“The Miami Scholars Public Interest Program represents dedicated and extraordinary students at Miami Law. Their passion for justice, intellectual curiosity and motivation drives them to effectuate change in agencies and communities near and far.”
~Marni Lennon, Esq. Assistant Dean for Public Interest and Pro Bono Director, HOPE Public Interest Resource Center Lecturer in Law
Established in 1997, the Miami Scholars Public Interest Program brings exceptional students with a passion for public service and social justice to the University of Miami School of Law. Miami Scholars are selected based on their outstanding academic credentials and demonstrated commitment to public service and advocacy.
The Miami Scholars Public Interest Program offers its students exclusive opportunities for legal advocacy training and advising from the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center team of attorneys, including individualized curriculum advising and career planning assistance. Miami Scholars receive mentoring by upper-division Scholars and public interest and pro bono attorneys.
Miami Scholars are awarded an annual scholarship and are provided with a stipend for public interest work that is performed during their first or second year summer. Tuition awards are automatically renewed if the scholar remains in good standing.
As an alumna with a legal career dedicated to public service, I am excited to watch the continued expansion of the Miami Scholars Program. It now affords even more students the opportunity to find their passion, do what they love, and serve our community with vigor and spirit.
~Fara Gold, JD ’03 Attorney Advisor, Office on Violence Against Women, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DCBeginning law school in the fall of 2020 presented unique challenges and opportunities, but I am so grateful for the Miami Scholars Public Interest Program. The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center's incredible and dedicated team problem-solved to build a strong community. The Scholars program provided me with great friends and inspiring role models, as well as public interest programming that exposed me to a wide range of legal leaders who challenge injustice and center people's needs. I benefited from training, support, and funding. This included a summer stipend so that I could work with the Capital Habeas Unit at the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Florida, an opportunity that cemented my desire to become a public defender.
~Myles Crandall, JD ’23 Assistant Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida, Miami, FLThe Miami Scholars Program connected me with a network of students and alumni dedicated to public service and social justice. Having this community made law school a much more fulfilling experience, and helped me develop a network that has guided me into my career. With the support of the Miami Scholars Program, I was able to take summer internships across the country to work on environmental justice issues and connect with alumni and professionals doing similar work. The community that the program creates for its students and alumni is invaluable.
~Katrina Tomas, JD ’19 Earthjustice San Francisco, CAAmelia Anderson graduated magna cum laude from Davidson College in May 2018 with a B.A. in Latin American Studies and a minor in Religious Studies. She earned her M.A. in Religion, with a focus on Religion in the Americas, as well as a Certificate in Latin American Studies, from the University of Florida in April 2021. While an undergraduate, Amelia received departmental honors, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, studied abroad in Peru and Spain, and conducted research in Cuba. She also served as co-president of the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. As a graduate student, she was the recipient of the Summer 2020 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship to study Haitian Creole with Florida International University and also worked as a teaching assistant. During the summer of 2017, Amelia served as a Teaching Fellow for Breakthrough Miami, where she mentored middle school students from under-resourced communities to help them successfully navigate middle school and lead them towards high school graduation and college. The following year, she worked as a College Advisor for the Americorps Program’s Advising Corps at Davidson College, assisting low-income, first-generation college and underrepresented high school students in the college admissions and financial aid process. As a 1L at Miami Law, Amelia served as a Miami Law Ambassador and participated in Alternative Breaks with Catholic Legal Services and Disability Independence Group. During her 1L summer, she was a law clerk with Legal Services of Greater Miami in the Tenants' Rights Unit. As a 2L, Amelia was a member of the Immigration Clinic, volunteered with the ACLU of Florida, and served as an extern for the Honorable Beth Bloom in the Southern District of Florida. Amelia spent her 2L summer with Wargo French Singer and is working with the immigration firm of Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli and Pratt during the fall of her 3L year. Amelia is also Senior Articles Editor for the University of Miami Law Review.
Alexander Bruno graduated magna cum laude from the University of Richmond in May 2020 with a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, Economics, and Law and a concentration in Philosophy. During the spring of his 1L year at Miami Law, Alexander was selected for the Miami Law Trial Team. Since then, he has competed in the All-Star Bracket and Chester Bedell Mock Trial Competitions. During his 1L summer, Alexander interned at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office in the misdemeanor division, writing motions and memoranda, conducting legal research, and participating in case review. During the fall of his 2L year, he continued at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, working with the chief of the Career Criminal Division. He wrote a response to a post-conviction relief motion that was filed with the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, prepared direct examination questioning for multiple trials, and conducted legal research. He also received the CALI award for the highest grade in Roy Black’s Criminal Evidence Workshop course. During the spring of his 2L year, Alexander participated in the Litigation Skills Program where he received honors for excellence in the Criminal Trial Section of the program. He also made the Dean’s List and is participating in the HOPE Pro Bono Challenge. During his 2L summer, Alexander interned with the Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit of the King’s County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY, where he assisted in the investigation and prosecution of an ongoing gang war in Brownsville. During the fall of his 3L year, Alexander is serving as an intern with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida with the Special Victims Unit of the Criminal Division.
Danielle Bukacheski graduated from the University of Michigan in May 2019 with a B.A. in Women’s Studies with a focus on Gender and Health. She earned her M.S. in Urban Education at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2021, submitting a thesis entitled "The Impact of a Parent's Criminal Record on Parental Involvement in Educational Spaces." Prior to law school, Danielle volunteered as a Pardon Coach for Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, assisting and coaching clients with submitting pardon applications and preparing for interviews with the Board of Probation and Parole. As a 1L at Miami Law, Danielle volunteered with the ACLU of Florida Immigrant Detention Tracking Pro Bono Project and was a research assistant for Professor Alfieri through the Center for Ethics and Public Service. Danielle spent her 1L summer as a legal intern at the Federal Defender of the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City, MO, in the trial and appellate units. As a 2L, Danielle was a member of the Miami Law Innocence Clinic where she furthered her knowledge of criminal postconviction work. During her 2L summer, Danielle served as a legal intern with the Honorable Stephen R. Bough in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri and as an intern with the Capital Habeas Unit in the Federal Defender of the Western District of Missouri. As a 3L Danielle is serving as an Articles & Comments Editor for the University of Miami Law Review. During the fall of her 3L year, Danielle is continuing as an extern with the Federal Defender's Office. She is also an Articles & Comments Editor for the University of Miami Law Review.
