|
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
|
||
|
|
|||
 |
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
 Fellowship Program | Public Interest Law Curriculum | Public Interest Law Faculty
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Symposia & Forums |
Publications |
Sparer Alumni | Centers Home
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Jaime Alonso ’09 University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. in Political Science, May 2005 Placement: Brooklyn Legal Services Corp., A Community and Economic Development Project (Brooklyn, NY) Jaime is passionately focused on issues related to education and community development. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he returned to his community to teach fourth grade students, and work as a community organizer with People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO). During this time he concentrated on resolving issues related to parks and recreation, and was successful in lobbying local policy makers to make million-dollar improvements in local parks. In addition, Jaime helped establish and co-draft the bylaws for Raices Cultura, the first Non-Profit organization in his hometown dedicated to enhancing cultural and educational issues in the Hispanic community. Jaime plans to use his legal education and experience as tools to address issues related to community development and education at the local level.
Placement: Lambda Legal Defense Fund (New York, NY) Jane developed a passion for public service while working for Michigan Senator Carl Levin in the United States Senate. While a Washington DC resident, she volunteered with DC Vote, a group advocating full voting representation for the citizens of the capital city. Once in law school, Jane was selected as a Vaid Fellow at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, where she contributed to the research and writing of a report on homeless youth. She spent last summer at Lawyers for Children, representing youth in foster care, and working with the LGBTQ policy project. Jane is a graduate of the George Washington University in Washington DC.
Placement: Public Counsel Law Center (Los Angeles, CA) After receiving his PhD in Molecular Biology, Charan decided to shift his focus to “issues that affect people and their quality of life on a daily basis”. As he put it, he has “become increasingly consumed by the national and international human rights policies that affect the six billion residents of this planet.” To that end, Charan traveled to the Buduburam refugee camp in Ghana in the summer of 2006, where he taught English and math to children, AIDS education to adults, moderated dialogue between tribal leaders, and in return, attained a wider perspective of the problems facing the third world. As a lawyer and an activist, he hopes to “confront these problems so that others may live with the same opportunities” that were given to him.
Placement: National Advocates for Pregnant Women (New York, NY) Beth has lived in Nicaragua where she developed and facilitated sexuality education workshops for a group of teenagers in Managua. She also helped produce a documentary film about how domestic violence and homophobia were addressed in a Nicaraguan social soap opera. Following her graduation from Smith College, Beth coordinated a volunteer program for high school students at an agency for the blind and worked as a service coordinator finding permanent housing for people with mental illness. Beth has served as a legal intern at the HIV Law Project and National Advocates for Pregnant Women, and is an active member of the National Lawyers Guild. Most recently, Beth traveled to Bolivia as a delegate with the National Lawyers Guild to study legal reforms focused on social and economic justice.
Placement: Public Defender Service for DC (Washington, DC) Josie is interested in the lingering legal issues facing the communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. She is an active member-leader of the Student Hurricane Network (SHN), which provides opportunities for law students to volunteer in the Gulf south. She spent summer 2006 working with the Orleans Public Defender (OPD) to institute reforms and provide better representation to their large client base. As part of Project Triage, this past fall Josie organized New York City-area SHN law student volunteers to sort through files of indigent criminal defendants currently in custody in Orleans Parish, looking for those who still sat without substantive counsel in violation of their Sixth Amendment rights. This winter, she helped coordinate and connect students with Pam Metzger, Tulane Law School Criminal Clinic professor, and her Katrina-Gideon Interview Project, which enabled 150 students from across the country to provide vital assistance to OPD by interviewing hundreds of inmates waiting for trial in Orleans Parish.
