Elana Baurer

General Counsel

Elana Baurer (she/they) is the CIEL General Counsel, based in the Philadelphia area. Her work focuses primarily on providing internal strategic legal guidance and managing organizational risks.

Elana supports compliance across a range of areas including employment, labor, contract, intellectual property, and nonprofit corporate issues. Her work includes directing outside counsel as needed and assessing and mitigating legal exposure and risk. She advises the Executive Team and Board of Directors on these and other governance issues.

Prior to joining CIEL, Elana spent over a decade working with and for nonprofits in a variety of compliance roles including general counsel, legal consultant, and Board member. Prior to that she was an associate in the Employment Labor Benefits and Immigration Group at Duane Morris LLC.

Currently Elana is an Advisory Board Member for Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network. She is also the Board President of Kol Tzedek Synagogue in West Philadelphia. With a background in abolition, juvenile justice, and immigration work, her organizing in recent years has focused on domestic worker rights. She was deeply involved in the successful efforts to draft and pass a Philadelphia Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, including serving on the City Worker Standards and Implementation Taskforce. She also volunteers as a postpartum and abortion doula.

Elana completed her J.D. at the Georgetown University Law Center with a certificate in Refugee Studies and her B.A. at Wesleyan University with a major in African-American Studies.

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Elana still lives there with her partner, two young children, and their dog.

Elana can be reached at ebaurer@ciel.org.

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