Ben Butin graduated from the University of Georgia in December 2019 with a B.A. in Political Science. He was a member of the Dean’s List, studied abroad in Verona, Italy, and wrote for the Georgia Political Review. Throughout college, Ben served as a co-president of Breaking the Shackles, a non-profit created to equip college students with the tools to fight modern-day slavery and human trafficking. He led courses, managed volunteers, established community partnerships, and assisted with a 300-person conference on Human Rights and Sex Trafficking. During the fall of 2017, Ben interned for the Athens Clarke County Public Defender’s Office, where he assisted attorneys by visiting incarcerated clients and conveying plea negotiations. He also transcribed and summarized evidence, including police interviews and body camera/ surveillance videos. In 2018, Ben performed research which analyzed the legislative history of Georgia Crime Bill 1176 and its effects on Georgia criminal policy, as well as the desegregation of the Glynn County School System. During the summer of 2019, he served as an intern in Georgia’s State Court DUI/Drug Accountability Program, where he assisted judges, analyzed data, and tracked demographics for the Athens DUI Drug Court to ensure equivalent access and prevent disparate outcomes for participants in the program. As a 1L and 2L at Miami Law, Ben was a member of the Dean's List. During his 1L summer, he served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Darrin P. Gayles of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. As a 2L, Ben served as a Junior Staff Editor on the University of Miami Law Review and participated in the Innocence Clinic. During his 2L summer, he worked as a summer associate for Jones Day, a firm with a significant pro bono practice. He primarily worked on international and employment law matters, but he also participated in the firm’s Laredo Border Project, traveling to Laredo, Texas, for a week to counsel migrants on the border awaiting asylum hearings.
As a 3L, Ben is serving on the executive board of the University of Miami Law Review and continues his work with the Innocence Clinic as a Fellow.
Elizabeth Hansel Collins graduated cum laude from Occidental College in May 2019 with a B.A. in Diplomacy and World Affairs and a minor in Chinese Studies. She earned a distinction for her senior thesis which explored local NGO approaches to transitional justice and reconciliation in Cambodia. She traveled to Cambodia in January 2019 to interview leaders of civil society on their approaches to and views on transitional justice. She also studied abroad in Taipei, Taiwan. Throughout her senior year, she worked as a JusticeCorps Minimum Time Member for the Pasadena Superior Courthouse, where she assisted self-represented litigants in the civil court self-help center and developed Mandarin language workshops for simple dissolution cases. As a 2019-2020 Fulbright Grant recipient, Elizabeth spent eight months as an English Teaching Assistant in Changhua County, Taiwan. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, Elizabeth served as an intern with The Legal Aid Society of New York City’s Health Law Unit. During her 2L year, she completed an externship with Dade Legal Aid’s Domestic Violence Program and participated in the Tenants’ Rights Clinic. During her 2L summer, Elizabeth served as a HOPE Fellow with the Environmental Crimes Section with the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC At Miami Law, she serves as co-chair of the Public Interest Leadership Board, is a program assistant with the Environmental Law Program, is treasurer of the Iron Arrow Society, and is a Symposium Editor for the University of Miami Law Review.
Laura Curry graduated from West Virginia University in May 2021 with a B.A. in History. While in college, Laura volunteered with the Appalachian Prison Book Project. In 2019, she was awarded a Boren Scholarship, one of 23 in the country, to complete a long-term immersion and language acquisition study in Tanzania. Prior to entering law school, Laura volunteered with Catholic Charities in Cleveland, Ohio, where she supported Swahili-speaking immigrants and refugees by providing interpretation and serving as an intern refugee case manager. As a 1L at Miami Law, Laura worked with the Court Data Project to identify errors that prevented cases from closing and submitted data which will be used to develop new training materials to reduce the number of cases erroneously left open on Florida state court dockets. During her 1L summer, Laura served as a law clerk with the Orleans Public Defenders in New Orleans, LA. During her 2L year, Laura interned with the Federal Public Defender's Office in Miami and volunteered with Exchange for Change by helping teach legal writing at Homestead Correctional Institution. During her 2L summer, Laura served as a certified legal intern at the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender in Greeley, Colorado, where she managed her own caseload of misdemeanor cases. As a 3L, she is participating in the Innocence Clinic, serving as symposium editor for the University of Miami Law Review, and working as a Certified Legal Intern with the Office of the Miami-Dade Public Defender.
Sandra Lackmann graduated magna cum laude from the Ohio State University in December 2018 with a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish and a minor in Human Rights. She was a National Buckeye Scholar and student of the Honors College. Sandra earned a grant to study abroad in San José, Costa Rica. During college, Sandra completed internships at the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Ayuda, and the Ohio State Center for Latin American Studies. In her last semester, she defended her honors thesis on asylum-seeking women and US immigration law. Following graduation, she worked as the operations coordinator and later senior legal assistant for a private immigration firm in Columbus, OH, focusing on complex removal defense, consular processing, and waivers. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, Sandra clerked at Catholic Charities Legal Services, working on deportation defense and asylum cases of unaccompanied refugee minors. During her 2L year, Sandra worked as a student intern with the Immigration Clinic, serving as the primary advocate and managing the complex cases of four clients. She and her partner successfully litigated a final removal hearing for a torture victim in immigration detention, with the judge granting the client Withholding of Removal, a form of humanitarian protection requiring a significantly higher standard of proof than asylum. As a 3L, Sandra serves as a Student Fellow with the Immigration Clinic, assisting students with case management and coordinating advocacy initiatives to further the goals of the clinic.
Paula Manrique graduated from Emory University in May 2020 with a B.A. in Environmental Science and a minor in Sustainability Sciences. She received numerous scholarships, was a member of the Pre-Law Society and the First-Generation Low-Income Partnership, and a volunteer with LifeLine Animal Rescue. She twice traveled to Matagalpa, Nicaragua as a Brigade Leader for Global Brigades Public Health, where she worked as part of a holistic health and economic program, specializing in public health infrastructure by building sanitation stations, concrete floors, and eco-stoves to prevent spread of water-borne disease. During the summer of 2018, Paula interned for the Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach, FL, where she conducted ecological field research on wading birds and led nature-based educational camps for children. During the spring of 2020, she served as a Region 4 Tribal Compliance Intern for the Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta, GA, where she developed training documents to be used by tribal nations during pre-construction meetings and worked on Clean Water Act issues. In 2021, she took part in a Fulbright España English Teaching Assistantship in the Canary Islands and volunteered with Limpiaventura, a beach clean-up organization. During her 1L year at Miami Law, Paula performed pro bono legal research with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. During her 1L summer, she served as an intern with the Everglades Law Center. As a 2L, Paula externed with the Southern Poverty Law Center, served on the executive board for the Miami Law Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and began a joint degree with the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science, pursuing a Master of Professional Science in Marine Ecosystems and Society in the Coastal Zone Management track. During 2L summer, she was a law clerk for the Earthjustice in the Washington, DC Regional office. During her 3L year, she is completing a certified legal internship with
the Felonies Unit of the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, while serving on the executive board for both the Miami Law Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and the Environmental Law Society.