Placement: United Nations Inter-Agency Project (Bangkok, Thailand) Melissa has worked as an advocate on public interest issues and wishes to pursue a career focused on international human rights. As a policy analyst with OMB Watch, a watchdog organization in Washington, DC, Melissa monitored the development of federal health, safety and environmental regulations with attention to corporate influence. After leaving DC, Melissa spent six months traveling throughout Southeast Asia to gain a firsthand understanding of human rights struggles. Melissa also worked as a policy researcher in the New York City Public Advocate’s Office, where she conducted oversight of city agencies in the areas of public health and aging. Prior to entering law school, Melissa spent time living in Guatemala where she studied Spanish and worked with an indigenous women’s weaving cooperative. Most recently, Melissa traveled to Bolivia as a delegate with the National Lawyers Guild to study legal reforms focused on social and economic justice.
Placement: Break the Chains (New York, NY) Sundrop has focused on grass root community programs in low income neighborhoods working at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), first as Field Organizer in Philadelphia, and then as Head Organizer coordinating the opening of a new office in Allentown. With ACORN she worked in low income neighborhoods working with members of the community on addressing and resolving such issues as high crime, shortage or affordable housing, and lack of quality after school programs. Sundrop sees law school as providing “a set of tools desperately needed in community organizing” to bridge the gap between the understanding of day-to day problems that communities face and their solution.
Placement: Brooklyn Legal Services Corp. (Brooklyn, NY) Seth’s commitment to increasing opportunities in under-resourced communities through the law is firmly rooted in his experiences as an advocate for students and educational reform. From 2000-2002, Seth taught fifth grade in rural south Texas as a member of Teach For America, the national corps dedicated to eliminating educational inequality. Seth then worked on Teach For America’s Rio Grande Valley staff as a Program Director and Managing Director of Program for four years. He has also worked as a School Director at Teach For America’s summer institute trainings, and most recently as a Director of Evaluation Design. In these roles, he has supported hundreds of corps members as they led thousands of students to academic achievement. Seth believes that leaders trained in the law can advocate and help craft solutions with individuals, families, and communities grappling with the stressors of poverty. In turn, “those often rendered invisible can be afforded access to the legal tools they deserve so their current demography need not define their destiny.”
Placement: Medicare Rights Center (New York, NY) Kiran’s interest is in immigration advocacy—specifically integration of the immigrant community into the political system. In Kiran’s words: “I hope to pair a legal background with my experience in community organizing to create tangible change in the neighborhood streets that are so familiar to me.” Kiran has worked with the Asian American Legal Defense fund as a multi-lingual voter surveyor and poll monitor in Brooklyn; she worked on the Planning Committee with NYU’s Office for African American, Latino and Asian American Student Services for their annual Forum on Social Justice and Activism; and she was the recipient of NYU’s Women’s History Month Women of Color Star Activist Award for 2005.
Placement: ACLU National Legal Dept. (New York, NY) Leila is dedicated to a career in public interest law as a minority rights activist in the U.S. and Middle East. She has been working as International Advocacy Fellow, Adalah: Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, where she has coordinated international advocacy initiatives by documenting cases brought to their attorneys on behalf of Palestinian citizens with regards to rights of equality, due process, education, political participation and housing. She has also worked as Middle East Associate for Human Rights Watch, New York, and as an Intern to The Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. The Executive Director of Human Rights Watch said of her in a recommendation letter: “Leila went above and beyond the mandate of her position, taking on tasks that require more work experience and professional maturity normally not found in someone as young and inexperienced....”
Placement: Center for Reproductive Rights, Domestic Legal Program (New York, NY) Shakera pursued an undergraduate degree in journalism to combine her passion for writing with her devotion to advocacy. As a student journalist, Shakera addressed issues such as problems in the public school system, healthcare reform, and grassroots activism. As an undergraduate, Shakera also served as an interpreter for AALDEF, where she translated for immigrants seeking legal aid during Special Registration, as well as for victims of human trafficking, ensuring that they had access to human and legal services. She also served as the community outreach intern for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, where she registered new citizens to vote and conducted political advocacy by organizing “Know Your Rights” workshops. Working with these public interest organizations, Shakera realized that a law degree would expand and enhance the efforts she was involved in. Shakera hopes that a legal education will allow her not only to defend the plight of individuals, but to work for broader social change, engage in impact litigation, and shape policy.
