Staff
Penelope Spain, Esq.
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Mentoring Today
Penelope Spain earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Washington College of Law (WCL) in 2005 and is an attorney licensed to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland. As CEO of Mentoring Today, Ms. Spain advocates to improve re-entry services for youth transitioning out of incarceration and returning to the District. She also serves as a public defender, directly representing youth charged with acts of delinquency in DC Superior Court.
Shortly after graduation from WCL, Ms. Spain supported the National Juvenile Justice Network as a Program and Policy Associate to promote statewide juvenile justice reform efforts across the US. While at WCL, Ms. Spain founded and directed Students United, a program that trains law students to serve as mentors and advocates for incarcerated youth. She also worked in the Trial Division and the Community Defender Program of the Public Defender Service for DC, where she focused on Latino outreach and projects to aid ex-offenders in reentering the community. In addition, she participated in the Criminal Justice Clinic and served as an interning Law Clerk for a judge in the Felony I Criminal Division of DC Superior Court.
WCL and American University recognized Ms. Spain’s dedication to public interest by awarding her the Student Bar Association’s Pro Bono Community Service Award, the University Award for Outstanding Service to the University Community, the Office of Career Services’ Pro Bono Superstar Award, the Myers Scholarship, and the Mary C. Arends Scholarship for dedication to public service law and civil rights. In April 2011, WCL awarded her with the Peter M. Cicchino Alumna Award for Outstanding Advocacy in the Public Interest.
Prior to attending WCL, Ms. Spain received a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Chicago with a major in Latin American Studies.
Whitney Louchheim, Esq.
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Mentoring Today
Whitney Louchheim is an attorney licensed to practice in the District of Columbia. As Co-Founder of Mentoring Today, she works daily with youth in DC’s juvenile justice system, both before and after they are released from incarceration, to support their successful reintegration into their families and community. She also represents youth in DC’s juvenile justice system as a public defender. Ms. Louchheim earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the American University’s Washington College of Law (WCL) in 2005.
Prior to founding Mentoring Today, she joined Ms. Spain in founding Students United, a student group at WCL that matches law students with incarcerated youth at DC’s secure juvenile facility. Ms. Louchheim was a student attorney as part of WCL’s criminal defense clinic and also served as a Marshall-Brennan fellow, teaching constitutional law in a DC public high school. Ms. Louchheim served as a student law clerk in the Parole Division of the Public Defender Service for DC and for a magistrate judge in the Child Abuse and Neglect Division of DC Superior Court.
Ms. Louchheim’s commitment to community service prompted American University to award her the University Award for Outstanding Service to the University Community, as well as the Pro Bono Community Service Award. In April 2011, WCL awarded her with the Peter M. Cicchino Award for Outstanding Advocacy in the Public Interest.
Julie Swaney, Esq.
Director of Youth Advocacy for Mentoring Today
Julie Swaney recently became the Director of Youth Advocacy after serving as a Legal Intern and the FREE Project Coordinator for Mentoring Today. Since March 2011, Ms. Swaney has shepherded the FREE Project, a youth-led empowerment program, and assisted formerly incarcerated youth in advocating for changes to the juvenile justice system in DC and providing peer-to-peer mentoring for residents at New Beginnings Youth Development Center, the juvenile detention facility for DC youth.
Ms. Swaney received her Juris Doctor from American University’s Washington College of Law (WCL) in May 2011, graduating cum laude. While at WCL, she served as Managing Editor of the International Law Review, President of the Criminal Law Society, Articles Editor for the Criminal Law Brief, and Selection Chair for the Equal Justice Foundation. In addition, she served as a law clerk in the Trial Division at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia as well as in the Office of the Public Defender in Prince George’s County, Maryland. She was also a legal intern at the Superior Court for the District of Columbia on a Felony 2 calendar.
Ms. Swaney was awarded the Elliott S. Milstein Scholarship Award for her dedication to public service. Prior to law school, Ms. Swaney was Director of Public Policy & Operations for the National Foundation for Women Legislators, a nonprofit organization that provides support and issue education to women elected officials around the country. She is a licensed attorney in Maryland and plans to apply to the DC Bar so that she can join the CJA panel and serve as a public defender.
Board of Directors
Rebecca K. Troth
Board Chair
Rebecca K. Troth is the chair of the Board of Directors for Mentoring Today. She is the first person appointed to the newly established position of Pro Bono Counsel for Sidley Austin LLP‘s Washington, DC office. In this position, she coordinates and participates in the firm’s pro bono activities. She also trains and supervises new associates involved in the office’s wide-ranging pro bono program.
Prior to joining Sidley, Ms. Troth was the Legal Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (2003-2006). While at the National Law Center, she served as an Adjunct Professor of Legal Research and Writing at the George Washington University Law School (2003-2004). From 2001-2003, she was an instructor in legal writing and appellate advocacy at the Washington College of Law, American University. She served as a senior attorney in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1991 to 2000, and again in 2001, where she argued 17 cases in the United States Courts of Appeals. Ms. Troth served as Counsel to the U.S. Attorney General from 2000-2001. Ms. Troth is also the chair of the program committee of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court.
Ms. Troth graduated summa cum laude from Macalester College, and cum laude from the University of Michigan School of Law, where she served as Research and Note Editor of the Michigan Law Review. After graduating from law school, she clerked for the Honorable John H. Pratt on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
