Leonardo Senna de Castro

Leonardo is a Paralegal I, specializing in Affirmative cases for The HMA Law Firm.

Education:

Leonardo completed his Double master’s degree in public policy and human development at the United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology and Maastricht University, where he specialized in Social Entrepreneurship.
Experience:
His path in immigration policy started in his personal life. His professional experience began during his bachelor’s degree where he interned at an immigration law firm and secured his first position as an immigration paralegal. His policy experience and compliance know-how secured him a position to work as an Anti-Money Laundry specialist at Deutsche Bank. There he found his passion for policy compliance and was invited to be part of a project as a Research Assistant for Maastricht University for the Netherlands Foreign Aid, where he researched the best policies for humanitarian aid.
As an international professional, his experiences include project management, immigration, notary services, policy analysis, research, and foreign affairs. Leonardo’s career mission is to foster development with effective policies, education, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. His desire to improve humanitarian visa policies led him to work with the HMA Law Firm, PLLC. In this position, he developed practical skills to work with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and assist refugees’ applications with Affirmative and Defensive Asylum Applications. The fast-paced environment at the firm has allowed him to utilize his interpersonal skills, policy analysis, and language skills to facilitate communication between attorneys, clients, and organizations.
Other:
Leonardo Senna de Castro was born in Brazil and has lived in the US and the Netherlands. Coming from a multi-ethnic background and living outside of Brazil for many years, immigration has been at the center of his life. He received a scholarship to pursue his bachelor’s degree in European Studies in Maastricht, Netherlands, where he also did his minor in Central Eastern European Studies. During his university experience in Europe, he specialized in Spanish and French and became fluent in both languages.
He is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French and has proficiency in Dutch.