Raymond Ngu to Direct OCA’s Legal Practice

Big News!

Raymond Ngu will serve as Open City Advocates’ Legal Director starting in March 2024.

As the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Office of Open City Advocates, Whitney Louchheim knows well that the legal work we do for young people is often completely novel. "So much of this work is uncharted territory: Raymond is committed to finding a way to help. I love working with Raymond because he's passionate about defending young people and loves to dig into the details. His eyes light up when we talk about how we can serve our clients better!”

Hailing from Toronto, Raymond’s journey to Washington, DC has often been unconventional. Following graduation from Carleton College in 2013, Raymond spent time working back home in Canada with grassroots activists and local politicians figuring out ways to build equity in his local community. His passion for social justice guided him throughout law school at New York University and he soon gravitated towards public interest work. “I think I always had an interest in the criminal legal system, but just didn’t know what my avenue to that work was going to be. In law school, I really woke myself up to the grave injustices that exist in this system,” said Raymond. Shortly after completing a pro bono rotation with Neighborhood Legal Services Program during his time at Covington and Burling LLP, Raymond started working for Open City Advocates and was inspired by OCA’s comprehensive approach to its clients.

“I was really drawn to OCA’s holistic advocacy model,” said Raymond who began work as a Staff Attorney in 2022. “We understand that our clients are young people who are affected by the legal system and the youth justice system, but that’s not everything they are. We really try our best to understand our clients holistically, as people who have families, friends, communities, jobs, and they may need support in those areas because the city and government have left them behind - which is how they ended up in the system in the first place.” Open City Advocates’ distinctive holistic approach focuses on sustainable partnerships, building trust between their clients, community organizations, and OCA staff. 

While many of the children that OCA represent may have learned not to trust adults, Raymond fully understands the importance of being both credible and dependable on the personal and organizational level. “What we really try to promote at OCA is if there’s no one else, you can always call us and that’s even if you’re not in touch for a week, a month, or multiple years; if you want to call us, we’ll be there to take the call,” said Raymond. OCA represents children in the very deep end of the system, and his new role as Legal Director will help OCA address both legal and community-based issues to help their clients get and remain out of the system.

“What I hope to begin doing in this new role is formalizing partnerships [in the nonprofit space] and solidifying what our ‘re-entry program’ is going to look like in a way that is both meaningful and helpful to our clients. OCA recognizes that it’s not strictly about addressing the legal issues, and we offer a lot of latitude to our attorneys to be able to help clients in many different ways. OCA is unique in this way as that is not something that a lot of legal services organizations are able to do because of funding restraints or other capacity issues,” said Raymond. Through enhancing OCA’s collaborative efforts with community organizations, OCA will be better able to help their clients in juvenile detention facilities, as well as those in the community who may need help accessing resources such as access to education and employment. 

As the new Legal Director of Open City Advocates, Raymond is already prepared to get to work. “I’m really excited,” said Raymond, “We are in a very important time for the organization as we bring on new staff and expand our legislative and policy efforts, and I'm looking forward to expanding our legal practice in new and strategic directions. Over time, OCA has developed a reputation for its excellent client-centered legal representation. I'm excited to continue that tradition, while also strengthening our community-based partnerships and engaging in new and innovative ways to advocate for our young people. Our organization is in a growth period and I hope to position our legal practice as a model for post-disposition representation nationwide.”

Raymond was also one of the reasons that our new Legal Fellow, Gabby Frieser, came to work at Open City Advocates: "Raymond is an excellent teacher. He’s very knowledgeable and one of the most diligent attorneys I’ve ever met. I’ve learned a lot from him!”

Please join us in celebrating Raymond!