Placement: Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Haifa, Israel) Seher’s interest is international development and human rights law. In her own words, she speaks of her “commitment to law as a means for enhancing political stability and economic sustainability.... I hope to develop a better understanding of the legal dynamics of property rights, regulatory frameworks and commercial laws....” In the months leading up to law school, she attended the Summer Institute for Conflict Resolution and Peace building in Bolivia. She has worked as a Program Associate for the World Federalist Movement—Institute for Global Policy, whose Director of Programs said of her: “Seher is regularly complimented by our partners from all over the world for her development and maintenance of a timely elaborate flow or information.” She also worked as Junior Consultant/Human Rights and Governance Intern for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Democratic Governance Group (DGG).
Placement: Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (Edinburg, TX) Pooja’s commitment to public interest law has roots in her study of international human trafficking during graduate school. After receiving her M.A., she interned at the United Nations in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Best Practices Section where she worked in the areas of criminal justice and the reestablishment of rule of law in post-conflict countries. During this time, she had the opportunity to develop skills in formulation of public policy. Pooja is dedicated to protecting men and women from gender and minority injustices, both from an individual and global vantage point.
Placement: Children’s Law Center of LA (Monterey Park, CA) Monica’s focus is child advocacy on behalf of runaway and homeless youth and children in state custody. She has worked for The Garden State Coalition supporting the work of runaway and homeless shelters in New Jersey and conducting research for a report on the correlation between foster care and youth homelessness. Monica also worked as an intern at the Greenwich Village Youth Council where she educated local communities about runaway and homeless youth issues. As an Assistant Child Advocate at the Office of the Child Advocate, an independent watch dog agency created to monitor New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services, she addressed complaints and fostered problem solving for individual callers through the agency’s hotline. Most recently, Monica was the Professional Education Coordinator at The New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, a nonprofit membership organization supporting the practice of effective philanthropy for the public good. She hopes to affect more change for children and young adults through legal counseling and policy work.
Placement: New York Legal Assistance Group (New York, NY) Prior to law school Sara worked in Immigration law, on a wide variety of cases, first for a private firm and later for the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) Legal Services Department. In law school she has been active in attempts to improve pro bono opportunities for law students. The long-term goal is to require mandatory exposure to pro bono work for all graduates of law school. Sara’s personal long-term goals as an activist/lawyer revolve around working directly with clients who would not otherwise have legal representation. Her legal internships include Brooklyn Legal Services, NY State Division of Human Rights and the Center for Constitutional Law. She was also a Brooklyn Law Students for the Public Interest Fellow in the summer of 2006.
Placement: Youth Law Center (San Francisco, CA) Following her graduation from Amherst College, Anita studied human rights issues in the Netherlands as a Humanity in Action Fellow and then spent a year in India as an America India Foundation fellow. In India, she worked at an after-school program that served children who lived in urban slum communities. Anita returned to New York to receive her MSW. During her graduate education, she worked with the Legal Aid Society assisting juveniles in Family Court, and at Sanctuary for Families as a social work advocate for victims of domestic violence. Last year, Anita worked for the Center for Court Innovation, Red Hook Community Justice Center, where she coordinated all clinic operations and monitored treatment for 120 court-mandated clients. Anita hopes to “contribute to the dialogue about how public interest law can be used to ensure access to justice for the most marginalized communities.”
Placement: Innocence Project (New York, NY) For the past several years, working for the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund as Criminal Justice Project Assistant, Stephanie has traveled to an Alabama prison for condemned prisoners to locate school and medical records which could be evidence of mental retardation, and might lead to their removal from death row. She believes that “fighting for equality before the law [is] the vanguard task of the contemporary civil rights movement,” and she has seen first hand the “inadequacy of indigent defense resources at the trial and appellate stages.” She has an activist commitment to criminal justice and equality.
