Our Team

Before joining the legal aid movement,  Deedee worked at various social justice non-profit organizations, including in shelters for women who were victims of abuse and in a neighborhood-based community to rehab homes. 

As a person who grew up in a family that rarely had enough food to eat and yet couldn’t get legal help when they couldn’t  get their food stamps, and in a family that suffered greatly from domestic violence yet couldn’t get legal help to protect against the abuse, Deedee found her people and her place in the world when Legal Action of Wisconsin, an LSC-funded legal aid firm in southern Wisconsin, hired her as its first full-time Development Director in 1991.  Deedee has expertise in grant writing, program development, and administration of a legal aid program.

Deedee is a unique voice in the legal aid movement:  She is a non-attorney who is an Executive Director of a legal aid program.  Her childhood in poverty taught her that client voice and client experience living as a poor person must be the foundational bedrock of the legal aid movement, otherwise it fails to know what equal justice for the poor means or can mean.

She received her B.A. (Psychology) and her M.A. (Professional and Technical  Writing) from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and spends her free time reminding her stoic Norwegian family members to talk about their feelings (even if only for a few minutes), reading, talking to her dogs, thinking about baseball, and listening to live music whenever she can.  Her partner Craig had a 34-year career in the U.S. Air Force and Wisconsin Air Guard before retiring in 2018.  She has four children and one grandson.

Catherine Hoeft, the firm’s Chief Financial Officer, brings over 20 years of experience in nonprofit financial and operational management and oversees all day-to-day finance and accounting functions at the firm. Cathy’s dedication to financial excellence and strategic planning makes her an invaluable asset to Legal Action. Through her roles at various nonprofits, like Newcap and the YWCA, Cathy has a proven track record of streamlining business operations, driving growth, and increasing efficiency for nonprofits. Cathy is skilled at implementing financial controls and processes, enhancing accounting systems, and managing finance staff. Her expertise extends to budget development, risk management, and investment management. With a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a major in Accounting, Cathy is a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP) and brings a wealth of knowledge to her leadership role. Her commitment to community is evident through her volunteer work with organizations like St. John’s Homeless Shelter and Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

Jennifer L. Johnson was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Marian (College) University and her law degree from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Her legal career officially began in 2016 at Legal Action of Wisconsin. In her role as a staff attorney, she specialized in poverty law, assisting clients with low incomes in addressing legal barriers to employment. She effectively litigated against civil legal matters like driver’s license suspensions, owed court financial obligations and expungable convictions.

In 2019, she assumed the firm’s inaugural position as Director of Diversity & Inclusion. Her expertise lies in promoting cultural intelligence and fostering an inclusive environment by increasing awareness of unconscious biases, implementing targeted DEI programs, and facilitating meaningful dialogue while achieving cultural transformation within the organization.

She actively participates in the State Bar of Wisconsin as a Governor for the Board of Governors. Additionally, she has served on various boards and committees including: the Diversity Inclusion and Oversight Committee, the Wisconsin Association of African American Lawyers, the Public Interest Law Section, the Communications Committee, and the Local Bar Relations Committee. In 2023 she was inducted into the WI Law Fellows.

Larry Dupuis (he/him) is the Director of Litigation and Advocacy at LAW. He leads the firm’s strategic litigation and non-legislative advocacy efforts by helping advocates to identify systemic legal issues affecting LAW’s client communities and to devise and carry out legal strategies to remedy them. Prior to (re)joining Legal Action, Larry was the Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin for 20 years. He previously worked for Legal Action of Wisconsin as a Skadden Fellow and staff attorney. After graduating from New York University School of Law, he was a law clerk for the Hon. Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He has a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University.

In her role as Director of Legal Services, Nicole Zimmer leads the internal operations of the firm. She ensures that resources are allocated strategically, that high quality legal services are delivered in an efficient and client-centric manner, and that staff have the tools they need to perform their job to the best of their abilities. Zimmer also oversees the multi-office projects at the firm, including Reentry Legal Services, the Volunteer Lawyer Program, the Client Intake and Brief Services Unit, and the various projects serving Victims of Crime. After graduating from the University of Washington School of Law, Zimmer began her career defending tenants from eviction at Legal Action Center in Seattle. She returned to her home state in 2005 joining Legal Action of Wisconsin as a staff attorney. She spent the next 14 years mainly representing survivors of domestic violence or elder abuse, moving from the firm’s Oshkosh office to the Madison office, before eventually landing in the Milwaukee office. Zimmer became Director of Legal Services in 2019. She is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin- Madison and lives in Mequon with her spouse, three children, two turtles, one dog, one cat and one lizard.

Rachel Fox Armstrong leads initiatives that drive narrative shift and promote social justice. She oversees the firm’s government relations, media strategy, funder and donor engagement, and aspects of community outreach. Since joining Legal Action in 2019, she has led a comprehensive rebrand, launched a new website, co-led the firm’s strategic planning process, and increased earned media coverage by over 1,000%. She has also championed structural change advocacy to advance equity and justice at the state and national levels.

Rachel specializes in strategic planning, fundraising, and communications. Her passion for social justice is shaped by her identity as a member of the Armenian diaspora. That legacy of displacement and resilience in her family instilled in her a profound commitment to justice, advocacy, and empathy for marginalized communities. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Community and Nonprofit Leadership and Environmental Studies from UW-Madison and serves on nonprofit boards across Milwaukee.

Through her work in community-based organizations, she knows the power of advocacy in breaking down systemic barriers. Rachel believes, as Toni Morrison posits, “The function of freedom is to free someone else.” She is committed to using her privilege to empower others and create lasting change through bold storytelling. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, live music, and paddling Milwaukee’s many waterways with her spouse.

Beth Ann serves as the firm’s creative and strategic lead, applying innovative and long-term thinking to address systemic and complex challenges related to intake, access to services, and impactful legal advocacy on issues connected to poverty, justice, and community. With decades of experience in legal aid, most recently as the Executive Director of Judicare Legal Aid, Beth Ann oversees special projects that fall outside routine basic field service areas, and are often statewide, multi-state, or cross offices.