Timothy Mondloch graduated from the University of New Mexico in May 2021 with majors in Africana Studies, Psychology, and Sociology. He received the Regents Scholarship, was a member of the Black Student Association and Black Student Union, was a founder and tutor for the Governor Bent Elementary School Tutoring Program and held a leadership role with Brothers Leading and Cultivating Knowledge. In 2017, Timothy was elected vice president of the University of New Mexico’s chapter of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he served for two years. In 2019, he began serving as a senator for Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, working closely with colleagues to propose and debate legislation to benefit the student body. At Miami Law, Timothy is a member of the First-Generation Law Students Association, Black Law Students Association, Human Rights Society, and Southwest Asian and North African Law Students Association. He is the acting Editor in Chief for the University of Miami’s Race and Social Justice Law Review, vice president of the National Lawyers Guild, and has previously served as the vice president of the Mental Health Collective and Society of Bar and Gavel. He is also a member of the University of Miami School of Law Trial Team, a Dean’s Fellow, and a student ambassador. During his 1L summer, Timothy worked at Bread for the City, a nonprofit organization in Washington, DC that provides free legal, medical, and social services to individuals facing poverty. During his 2L summer, Timothy worked as a summer associate at McDermott, Will, & Emery in the Miami office.
Gabriela Rivero graduated from Harvard University in May 2021 with a B.A. in Sociology, a secondary in Latinx Studies, a certificate in Latin American Studies, and a Spanish language certification. She was a John Harvard Scholarship recipient, studied abroad in Havana, Cuba, and completed a senior thesis focusing on the intersection between Iberian heritage and Latinx identity. Throughout college, Gabriela volunteered with Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinic and also conducted research on various aspects of immigration in Canada, the United States, and Latin America. At Miami Law, Gabriela is earning both her J.D. and an LL.M. in International Law. She continues to serve the immigrant community by tracking complaints about Florida's various immigration detention centers with the ACLU of Florida, and was one of the 2022 recipients of the Innovative Service in the Public Interest Award for her work. During her 1L summer, Gabriela served as a HOPE Fellow with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies. As a 2L, she earned a Dean's Certificate for her work as a clinical student with the Immigration Clinic for the 2022-2023 school year. During her 2L summer, she was a summer law clerk at Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli and Pratt, P.A., working on various family- and employment-based immigration cases. As a 3L, Gabriela is president of the Immigration Law Students Association, co-chair of the Public Interest Leadership Board Fundraising Committee, and secretary of the National Lawyers Guild. She is also serving as an extern with the Southern Poverty Law Center's Immigrant Justice Project.
Sofia Smith graduated from University of Michigan in 2020 with a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish. She served as a volunteer with the Monroe Youth Center, where she worked with long-term incarcerated juveniles who were suffering from trauma as a result of sexual and physical assault. Following graduation, she spent a year as an Americorps member in Chicago, IL, through City Year. There, she co-taught 10th grade math at an under-resourced high school. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, Sofia served as an intern with the felony division of the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office. During the fall semester of her 2L year, she continued as an extern with the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office, where she again worked in the felony division, assisting attorneys during court proceedings, writing motions and memoranda, and conducting client interviews. During the second semester of her 2L year, Sofia worked as a research assistant for a professor specializing in the intersection of social justice and law, completing research on Battered Woman Syndrome. During her 2L summer, Sofia served as a HOPE Fellow with the Federal Public Defender's Office in Miami. She performed legal research on federal sentencing guidelines and federal drug laws such as the MDLEA and wrote motions for post-sentencing relief and terminating supervised release. During the fall of her 3L year, Sofia is serving as a Certified Legal Intern with the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office.
Gabrielle Thomas graduated from Davidson College in May 2021 with a B.A. in Africana Studies with a concentration in Political Economy and Political Science. She founded the first and only international undergraduate Africana Studies Journal in the United States and interned at Public Advocates Law Firm in San Francisco, working with lawyers on issues such as housing, education, climate justice, and transit. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, Gabrielle served as a legal intern with the Tenants’ Rights Unit at Legal Services of Greater Miami. As at 2L, she participated in the Human Rights Clinic, where she organized and handled all aspects of a thematic hearing at the 186th Period of Sessions with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. She also conducted international law research for the Lancet Commission's report concerning tech-facilitated and corporate-facilitated gender-based-violence. She has worked on three law review articles, an op-ed for the Miami Herald, two public facing publications, and a human rights report to Stop Deportations to Haiti. As a 3L, she is serving as president of the Caribbean Law Student Association, Clinical Fellow for the Human Rights Clinic, vice president of the Human Rights Society, Critical Legal Librarian for the National Lawyers Guild Chapter, and a research assistant for Professors Alfieri and Weldon.
Sean Werkheiser graduated from Emerson College in 2012 with a B.S. in Political Communication: Politics, Leadership and Social Advocacy. He earned an M.S. in Education: Bilingual Childhood Education from Hunter College, where he graduated magna cum laude in 2016. While an undergraduate, Sean volunteered as a classroom instructor and tutor with Peace First, working with underperforming schools and high-risk students in the
Boston Area. Following graduation, he served as an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator for the San Francisco Education Fund, where he recruited and trained over 350 volunteers. He then served as a Corps Member with City Year in New York, where he served as a tutor and mentor for under-served youth in a bilingual classroom setting. While pursuing his master’s degree, Sean taught full time in a highneeds school as part of the NYC Teaching Fellows Program and also taught at a dual language school for international students in Brooklyn. A Fulbright Grant recipient, he taught English to university students in Bogotá, Colombia from August 2016 to December 2018. In January 2019, he began working as an immigration paralegal for a firm in San Francisco, where he prepared filings, conducted legal research, and provided translations and interpretations. As a 1L at Miami Law, Sean completed pro bono projects to restore returning citizens’ voting rights and track reports of abuse in ICE detention centers throughout Florida. He also participated in an Alternative Fall Break project assisting recent immigrants applying for political asylum. During his 1L summer, Sean interned at the National Lawyers Guild as part of the Civil Litigation Taskforce, conducting research, writing, and depositions for class action civil rights lawsuits against the NYPD. As a 2L, he served as president of the Miami Law National Lawyers Guild (NLG), was a member of the ACLU of Florida’s Immigrant Detention Tracking Project, and organized an Alternative Spring Break trip to South Texas to volunteer with ProBAR, an organization that provides pro bono representation to immigrants facing deportation. During his 2L summer, Sean worked at Fragomen, the world’s largest immigration law firm. As a 3L, he is reprising his role as NLG President and planning another Alternative Spring Break trip.
