Meet Our Team

Libby Coles serves as Executive Director and Managing Attorney of JusticeMatters, which she founded in 2009. A highly-specialized nonprofit law firm, JusticeMatters addresses the roots and repercussions of human trafficking by providing trauma-informed legal services and promoting just policies and practices in North Carolina.

As an attorney, Libby has represented foreign national survivors of human trafficking and other traumas engaged with the immigration and criminal justice systems as victims, witnesses, and/or defendants.

As Executive Director, Libby has overseen the growth of JusticeMatters from a volunteer effort to a robust agency with a budget around $1.4M, and a staff of 15 serving over 500 clients a year. Taking a human rights and public health approach to human trafficking, JusticeMatters focuses on strengthening protective factors and reducing risk factors to exploitation through legal services and systems-change that centers the experience and objectives of those we serve. Over the past decade, Libby has prioritized integrating trauma-informed principles at every organizational level for the well-being of clients and staff.

Grounded in direct services, Libby and the JusticeMatters team have helped build the anti-human trafficking movement in North Carolina. Libby was appointed chair of the state’s Human Trafficking Commission upon its creation in 2013, and served in this role through 2019 by appointment of governors from both major political parties. During her tenure, Libby led the state toward a multi-sector, multi-disciplinary approach to human trafficking, addressing systems-level issues that exacerbate exploitation and its impact.

Previously, Libby worked as a civil litigator with Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein in Raleigh and on the legislative staff of a U.S. Senator in Washington, D.C.

Libby received her JD from Duke University School of Law and lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Irma is our client services specialist at JusticeMatters. She was born in Texas and raised in Idaho graduating from the University of Idaho in 2019 with a B.S in Sociology and B.A in Spanish. After graduating she interned with Student Action with Farmworkers in Durham and has been in North Carolina since then. She has been active advocating for the immigrant and marginalized community. During her free time she likes to read, plant, travel and try new foods.

Jenni serves as a Case Specialist as well as a Spanish interpreter with JusticeMatters in the Raleigh office. Having grown up in Barcelona, Spain, Jenni gained a love for the Spanish language as well as people of Latin cultures. Jenni has experience working with people of all ages and from all backgrounds. She was a teacher for eight years teaching several different subjects in grades ranging from pre-k through high school. She has served on several non-profit boards and has always had a heart for reaching people. Her desire to use her knowledge of the Spanish language and her love for people of other cultures led her to work the past seven years as a paralegal and interpreter for an immigration attorney in Raleigh. After volunteering with JusticeMatters for several years, Jenni joined the staff in 2018 to help launch the Raleigh office. Jenni loves the mission of JusticeMatters and enjoys using her knowledge of the Spanish language and her experience as a paralegal to help those who are in need. Jenni has served the Hispanic population for over eighteen years in many capacities, such as leading a women’s Bible study, teaching English as a second language, advocating for them and supporting them in whatever way they need. Jenni and her husband Todd have three teenagers and enjoy spending their time at their children’s sporting, playing games with family and friends and volunteering within their community and church.

Holly serves as a Staff Attorney with Justice Matters. Holly graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan in 2015, where she had the opportunity to study abroad in Brazil. She spent a gap year working with youth in foster care before starting law school at Vanderbilt University in 2016. During her time at Vanderbilt, Holly was a Douglass Fellow with the Human Trafficking Institute, researching overlapping issues between immigration, civil, and criminal cases. Holly interned at International Justice Mission’s field office in Bolivia and the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice over her summers. She received her license to practice law in North Carolina in 2019. Most recently, Holly was a legal fellow and staff attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina, where she represented victims of trafficking on immigration, civil, and victims’ rights matters. Her time with Legal Aid further developed her interest in and commitment to victims’ rights, civil rights, and language access   She is thrilled to be working for Justice Matters’ Immigrant Defense Program alongside colleagues committed to anti-human trafficking and to the local community.  Holly lives in the Durham community, and she enjoys jiu-jitsu, hiking, and trying her best at writing music.