Placement: Lutheran Social Services of New York, Immigration Legal Services Program (New York, NY) Johane’s interests center around education and community development. She helped begin an HIV peer education program for high school students in Mozambique, and she is an active volunteer within the Haitian communities in Queens and Manhattan, where she mentors high school students. She plans to focus her legal practice in the areas of immigration and economic development within low-income communities.
Placement: Legal Services for New York City, Brooklyn Family Defense Project (Brooklyn, NY) Upon completing her graduate degree, Hema researched education programs for urban poor around the world at the Globalegacy Fund in London. >From 2002-2005, Hema was Program Officer at the Robin Hood Foundation, where she conducted due diligence and evaluated grant recipient organizations for the Education and September 11th funding areas. For eight months prior to starting law school, Hema worked as a researcher and grant writer for Semillas, in Mexico City, the country's only women's fund. She has also written articles on public interest issues for various publications. She hopes to use her Sparer Fellowship for a 2007 government internship with the Commission on Human Rights of Mexico City.
Placement: New Orleans Public Defender (New Orleans, LA) Before coming to Brooklyn Law School, Chris taught English at a junior high school in Nagano, Japan for two years. For the past two years, he has dedicated his career to public interest work. Last spring, Chris organized a fundraiser to help him and his colleagues travel to New Orleans to do volunteer legal work. He has since been an active executive member of the BLS Chapter of the Student Hurricane Network. As a Brooklyn Law Students for the Public Interest (BLSPI) Fellow, Chris worked for an NGO called the American Indian Law Alliance. Chris helped advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples in international human rights forums, and researched possible sources of relief from a case of industrial pollution. For the past year, he has been Co-Chair of BLSPI, a non-profit corporation that raises money for BLS students to work in the public sector and promotes public interest work in the Brooklyn area by supporting local organizations.
Placement: International Center for Transitional Justice (New York, NY) Jared plans to pursue a career in international public law with a focus on conflict prevention and resolution. Following college, Jared worked in the Evaluation Office at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where he contributed to various initiatives seeking to stream-line reporting procedures in order to better align organizational decision-making with ground-level needs. Thereafter, he moved to Brazil and became involved with the São Paulo office of Global Youth Action Network (GYAN). His work with GYAN centered on assisting policymakers and facilitating youth participation and intergenerational partnership in global decision-making. Inspired by his experience with GYAN, Jared returned to the United States to work for MoveOn PAC in the 2004 Presidential Election. He worked as a field organizer in Palm Beach County, Florida, leading a team of 150 volunteers in voter outreach and get-out-the-vote efforts. Most recently, Jared worked in the Human Capital Strategies group at ICF International in Washington, D.C. where he specialized in qualitative analysis work for public sector change-management initiatives.
Placement: LSNY Legal Support Unit (New York, NY) After Graduating Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse College in 1998, Kahlil Winslow worked as a financial analyst for Morgan Stanley in the US, as well as in England. After Morgan Stanley, he became the budget director for ‘The Pray 4 Love’ benefit tour -- reggae artists raising proceeds for the victims of 9/11. Kahlil Winslow also opened an urban bookstore/café in Brooklyn, a unique endeavor, with the goal of sparking thought and a love of reading in the local community. Kahlil currently works as a tax advisor for H&R Block. He is also a volunteer with the International African Arts Festival, an organization in Brooklyn devoted to highlighting all art of Africans and African Americans. Kahlil plans to utilize his law degree to enhance urban minority community development projects especially those related to community funding.
Placement: Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (New York, NY) Haeya graduated from Wesleyan University in 2002 with a degree in economics and a concentration in urban and development economics. She worked at the Center for Public Interest Law at Columbia University for three years before law school, and she has been a volunteer for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and America Coming Together. Her interest lies in domestic, economic, and social rights for women, workers, and immigrants, and in the intersection of business and human rights in both domestic and international contexts. She hopes to use her Sparer Fellowship to work at a domestic non-profit or NGO that provides advocacy, education, and legal services for New York City’s underserved minority groups.
|
|