Almost every opportunity and experience that I have had in law school is because of the Miami Scholars Program. The program gave me the support and resources to take unpaid positions that would have otherwise been difficult for me to partake in and helped me to be a competitive candidate for many positions. Law school would not have been the same without the community I have found through the Miami Scholars. My peers inspire me every day to work harder and to use my voice to serve those most in need of access to justice.
~Elizabeth Hansel Collins, Class of 2024Krystell Fienco graduated from the University of Florida in December 2021 with a B.A in Criminology, B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Computer and Information Science. While at UF, she served as president of the Minority Pre-Legal Society. She was involved with the Office of Academic Support, becoming a scholar and eventually an Honor Society member. She interned with various non-profit organizations including Equality Florida, Pace Center for Girls, and Eradicating the School to Prison Pipeline (E-STOPP). At E-STOPP, she assisted in the preparation and leadership of group visits to juvenile detention centers at the Turner Guildford Knight Correctional Center and the Miami-Dade Regional Juvenile Detention Center. During these visits, E-STOPP facilitated group talks and provided advice, acknowledgement and support. Following graduation, she worked as a legal assistant at an immigration firm, where she focused on providing translations, obtaining client information, and preparing forms for the attorney to review. During the spring semester of her 1L year at Miami Law, Krystell began volunteering with Chainless Change, a non-profit that serves individuals affected by the criminal justice system. During her 1L summer, she worked as a law clerk with a firm specializing in Americans with Disabilities Act cases. During the fall of her 2L year, Krystell is serving as a Junior Editor for the Race and Social Justice Law Review, and a member of the First-Generation Law Association, Hispanic Law Student Association, If/When/How, and the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Janeal Fordham graduated magna cum laude from Spelman College in May 2018 with a B.A. in Political Science. While there, she served as an AmeriCorps Service Member with Hands On Atlanta. Upon graduation, Janeal served as the 2018-2021 Gallard Fellow at The Branson School, a selective, private school in the Bay Area. While at Branson, Janeal was a US History teacher, an Admissions team member, and affinity space advisor for the Women of Color and Black Student Union groups. As Director of Community Engagement, Janeal consistently tailored engaging programming for the school community culminating in more than 12,000 hours of community outreach and volunteer events. Prior to law school, Janeal performed research in Los Angeles for The Canary Film Project, a documentary depicting the disproportionate Black maternal mortality rate. While there, she served as a community engagement board member for Sistas of LA, an affinity collective of 2,000 Black women in the Los Angeles area. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, Janeal served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Peter Russin, a US Bankruptcy Judge in the Southern District of Florida. As a 2L, she is serving as the David P. Catsman Fellow for the Center for Ethics and Public Service.
Angelo Gomez graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University in May 2022 with a B.S in Communication and Political Science. During the spring of 2022, he was an FIU Honors College Hamilton Scholar and spent the semester advocating for immigration reform in Washington DC. He later was an FIU Government Relations fellow in Washington, advocating for environmental issues
such as coastal conservation and resiliency infrastructure, and for higher education policy in Congress. Angelo volunteered with FIU College of Law’s Immigration Clinic during their 2021 Proyecto Libertadores project which assisted over 800 Venezuelan individuals and families from across South Florida in completing TPS applications and work authorization forms. He continued volunteering throughout the summer of 2022 during the clinic’s pro se events on campus, assisting hundreds of individuals with their asylum applications. During his 1L year at Miami Law, Angelo engaged in immigration advocacy as part of HOPE’s Alternative Winter Break with Catholic Legal Services in Miami and HOPE’s Alternative Spring Break with ProBar in Harlingen, Texas, meeting the HOPE Pro Bono Challenge of 75 hours of service as a 1L. He was also a member of the Dean’s List. During his 1L summer, Angelo served as a law clerk with the Tenants' Rights Unit at Legal Services of Greater Miami, focusing on eviction defense for lowincome clients. As a 2L, he is participating in the Immigration Clinic and serving as secretary for the Immigration Law Student Association and a member of the Public Interest Leadership Board.
Lindsey Graham graduated with honors from the University of Missouri in May 2018 with a B.A. in International Peace Studies and a minor in Leadership and Public service, an immersive learning experience that incorporated service work with non-profit organizations. She also spent a semester abroad attending the Universidad de Sevilla in Spain. Following graduation, Lindsey began her public service career working as a paralegal with Legal Aid of Western Missouri, launching a pilot program to bring housing resources to families facing eviction in the Kansas City Public School District. She then served as a Peace Corps Community Health Volunteer in Ecuador, where she partnered Fundación Pachamama to support indigenous midwives of the Achuar and Shuar tribes to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes. After her Peace Corps service ended, Lindsey took a full-time position with Fundación Pachamama, where she continued to work with Achuar and Shuar midwives. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, Lindsey worked as a law clerk for Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton. During this time, Lindsey partnered with a fellow Miami Public Interest Scholar to re-activate Miami Law’s Chapter of If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, where, as a 2L, she is serving as Executive Co-Chair. She is also a member of the International Moot Court team, an intern in the Human Rights Clinic, and the vice president of Miami Law Women.
Cameron Helm graduated cum laude from the University of Miami in May of 2022 with a B.B.A. in Economics and a minor in Political Science. While an undergraduate, he served as Chief Justice of the Student Government Supreme Court, was president of the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi and volunteered as a teaching assistant for introductory business courses. During the spring of 2022, Cameron received the W.T. McElrath Award in recognition of service to the Miami Herbert Business School. He spent his undergraduate summers as an intern in the US House of Representatives, at two Miami-based law firms, and with the Innocence Project of Florida, which works to find and free the innocent and wrongly incarcerated in Florida prisons. During his 1L summer at Miami Law, Cameron served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Monica Gordo of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.
Addiel Pérez graduated magna cum laude from Rollins College in May 2022 with an A.B. in Political Science. While there, he conducted novel research with the political science faculty focused on political psychology, race politics, and public opinion. He presented his working paper "Public Perceptions of the Capitol Riot: A List Experiment" at the 2021 American Political Science Association Annual Conference & Exhibition and continues to work on publication. Addiel also engaged in service projects, including a Spring 2022 volunteer project at the Rosebud Indigenous Reservation in South Dakota through Global Volunteers. He also served as a student leader in a Summer 2022 field study program in Tanzania through the organization Better Lives, where he focused on sustainable development in rural and disadvantaged communities. His work in Tanzania fed off a leadership immersion through the organization Global Livingston Institute (GLI) in Uganda and Rwanda in January of 2020, where he built relationships with stakeholders and leaders in the local communities focused on economic and sustainable development. Addiel also volunteered at Shepherd's Hope, a non-profit health organization, and served as an intern in the US Senate. As a 1L at Miami Law, Addiel was a member of the Dean's List. During his 1L summer, he was a judicial intern with the Honorable Darrin P. Gayles of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. As a 2L, he is participating in the Environmental Justice Clinic and serving as Junior Staff Editor with the University of Miami Law Review.
