Matthew Lenaghan has been the Deputy Director for Advocates for Children of New York since December of 2006. As Deputy Director, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations and program management of the 50-staff organization. Matthew continues to represent AFC in some of its ongoing class actions and supervise AFC staff in case work and other AFC programs.

Lenaghan has been a longtime member of AFC's staff, joining the agency in 1999 as a NAPIL (now Equal Justice Works) Fellow. In his nine years at Advocates for Children, Lenaghan has become a recognized leader in New York City's special education law field. In February of 2006, he was promoted to Director of Legal Services. As Director of Legal Services, he was responsible for the supervision of all direct and legal services provided to hundreds of clients each year. In addition, Lenaghan has helped spearhead AFCs Pro Bono Project, which partners with nearly 30 private law firms to provide free legal services to AFC clients. As such, he has trained and mentored dozens of pro bono attorneys to provide legal representation in special education cases.

Prior to attending law school, Lenaghan was a high school teacher and baseball coach with Teach For America in the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas. He received his B. A. from Yale University in 1993 and his J. D. from NYU School of Law in 1999. He is a member of the State Bar in New York.