Antonia came to HPRP as its Executive Director in December 2007. She is responsible for providing strategic leadership for Maryland's only legal services and advocacy organization dedicated to eliminating homelessness; communicating the mission, programs, and need of its clients to the public; developing and maintaining sound relationships with collaborators, supporters, funders and other stakeholders; providing efficient management and direction to staff and volunteers; ensuring fiscal responsibility and leading fundraising efforts; and reporting to and supporting the work of HPRP's board of directors.
Prior to assuming the role of Executive Director, Antonia was a staff attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless in the Affordable Housing Initiative, an expansion project of her 2002 Equal Justice Works Fellowship. As part of her work with the Initiative, Antonia advised, represented, or consulted on the representation of tenants or tenant associations at risk of displacement from over 3000 units of affordable housing. Antonia was an advisor to the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development on affordable housing preservation, and was an advocate for improved operations within the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the D.C. Housing Authority.
Antonia received her J.D. magna cum laude from the Washington College of Law, American University in 2001 and her B.A. cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University in 1996. From 2001 to 2002, Antonia was a law clerk to The Honorable Barefoot Sanders of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Antonia is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, New York and Maryland. In 2009, Antonia was appointed a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and served as its Chair from 2011 – 2014. She is a Co-Chair of the Economic Justice Committee of the ABA’s Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice, Chair of the Legal Clinics Committee of the ABA Commission on Veterans Legal Services, and continues as a liaison to the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. She is also a member of the Public Interest Alumni Advisory Board of American University’s Washington College of Law. From 2013 to 2016, she was a member of Baltimore City’s Journey Home Board, which oversaw Baltimore City’s Plan to End Homelessness.
In 2016, she was awarded the Benjamin L. Cardin Award by the Maryland Legal Services Corporation. She was a 2011 recipient of the Daily Record's Leadership in Law Award and was selected as one of the Daily Record’s Leading Women in 2013.