Dillon Richards graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia in the fall of 2016 with a B.A. in Journalism, majoring in Digital and Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Spanish. Prior to law school, Dillon worked as a television journalist in Johnstown, PA, Oklahoma City, OK, and West Palm Beach, FL. His main beats were the courts and politics, but his experience covering breaking news—often interviewing people during or about their worst moments—gave him a passion for helping others navigate the most difficult times in their lives. His years reviewing and analyzing newsworthy lawsuits also gave him a passion for tackling complex and novel legal questions. At Miami Law, Dillon won the CALI award for Legal Communication and Research II and has worked as a research assistant for Professor Jill Barton. During his 1L summer, Dillon worked as a legal intern at the Law Office of the Broward Public Defender in Fort Lauderdale, where he reviewed discovery, prepared memoranda, met with clients, and assisted attorneys with trial preparation. During the fall of his 2L year, he is working as a legal extern for US Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe in West Palm Beach and serving as a Junior Staff Editor on the University of Miami Law Review.
Alexandra Santamaria received her B.A. degree in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA, in 2018. Upon graduation, she worked as an administrative legal assistant at an immigration firm in Denver, CO that focused on humanitarian cases. During her time there, she also began volunteering at legal and immigrant non-profit initiatives. She then worked as a legal assistant for Justice For All Immigrants (JFAI) in her hometown of
Houston, where she focused on grants that provided direct representation to immigrants in detention facilities who sought immigration bonds, paroles, asylum, and cancellation of removals. She supported several grants, including the Deportation Defense Houston Collaborative, the Church World Service Asylum Project, and Harris County’s Immigrant Legal Services Fund. She was also awarded a grant from the National Justice for Our Neighbors to work on the Caminamos Juntos Asylum Seeker Project at the border in Nogales, Mexico that helped asylum seeker families be paroled into the United States. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, she served as an intern with the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida in the Special Prosecutions Section of the Criminal Division, which focuses on cases of human trafficking, child exploitation, and other violent crimes. During the fall of her 2L year, she is working as an immigration intern with Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A. in Coral Gables, FL.
Diego Troncoso graduated from the University of Central Florida in May 2021 with a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Advertising and Public Relations. At UCF, he served the student body in a variety of leadership positions. As a student senator, he created initiatives focused on student homelessness, bringing more resources to the university’s free food pantry, and lobbying at the state level for the university’s legislative priorities. He also served as the university’s Academic Affairs Coordinator and Scholarship Chairman and was appointed to various university committees, where he made ongoing strides to make UCF a more equitable, inclusive, and accessible institution. Prior to law school, he volunteered with the Housing Unit at the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association. During his 1L summer at Miami Law, Diego worked as a Litigation Summer Associate at Holland & Knight in Miami, where he focused on consumer protection and government compliance matters and had an article published regarding a recent Consumer Financial Protection case. During his 2L year, Diego is taking part in a judicial externship, volunteering with CABA’s Immigrant Children’s Program for unaccompanied minors, serving as a Miami Law Ambassador and participating in the Black Law Student Association.
Nicole Vahlkamp graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland Honors Program with a B.A. in Government & Politics and Economics. Led by her passion for other cultures and interest in economics, Nicole went on to pursue her Master’s in Business Administration in Tel Aviv, Israel, graduating from Bar Ilan University with concentrations in International Business and Finance. After working for Procter & Gamble in Israel for a number of years, Nicole returned to the United States, and to her hometown of Chicago, where she graduated from the University of Chicago with her Master’s in Public Policy. Nicole worked for the Government Accountability Office, researching and auditing processes within the Department of Defense, and with various non-profit organizations as an independent consultant. During the summer of 2022, she interned at the Office of the State Attorney in Florida’s 20th District in Charlotte County, where she assisted with trial research, preparation, and deposition summaries. During her 1L summer at Miami Law, Nicole interned in the Appellate Division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. During her 2L year, Nicole is serving as president
of the Cardozo Jewish Legal Society, vice president of the Insightful Mind Initiative, and a member of the Public Interest Leadership Board. She is also a member of the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review and is serving as a judicial intern with the Southern District of Florida.
Christina Velazquez graduated summa cum laude from Florida International University in 2021 with dual B.A.s in Political Science and Women's & Gender Studies, a minor in Public Policy & Service, and a certificate in Pre-Law Skills. She received the College of Arts Sciences & Education Outstanding Academic Achievement Award and graduated with honors as a Real Triumphs Graduate. She was a Division I student-athlete and held leadership positions on the Student-Athlete Leadership Council, HerCampus Magazine, and Planned Parenthood Generation Action. She also worked as a Victim Empowerment Program Peer Educator, Latinas Represent intern, FIU Center for Women's and Gender Studies teaching assistant, and research assistant with the FIU Metropolitan Center. After graduation, Christina joined the Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence in Chicago as a Policy Associate. During her 1L year at Miami Law, Christina served on the Alternative Break Planning Committee and participated in a trip to Harlingen, Texas, assisting the ABA ProBAR program in providing deportation defense and immigration legal services at the Texas border. She received the HOPE Excellence in Legal Advocacy 1L Award for her over 90 hours of pro bono work with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, the Colorado Office of the Child's Representative, ABA ProBAR, and the Florida Pro Bono Law School Challenge. She also served as a Miami Law Ambassador. During her 1L summer, she worked as a Law Clerk and Helliwell Fellow with the Tenants' Rights Unit at Legal Services of Greater Miami. She also served as an application reviewer for The Network's Survivor Crisis Fund and research assistant for Professor Coker. As a 2L, she is serving on the executive boards of If/When/How Miami Law Chapter, ACLU-UM, and NLG, and is a member of the Public Interest Leadership Board.
