Maialisa Vanyo was appointed as the Chief Deputy of the Whatcom County Public Defender Office in 2019. Maia joined the office in 2011 after serving as a public defender for over eleven years at the Cuyahoga County Public Defender’s Office in Cleveland, Ohio. Maia has been practicing criminal defense since she graduated with honors from the University of Washington School of Law in 1999 and has extensive experience representing juveniles and adults charged with misdemeanors and felonies, including sex offenses and homicides