificate from UCLA Native Law and Policy Center. She holds a license to practice law in the State of California, the Yurok Tribe, and the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation.
Current Term: 2019-2022. Committees: Pathway to Law (Chair), Policy (Co-Chair)

Michelle LaPena is a Partner at Rosette, LLP and is experienced in a wide variety of tribal legal matters including cultural resource protection, Indian child welfare, tribal taxation, tribal gaming regulation, tribal governance, the fee to trust process and real estate transactions, and general civil litigation involving tribal governments. She is extensively involved in developing statewide policy in California regarding cultural resources protection, gaming regulations, cannabis operation, and tribal taxation. Ms. LaPena received her B.A. and J.D. from the University of California, Davis. She is a member of the Pit River Tribe, and is admitted to practice in California, all federal district courts in California, the Hoopa Valley Tribal Court, and the San Manuel Tribal Court.
Current Term: 2019-2022. Committees: Fundraising, Conference, Policy (Co-Chair)

Lauren Goschke is a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and is an attorney at Southern California Edison. She received her undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley, a graduate degree from Oregon State University, and her law degree from the University of Colorado Law School. While in law school Lauren served as the President of NALSA, the Executive Editor of the Colorado Natural Resources, Energy, & Environmental Law Review, and a student attorney in the American Indian Law Clinic. She also clerked at the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colorado, the Solicitor’s Office at the Department of Interior in the Division of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C., and at Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Munson in Anchorage, Alaska. Prior to law school Lauren was a forester for the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho.
Current Term: 2020-2023. Committees: Fundraising (Chair), Pathway to Law, Legal Journal (Chair)

Mica Llerandi (Diné) is a Staff Attorney at California Indian Legal Services in the Escondido Office. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Yale University and her Juris Doctor and Certificate in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy from the University of Arizona. Mica worked on multiple Indian Reservations in Arizona; first on the Navajo Nation as a Staff Attorney and Domestic Violence Project Director with DNA-People’s Legal Services, then as a Deputy Community Prosecutor on the Gila River Indian Community, and lastly, as a Guardian ad Litem on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. In 2016, she moved to California and join Children’s Legal Services of San Diego where she represented children in dependency proceedings in San Diego County.
Current Term: 2020-2023. Committees: Conference (Co-Chair), Policy, Legal Journal, Community (Chair)