Olivia Zukowski graduated summa cum laude from the University of Miami in May 2021 with a B.A. in Ecosystem Science and Policy and Political Science and a minor in French. She was inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society and was named the top graduate in the political science department in 2021. She received her Master of Public Administration from the University of Miami in May 2022. Olivia held leadership roles in a variety of student organizations including serving as the Graduate Student Association MPA/MPP program senator, a teaching assistant for the Political Science department, a member of the UOutreach committee of Student Government, and a member of several environmental organizations on campus. Prior to law school, Olivia served as an intern with the Human Impacts Institute (HII) based in Brooklyn, NY, focusing on NGO Development. She wrote technical funding proposals to further HII’s mission towards environmental education and stewardship through the arts and social justice. As a 1L at Miami Law, Olivia worked with the Center for Ethics and Public Service on the Health Disparities Project. She attended meetings with the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance to identify legal issues community members were facing and worked on an interactive
presentation to engage Alliance members with the CARES Act. She also participated in planning for the Black Health Summit. During her 1L summer, Olivia served as a legal intern with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Miami District Office, focusing on employment discrimination matters. Olivia was awarded the Squire Patton Boggs Public Policy Fellowship for her work with the EEOC which provided her the opportunity to interact with legal professionals at the intersection of law and policy. As a 2L, Olivia is serving as a Junior Staff Editor for the University of Miami Law Review, Honor Council Representative, Dean’s Fellow for Elements, and member of Miami Law Women and the First-Generation Law Association.
I am at the University of Miami because of the Miami Public Interest Scholars Program. The support I have received from the HOPE Office and the Miami Scholars Program has exceeded all of my expectations. HOPE has helped me plan for my career goals, prepare for job interviews, and most importantly navigate law school in a way that I can stay authentic to myself and my interests.
The Miami Scholars Program helped positively define my first year of law school. It allowed me to take abstract ideas from the classroom and put them into action as early as my first semester. I am so grateful to have participated in meaningful pro bono opportunities that took my personal interests into consideration and showed me the value of public interest work. My community of fellow Scholars, faculty, and alumni provided me with countless resources and support as I adjusted to the legal community more generally. I would not be where I am in my law school career today without the HOPE Office and the Miami Scholars Program!
~Olivia Zukowski,I chose Miami Law because of the HOPE Public Interest Resource Center and Miami Public Interest Scholars Program. The guidance I have received through the Scholars Program and HOPE Office has been instrumental in shaping my comfort and confidence in approaching law school as a first-generation student. The Scholars Program has also given me a community of exceptional students and staff who genuinely want to help and support me academically and personally.
~Natalie Gonzalez, Class of 2026The Miami Scholars Program was the deciding factor in my choosing to attend Miami Law. Not only did it allow me to further cultivate the career I wanted, but it also carved out a community for me within law school. The program served as a constant (and refreshing) reminder that a public interest legal career can truly take any shape. The HOPE Office was always a source of guidance and reassurance, for which I am eternally grateful.
~Sawyeh Esmaili, JD ’17 Senior Counsel, Reproductive Rights & Health National Women's Law Center Washington, DCThe Miami Scholars Program gave me a base of support, programs, mentoring, and encouragement in an environment that does not always emphasize doing public interest work. I could not imagine law school being as fulfilling and even enjoyable without this wonderful cohort of students, staff, and agents for change
~Thomas Voracek, JD ’19 Staff Attorney Legal Services of North Florida Quincy, FLThe Miami Scholars Program is the reason that I chose to attend the University of Miami School of Law, and I'm very happy that I did. The support and encouragement that I received enabled me to be active in the community while maintaining high academic standards. It's an exceptional thing when you're surrounded by a group of people similar to you in their passion for public service, but with an incredible amount of diversity of life experience.
~Madeline Seales, JD ’20 Law Offices of the Los Angeles County Public Defender, Los Angeles, CAVictor Alvarado graduated summa cum laude from Florida International University in May 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology. He was a member of the Dean’s List and the Honors College. From 2019-2020, Victor was a member of the Dialogues of Democracy Club at Miami Dade College, participating in events such as Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, where he spoke to students about the effects of the Latinx/e community’s treatment towards their members of the LGBTQIA+ community. From 2020-2021, Victor served as a secretary for the advocacy organization F.A.I.R. (Fight, Advocate, Inform, and Resist). Using academic research and support from professors, he informed students about issues such as immigration reform and police brutality. In the spring of 2021, Victor interned with Equality Florida as a Field & Advocacy Intern, where he recruited Floridians to advocate against the Anti-Trans Sports Ban and for the Equality Act. Victor also volunteered with Equality Florida in 2023, gathering signatures to battle the expansion of the Don’t Say Gay Bill. Following graduation, Victor worked as a College Success Coach at Miami Dade College, where he supported students with resources and tips to improve their performance and helped facilitate the college experience for immigrant students. He hopes to use his law degree to focus on international human rights, immigration reform and the protection of LGBTQIA+ rights.
Natalie Askowitz graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University in May 2023 with a B.A. in Social Policy & Practice and Sociology and a minor in business. She was inducted to Phi Beta Kappa in 2023. In New Orleans, she was a member of the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity and volunteered by facilitating glass recycling, caring for rescue animals, providing rain barrels to communities in need for NOLA floods, and providing COVID vaccinations to Hispanic communities. Additionally, she organized a weekly volunteer program to sing and interact with nursing home residents, specifically those with dementia. She taught local three to five-year-olds how to read and write as a volunteer through 826 New Orleans. In Miami, she interned with the non-profit organization Opportunity for All Floridians, working to enforce equitable policymaking in Florida. She also worked on a Florida congressional campaign, conducting policy research with a focus on climate resiliency, civil rights, housing affordability, and healthcare. She hopes to pursue a career in civil rights and advocacy.
Natalie Gonzalez graduated from the University of California Berkeley in May of 2022 with a B.A. in Legal Studies, with departmental honors, and a minor in Human Rights. As a firstgeneration student, Natalie’s passion for public service led her to work alongside organizations such as The Suitcase Clinic, East Bay Family Defenders, and the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. While at Berkeley, Natalie supplemented her public service work with research through the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program. As a research assistant, she worked on multiple subject areas, from child welfare in the US and substance-
exposed infants to law school pedagogy. Natalie was also a 2021 Democracy Camp Fellow of the Institute of Governmental Studies at Berkeley and served as Student Director for the program during her senior year. Natalie’s experiences in research and public service work drove her to join the Legal Studies Honors Program and pursue an honors thesis titled Frontline Work in a Time of Crisis: Child Welfare Decisions Under Pandemic Policy. After graduating, Natalie continued working as a research assistant with Berkeley Law Professor Dr. Asad Rahim and Brown University Post-Doctoral Fellow Dr. Matty Lichtenstein. Natalie hopes that by continuing to integrate her passions for research and public service, she will have the tools to advocate effectively for people in challenging situations and help design better public organizations - both of which may lead to social justice.
