Serene Hawasli Kashlan

Legal Director

Serene Hawasli-Kashlan is the Director of Legal Services at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta. A proud Syrian-American and Atlanta native, Serene was drawn to immigration law following the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011. In response, she began providing pro bono legal support to Syrian nationals in the United States, assisting with asylum applications, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and other immigration relief.

Before joining Advancing Justice-Atlanta, Serene was the managing asylum attorney at the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN), representing asylum seekers before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Serene also led GAIN's pro bono asylum program - developing pro bono legal resources, organizing pro se legal clinics, creating attorney training models, and offering technical assistance to pro bono counsel.

Serene earned both her undergraduate and law degrees from Georgia State University and is licensed to practice law in Georgia and Michigan. She is fluent in Levantine Arabic.