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Our Staff

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Rekha Nair, Esq.
Executive Director

Rekha Nair is a first generation immigrant and Phoenician.  She is a proud graduate of Arizona State University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (L'12).  She is a former math teacher, public defender, and PLAN and Trans Queer Pueblo board member and has been fighting to protect and expand the rights of immigrants and their families in Arizona since 2014.  She became Executive Director of PLAN in July 2021.  She loves chocolate and speaking Spanish; she abhors injustice and most fruit.

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Giselle Valadez Godinez
Program & Development Coordinator 

Giselle is the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrants. She is a proud graduate of the University of San Francisco where she obtained a bachelor's in politics with a minor in Spanish studies. She first became interested in politics when she learned about the immigration status of most of her family and the implications of it. Ever since she has had a distaste for inequity and borders. This ick for injustice persists; as a part of PLAN she hopes to cultivate a more empathic Arizona that sees the humanity in everyone regardless of immigration status.  

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Hugo Polanco, Esq.
Lead Immigration Attorney 

Hugo was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and is a second generation immigrant. Hugo graduated from the University of Arizona for his bachelor degrees and Arizona State University for law school. Hugo has been captivated by the broader world and combating injustice his entire life. For that reason, while working as a high school teacher in Shanghai, China, Hugo decided to apply to law school and return to his hometown. Since then, he has worked here in immigration related areas and as a public defender. Hugo loves international travel, trying new foods, and reading literature and history books.

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