Welcome to the Community Legal Services leadership page, where you can find out how to get in touch with our dedicated staff. Each team member brings unique expertise and a shared commitment to ensuring fairness and support for children, parents, and families across Travis County.
Geoff Burkhart, County Executive, Community Legal Services
Phone: 512-854-7321
Email: [email protected]
Geoff Burkhart serves as the County Executive for Community Legal Services for Travis County, Texas. In that role, he helps lead public defense, family representation, and other legal services for the Travis County community.
Geoff previously served as Executive Director for the Texas Fair Defense Project (TFDP), a nonprofit, as well as Executive Director for the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC), where he helped double the State of Texas’s public defense spending and tripled the number of public defender offices in the state.
He previously worked at the American Bar Association (ABA), where he served as the first Deputy Director and Counsel to the ABA Center for Innovation. He also helped lead the ABA’s public defense reform efforts as Project Director and Counsel to the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID).
Geoff worked as an Assistant Appellate Defender at the Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender, represented clients in a wide range of cases, worked at a law firm, served as a law clerk to Justice James Epstein of the Illinois Appellate Court, and taught Appellate Advocacy and Judicial & Scholarly Writing at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Born and raised in Kentucky, he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Xavier University, his master’s degree at Loyola University Chicago, and his juris doctor at DePaul University College of Law, where he served as Editor in Chief of the DePaul Law Review.
He frequently writes and speaks about criminal justice reform and has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Economist. Geoff lives in South Austin with his wife, two kids, and ten chickens.
Aaron Pepper, Senior Financial Analyst
Phone: 512-854-9507
Email: [email protected]
Aaron C.R. Pepper serves as the Senior Financial Analyst for Community Legal Services (CLS), where he supports the Department’s regular financial processes, procurement operations, budget development, and provides administrative support to CLS’s multiple divisions, programs, and partner nonprofits.
Aaron most recently served Travis County as a Budget Analyst in the Planning & Budget Office. Prior to his time at the County, he worked with the City of Austin’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) on FEMA cost-recovery efforts for Austin’s COVID-19 emergency response as a finance intern.
He also served as a graduate research assistant for the Institute of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA) in The Steve Hicks School of Social Work at UT. Before pivoting to policy and local government, Aaron spent half a decade in Los Angeles’s entertainment industry specializing in new media postproduction at various outfits including: Maker, Disney, Fullscreen, and Rogue Rocket.
He holds Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master’s Degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Aaron is an aspiring history buff, baked good enthusiast, and has been accused, at times, of being moderately funny. He lives in Round Rock with his wife, daughter, and two lovable lazy cats.
Emily Steinberg, Senior Office Manager
Phone: 512-854-9596
Email: [email protected]
Emily Steinberg serves as Office Manager Sr. for Travis County Community Legal Services, where she supports the department’s operations, purchasing, outreach and events, and HR/personnel administration.
In her previous career, Emily spent two decades managing federal AmeriCorps programs, grant portfolios, and teams at statewide and national nonprofits such as America’s Service Commissions, College Forward, Lead For America, and OneStar Foundation.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Bard College in NY, and is a graduate of Leadership Austin–Emerge, Bank of America’s Emerging Leaders, and UT Austin’s Management & Leadership program. She lives in Far East Austin with her two rescue dogs.
Jeremy Pellow, Business Analyst II
Phone: 512-854-9069
Email: [email protected]
Jeremy Pellow is the Business Analyst for Community Legal Services with over a decade of experience in technology, systems integration, and IT operations. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he has led cross-functional teams and contributed to a wide range of projects involving enterprise systems, cloud infrastructure, network administration, and application development.
Jeremy helps with streamlining processes, implementing technical solutions, and supporting cross-border operations in dynamic environments. He brings a practical, solutions-focused approach to both strategic planning and day-to-day problem-solving. He lives on the east side with his pet Monstera.