Natalie Hollander graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida in August 2020, with a B.A. in Environmental Science and minors in Agricultural and Natural Resource Law and Economics. While at UF, she published two manuscripts: Analyzing the Possibility of the United States Developing a Fully Renewable Electricity System and Understanding Public Attitudes Towards Partial Restoration of the Ocklawaha River. Natalie also conducted research on Southeastern United States invasive species policies with the School of Forest Resources and Conservation and research on Florida’s expected climate change impacts with the Bob Graham Center for Public Service. She was awarded the Outstanding Scholar Award out of her graduating class for exemplary scholarship demonstrated throughout her undergraduate career. Following graduation, Natalie became a STEM Teacher at the Museum of Discovery and Science, where she developed and implemented programs to empower over 22,000 students to increase their involvement within STEM-based education, with a specific focus on underprivileged youth. She received the MUSE Silver Award for one of her co-written educational programs and the Outstanding Presenter Award from Broward County for her presentation to over 800 students on environmental sustainability at the Broward County Annual Youth Climate Summit. Natalie has also served as an Environmental Educator at Mounts Botanical Garden. In collaboration with the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District, she delivered an environmental science program to Palm Beach County high school students entitled Ambassador of the Wetlands. Natalie plans to use her legal degree to advance environmental justice.
Jodi Nicole Kain graduated cum laude from the University of Miami in May 2022 with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Business Law. Prior to attending the University of Miami, Jodi interned for US Senator Dan Sullivan in his Washington, DC office. She primarily worked with constituents from her home state of Alaska, advocating with US agencies on their behalf. While earning her degree in three years, she was a co-founder, vice president, and events coordinator for the University of Miami's first local chapter of Ignite, a national non-partisan organization for women in politics. She was also involved in other organizations at UM, such as the Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Society, Model United Nations, and the American Sign Language Club. She is a member of the University of Miami's honor society Omicron Delta Kappa and the political science honor society Pi Sigma Alpha. Following graduation, Jodi worked
as a legal assistant at an appellate law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was quickly promoted to a paralegal position, where she began to draft more substantive legal documents and work closely with clients. Jodi hopes to use her law degree to assist small communities, similar to her hometown in Alaska, in gaining further access to legal services.
Hannah LaBovick graduated from Yale University in May 2018 with a B.A. in Political Science. She received numerous awards and was a co-founder of Citizen, a group that developed high school curriculum addressing issues of grassroots mobilization and empowerment. Seeking ways to serve her community after graduation, she returned to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where she joined a midterm Congressional campaign. She worked in underrepresented communities in Martin and Saint Lucie Counties, educating voters on their rights to make their voices heard. Following the election, Hannah moved to Washington, DC, where she served as a Legislative Correspondent for Congresswoman Lois Frankel. In this role, she communicated daily with constituents learning about their concerns and needs for the community. When the 2020 election cycle began, Hannah joined the Kamala Harris Campaign doing field work in Iowa. She later worked on various other campaigns during the 2020 election cycle, always in underserved and underprivileged communities. She ended the cycle working in Hispanic communities in Southeast Arizona, assisting Spanish-speaking voters through the pandemic find their voices and make their votes count. After the election, Hannah moved back to Washington, DC, where she began working for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, Hannah served as the conduit between White House experts and staffers on Capitol Hill, who worked to create legislation that is inclusive and accessible to all communities. Hannah hopes to use her law degree to assist and uplift underserved communities through education and access to their legal rights.
Yorciana Lasprilla graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University in 2022 with a B.A. in International Relations and Certificate in Pre-Law Studies. Her concentration was in Latin American relations and policy. She was a Florida Medallion Scholar, Gold & Blue Scholar, and the Army Ursano Scholarship recipient. She was a Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society member and was on the Dean's List throughout her college career. Alongside coursework, she was a part of LATAMfocused research projects led by the State Department at FIU's Gordon Institute for Public Policy. These projects focused on the intersectionality of climate change, international law, and women's rights to highlight the lack of enforcement of legal code. While at FIU, she took part in multiple internships, including project manager at a non-profit, a community organizer at a grassroots political organization, an international trade specialist for the US Trade Office of Galicia, Spain, and an intern for Senior Trial Counsel for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. She completed her last semester of college in Washington, DC, interning for the DOJ’s United States Marshal Service, where she assisted the Audits/Internal Control Team with their work with the US Attorney's Office. Yorciana plans to utilize her law degree to explore international law and the protection of human rights.
Kaitryana Leinbach graduated magna cum laude and with College Honors from Louisiana State University's Ogden Honors College in May 2022 with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. She was an LSU cheerleader and served on the Executive Board of Dance Marathon at LSU, which has raised nearly $2 million for Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital. In 2021, she received two National Space Grants to work for NASA's Earth Science Division in the Disasters Program, where she led the ideation and development of a tracking and communication system to improve global responsiveness during a natural disaster. During this time, she also served as a Louisiana Governor's Fellow with the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP), where she researched, developed, and presented a policy proposal to Governor John Bel Edwards, his Cabinet, and staff regarding the development of a flood inundation mapping and documentation tool to ease the interface with FEMA, expedite FEMA payments, and improve first responder communication and safety. Following graduation, she joined the Office of the Louisiana Governor as Policy Coordinator to the First Lady of Louisiana, where she led public and legislative relations for the First Lady's three initiatives: Human Sex Trafficking Prevention, Louisiana Foster Care, and Teach "MAM" (Music, Art, and Movement). Kaitryana hopes to use her law degree to address the intersectionality of disaster relief and human trafficking.
Yale Margolis graduated from Theological Research Institute with a B.A. in Religious Studies. He later received a graduate certificate in Police Leadership, followed by an M.A. in Criminal Justice with dual specializations in Police Administration and Criminology and Deviance in 2012, a Master’s in Public Administration: Inspector General Program, with a specialization in Inspection and Oversight, in 2014, and an Advanced Certificate Post Baccalaureate in Terrorism Studies in 2015, all from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He received his Doctorate in Public Administration from West Chester University in 2021, where he was initiated into the Pi Alpha Alpha Society, the international honor society for Public Affairs and Administration. Yale’s dissertation focused on Field Training Programs in Policing titled Examining the Implementation Fidelity of a Police Field Training Officer Program: A Program Evaluation Perspective: A Mixed Methods Approach. Yale served as a member of the New York City Police Department for over ten years before retiring. He was a Field Training Officer for new probationary police officers, where he was responsible for ensuring the new officers were properly trained. He attended community meetings and met with Tenants Association members and Governing Boards in his patrol area to work collaboratively on community issues. Yale engaged the Community Center Management to ensure that families and children could utilize the centers in a safe environment. Yale plans to complete a Social Justice & Public Interest Concentration in law school and hopes to use his law degree to address issues in policing, public safety, and constitutional and criminal law.
