The Staff
Linda Rio
Executive Director
Linda began her legal career as a staff attorney on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She then went into private practice at Sidley & Austin, where she had an extensive pro bono practice and served on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. Deciding to move her career to public interest law, Linda was the first Community Services Director at the Chicago Bar Association and Foundation. In 2001, she became the founding Director of the American Bar Association Child Custody and Adoption Pro Bono Project. Linda also had a consulting practice focused on children’s legal issues. Linda was the Chair of the CBA Young Lawyers Section and active in many bar association activities. She has been a board member and volunteer at numerous organizations, including the AIDS Legal Council, the Center for Conflict Resolution, Prevent Child Abuse Illinois, Chicago Legal Aid to Incarcerated Mothers, and the Immigrant Child Advocacy Project. She has worked with many court committees and judges to improve services and access to justice. Linda served on the Hinsdale/Clarendon Hills District 181 School Board, including as President, and was a PTO leader at her children’s pre, elementary and middle schools. She is a lay worship leader and coordinator at the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale. Linda has a BA in American Studies from Northwestern University and a JD from UCLA.
Heena Musabji
Director of Development
Co-Founder
The first person to volunteer with PBN and one of the individuals most responsible for its growth, Heena took on the role of PBN Board President prior to coming on as staff. She is simultaneously the Principal Attorney at the Musabji Law Offices, focusing on immigration and nationality law. Previously, Ms. Musabji was a partner at Amal Law Group heading the immigration department. She was CAIR-Chicago’s first Staff Attorney, counseling its constituency on civil rights and immigration. During and after law school, Heena served as the Director of the Sex Trafficking Opposition and Prevention Project with the International Human Rights Law Institute were she worked on legislation and advocacy of minors forced into sex tourism in Costa Rica. She worked with the National Immigrant Justice Center throughout law school, and continues with the organization as a volunteer. She recently served as Vice President of the Board for the Muslim Civil Liberties Union, and is also on the board at her mosque. Heena has been on the board at West Suburban Montessori School and at the Terraces of Oak Park. She holds B.S. in Finance from Siena College and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law.
Sheila Winkelman Pont
Director of Programming
Co-Founder
Sheila Pont has been crucial in growing PBN from its initial 10 volunteers to where it is today. Taking early leadership roles in PBN from the beginning, Ms. Pont has shared in taking responsibility to ensure it serves as many attorneys as possible. In 2014, she was one of the recipients of the Rabbi Leonard J. Mervis Award for Social Justice. She has worked in victim advocacy for her entire professional career, starting with Mothers Against Drunk Driving as the Illinois State Victim Advocate running the victim advocacy arm of MADD for all 102 counties in Illinois, and led numerous trainings on victim advocacy, bereavement and death notifications. Since taking time off to raise her three children, Ms. Pont has been involved on the Board of Directors for West Suburban PADS, an agency committed to ending homelessness in the western Cook County area. In the past, she has served on the Boards of both her public school PTO and preschool committee. She has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan, and a J.D./M.S.W. from Washington University in St. Louis.
Sara Buehler
Program Assistant
Sara began working with PBN after retiring as Associate General Counsel from BMO Harris Bank. During her career Sara working primarily as an attorney with large banks where her practice centered on the development, marketing and compliance of consumer and commercial financial products and services and managing regulatory risk. While at BMO Harris she was part of a team that set up a new pro bono program for the US legal group meeting with many pro bono organizations. In addition, Sara has volunteered with the Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network on the establishment of their court watch program, prepared tax returns for clients through the Center for Economic Progress, volunteered for the Oak Park Children’s Clinic, and has been a member of the Citizen’s Council at Oak Park River Forest High School. Sara is delighted to join as the Program Assistant to help PBN continue its great work in the pro bono legal community. She has a B.A in History from Carleton College and a J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago, School of Law.