This week is National Pro Bono Week, and we are celebrating the tremendous people who embodied hope in action and stood with people facing immigration detention and deportation in 2025!
Our 2025 honorees and all our pro bono partners are dedicated, diligent advocates who have made a transformative and life-saving impact. Last year, at this same time, we wrote that it seems like each year is filled with more challenges than the last, and we felt that perhaps more than ever in 2025. But this community rose again to meet these challenges with us, without hesitation. Not only do our pro bono attorneys and volunteers change lives, they continuously sow and foster hope.
Last year, with your support and in partnership with our pro bono attorneys and volunteers, we served over 15,000 people. We extend our deepest gratitude to every single person who donated their time and talent to support people in their journeys to justice and freedom. It was a highlight of our year to celebrate these committed individuals last week at our Annual Pro Bono Appreciation Event.
This year, we honored:
Jessica Van Ranken, Esq., Snell & Wilmer, Children’s Program Pro Bono Attorney of the Year
Our Pro Bono Children’s Program Attorney of the Year goes to Jessica Van Ranken of Snell & Wilmer!
When Jessica took on the case of one of our children’s program clients, she didn’t just take on a case. She took on a cause. She took time to listen, — to truly understand this child’s story, each fear, each hope. She approached every legal challenge not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to make someone’s world safer, more stable, and more just.
At the Florence Project, collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission thrives because of partnerships, — and Jessica exemplifies what that partnership should look like.
Working with her and the team at Snell & Wilmer has been seamless, inspiring, and deeply productive. Together, we’ve seen that when skilled lawyers bring both their minds and hearts to this work, lives are transformed.
Jessica’s dedication reminds us why pro bono work matters — because justice shouldn’t depend on how much someone can pay. It should depend on our collective willingness to help others.
Jessica, thank you for sharing your talents, your time, and your compassion with us. You remind us that the law can be not just a profession, but a calling.
To Snell & Wilmer, thank you for supporting Jessica and for fostering a culture that values pro bono service. The ripple effect of that commitment reaches far beyond any single case; — it changes lives, strengthens families, and uplifts our entire community.
The Florence Project is truly honored to celebrate Jessica as the 2025 Children’s Team Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. Congratulations!
Jennifer Lee-Cota, Esq., Papetti Samuels Weiss McKirgan, LLP, Adult Program Pro Bono Attorney of the Year
We’re proud to celebrate Jennifer Lee Cota of Papetti Samuels Weiss McKirgan for her exceptional advocacy on behalf of Santiago*, an asylum seeker from Peru.
Santiago was wrongfully accused, imprisoned, and tortured under the Fujimori regime. Though he was ultimately exonerated, his journey to safety had just begun. When he fled Peru, concerned by the government’s return to political repression, his asylum claim in the U.S. was denied—despite clear evidence of past persecution.
Jennifer came onto the case just in time for his final hearing. Over the next year, she worked closely with Santiago to understand his story and build a strong legal argument. She ultimately prevailed on appeal and on remand, securing the government’s support for a grant of humanitarian asylum.
This was more than a legal victory. It was a true collaboration built on trust, communication, and shared dedication. Jennifer’s sharp legal skills and deep commitment made all the difference, and today, Santiago is a welcomed member of the Tucson community.
Thank you, Jennifer, for your advocacy! 🙏
Lambda Legal, Special Partnership Award
This year’s Special Partnership Award goes to a remarkable organization, @LambdaLegal, for their role in launching a first-of-its-kind program with the Florence Project Children’s Program: the Queer Beyond Borders pilot project.
This pilot project was created to strengthen support for LGBTQ+ immigrant children and youth, by enhancing advocacy, improving data collection, and equipping service providers with tools to offer inclusive, identity-affirming legal and social services. But this program is more than just training, data collection, or policy advocacy; it’s a commitment to giving advocates the tools to have respectful, affirming conversations about identity. It’s a plan to collect and use data to shed light on the experiences and needs of LGBTQ+ immigrant children, young people who are far too often overlooked in the immigration system. It’s a promise to act quickly when discrimination or harm occurs. And it’s an open invitation for LGBTQ+ youth to have a real voice in shaping the systems that affect their lives.
At its heart, this project is about something both simple and rare: making sure LGBTQ+ children and youth in immigration and child welfare systems are seen, affirmed, protected, and supported. Together, we’re working toward the hope of a world where a young person can know that the adults by their side see their whole selves and stand ready to fight for them.
Through this partnership, the Florence Project’s Children’s Program, alongside the transformative partnership of Lambda Legal and another critical partner, is taking a bold, practical, and deeply compassionate step forward.
On behalf of the Florence Project, our clients, and the countless young people whose lives will be safer and futures brighter because of this work—thank you. Thank you for standing with LGBTQ+ children beyond borders, beyond systems, and beyond fear.
Denise DeVries, Volunteer of the Year
Join us in congratulating our Volunteer of the Year, Denise DeVries!
Denise has been a steadfast and compassionate volunteer with the Florence Project for many years. A Colorado-born translator and writer, she’s someone who often prefers to stay behind the scenes—supporting her husband’s art gallery and cheering on her daughter’s dance performances. But Denise also believes that even the quietest voices can make a powerful difference.
Using her formidable language skills in French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, Denise has helped many non-English speakers seeking asylum in the U.S. She translates complex, sensitive documents with remarkable speed and precision—often under tight deadlines and always with deep respect for the people behind the words.
Denise consistently takes on the longest and most challenging cases with grace, humility, and unwavering dedication. Her work has helped countless individuals find safety, dignity, and hope in this country.
We are so proud to recognize Denise’s important work and generosity. Thank you, Denise! #ProBonoAppreciationWeek
Thank you to all our pro bono partners for your commitment to our mission and our clients.