Albany Muria graduated from the University of Miami in May 2021 as a Civic Scholar with a B.A. in Public Administration and a minor in Human and Social Development. She was part of the inaugural cohort for the U Dreamers Program, which allowed outstanding DACA students to be eligible for financial aid at the university. She received various scholarships and was tapped into the Iron Arrow Honor Society. She served as president of Get Out the Vote, where she led various voter registration initiatives and educated the UM community on their voting rights during the 2018 and 2020 elections. Her commitment to mentorship was demonstrated in her role as a project coordinator for the Freshman Leadership Council within Student Government and as a First-Year Fellow, a residential academic peer mentor. During her senior year, she interned at the Americans for Immigrant Justice’s Family Defense Program, where she helped with intake interviews, form preparation and virtual KnowYour-Rights presentations. Following graduation, Albany volunteered with the MiamiDade County’s Office for New Americans, assisting with Temporary Protected Status applications for Venezuelans and at annual naturalization workshops. Albany hopes to use her law degree to continue advocating for voting and immigrants’ rights.
Angela Rose Myers graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 2018 with a B.A. in Africana Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. In 2019, she became the 2nd Vice-President of the Minneapolis NAACP and was selected for the NAACP’s NEXT-GEN program, which trains the next generation of social justice leaders. In 2020, she was elected as the youngest president in the Minneapolis NAACP’s history and became a Josie Johnson Leadership Fellow with the African American Leadership Forum. In 2023, Angela Rose graduated from The University of Minnesota with a master’s degree in Human Rights. She was awarded the 2022 President’s Student Leadership and Service Award and the Mary A. McEvoy Public Engagement and Leadership Award for her work with victims of police brutality and her role in crafting the state's model policy on peace officers' response to first amendment public assemblies. Throughout 2022 and 2023, Angela Rose and a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota notified the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights and other UN entities about the human rights abuses perpetuated by the police in Minnesota, utilizing testimony from impacted individuals. This work culminated in a country visit from the UN-Expert Mechanism on Law Enforcement and Racism in April 2023. Prior to entering law school, Angela Rose was Board Chair for the Minnesota Freedom Fund Action, the 501c4 arm of the Minnesota Freedom Fund, the cash bail fund known for bailing out protestors during the 2020 uprising. She is a member of the Youth Restorative Justice Workgroup that helped create Minnesota's first Office of Restorative Practices, and she works as an advisory board member of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, an organization of impacted families desiring to build community and make meaningful policy change to end police brutality, all forms of systemic racism and violence in the Criminal Legal System. Angela Rose hopes to utilize the law to further advocate for her community, especially for the protections and needs of Black human rights defenders and civil rights activists.
Radha Patel graduated magna cum laude from Kennesaw State University in December 2022 with a B.S. in Political Science, minors in International Relations and Legal Studies, and a certificate in Constitutional Studies. While at KSU, she served as Program Coordinator for a campus nonprofit organization, the OwlSwap Sustainability Initiative. She assisted in developing student engagement and sustainability education. She also created and operated community-serving and environmentally sustainable resources for disadvantaged students, such as a free community closet that offered in-person and virtual resources for students dealing with clothing insecurity. She spoke at the Southeastern Student Sustainability Conference about her work with OwlSwap in 2020 and 2021. Shortly afterward, she was elected to the Presidential Commission on Sustainability as the secretary and a voting member. Discovering a passion for environmental justice, she joined the Environmental Justice Committee and co-wrote the university’s soon-to-be-published Environmental Justice Statement. In her most recent project, she created a children’s book, with the support of Ambassador Dho Young-Shim, entitled Sustainable Habits Cure Our Planet which aims to instill a generational change in how individuals consume clothing and how it affects the environment. Radha hopes to use her law degree to continue her work in environmental justice and advocacy for underrepresented groups.
John Rincon graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University in 2020 with a B.A. in Philosophy and minors in English and Economics. He was a member of the Dean’s list, a recipient of the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, and graduated with a specialized track in Aesthetics from the Philosophy Department. During his sophomore year at FIU, John began volunteering as a facilitator for Exchange for Change, a non-profit organization focused on educating and advocating for incarcerated individuals in South Florida. With Exchange for Change, John taught courses in philosophy and literature inside the Everglades Correctional Institution in South Florida and prepared course materials for students at the Dade Correctional Institution throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. After graduating from FIU, John worked as a teacher and administrator for three years at a local private school in Miami, teaching mathematics and philosophy. Deeply passionate about social innovation and impact investing, John hopes to use his law degree to pursue a career in community advocacy at the intersection of law, business, and technology.
Ashley Rock graduated magna cum laude from Tulane University in December 2021 with a B.S. in Psychology and Political Science, and a minor in Public Health. She was a member of the Dean’s List and Phi Alpha Delta Pre-law Fraternity and was also a Tulane Founders Scholarship recipient. During the fall semester of 2018, Ashley volunteered with the Orleans Public Defenders Office in New Orleans, assisting with first appearances in criminal court and gathering information to enhance arguments and maximize efficiency for the attorneys. During the summer of 2021, she worked as an Honors Legal Intern for the Department of Homeland Security,
Office of the Principal Legal Advisor in Newark, NJ, where she conducted legal research and writing and participated in document preparation. Ashley also worked as a paralegal at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP in New York from the summer of 2022 until entering law school, where she drafted and filed motions and supported attorneys in all aspects of litigation. Ashley hopes to use her law degree to address health care disparities and assist individuals in navigating their physical and mental health rights.
Jake Solomon graduated summa cum laude from Binghamton University, State University of New York School of Management with a B.S. in Accounting and Management Information Systems. He served on the School of Management Diversity Board. His passion for helping others started at age fourteen when he founded his own small business, Smart Choice Protein, creating gluten free, vegan, and health-conscious products. Throughout college, Jake took part in internships for individual members of the New York State Senate and Assembly, participating in campaigning and community events, and assisting in the resolution of constituent problems such as tax and unemployment issues. He also served as Fundraising Chair for Corazoncitos, which informed the campus community about current issues in Latin America and raised money for non-profit organizations assisting children in Latin America. Upon graduation, Jake became the Coordinator of Legislative and Community Affairs for the New York State Assembly, where he assisted constituents in resolving issues, organized community service projects, and managed daily activities in the district office. Jake hopes to use his law degree to effectuate change and support communities.
The Miami Public Interest Scholars Program has given me a community that I can lean on during my law school experience. My Scholars family made my entry into law school much more enjoyable, knowing I have mentors, faculty, and fellow students who are willing to help and encourage me throughout this process. Every meeting, conversation, and exchange is a breath of fresh air as we share our experiences and passions to improve the world around us.
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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
~Margaret Mead