MAKER CHANGE
— bell hooks
MAY 2023 ISSUE THE
“Without justice there can be no love.”
2023 3L SCHOLAR, GERVILYN CADIMAS
Welcome to a new year of the official California ChangeLawyers digital magazine, “The Change Maker”. Named after you, our supporters, who help make change happen in our communities, the legal profession and the lives of our ChangeLawyers scholars, fellows, alumni and extended family. As a reminder, The Change Maker comes exclusively to ChangeLawyers
supporters and alumni every three months. In 2023, the issues will be in February, May, August, and November and feature key updates, articles, news and information about the work and stories of California ChangeLawyers.
We hope you enjoy reading through this year's stories. Welcome to The Change Maker!
CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS STAFF (LEFT TO RIGHT): CARLOS AGUILAR, CHRIS PUNONGBAYAN, JASJIT SINGH, STACI L. YOUNG, BROOKE CANNELLA.
3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Letter from Executive Director, Christopher Punongbayan 6 Meet Our New Staff Member 8 Introducing the 2023 3L NextGen Scholars 12 The NextGen Spring Reception Recap 16 Legal Aid Give Back 18 The 2023 Legal Empowerment Fund Grantees 20 Announcing Our New Monthly Giving Program
A LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Happy June! It’s Pride Month. Did you know that Pride was actually a commemoration of a protest against police brutality in New York City in 1969? Black and transgender activists, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, were two of the leaders of what is now known as the Stonewall Uprising.
While Pride today is very different from its roots, it’s important to never forget the past and how we got to where we are today. In fact, the struggle for LGBT inclusion is not over and rages on throughout the country.
Last month, on behalf of ChangeLawyers, I had the honor of accepting the Inclusive Excellence Award from the Arab American Lawyers Association of Southern California. It was my honor to be introduced by our board president, Rasha Gerges Shields. Nearly 200 members of the LA legal community including California Supreme Court Justice, Joshua Groban, attended this wonderful celebration.
In closing, I would like to express my love and gratitude for all of our ChangeLawyers supporters,
like you. Every day, we strive to uplift our scholars, fellows, grantee partners, who are on the front lines, fighting for justice for all Californians. In today’s climate, this is daunting and exhausting work. But, when I think about the ChangeLawyers community that we have created together, I find hope and belief that justice will prevail.
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Punongbayan
CHRIS PUNONGBAYAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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INTRODUCING OUR NEW OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE BROOKE CANNELLA
Brooke is the Operations Associate at ChangeLawyers, providing support to each department’s endeavors. She was born and raised on the island of O’ahu and obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. After college, she spent time working in education and legal services before moving to Los Angeles.
As a native Hawaiian, Brooke’s passion for social justice started at a young age, fighting and advocating for the rights of her people on their own land. Activism runs in her blood, and she is dedicated to making the world a better place for the next
generations to come. In her free time, Brooke loves baking, eating sushi, and playing with her two dogs, Franklin and Michael G. Scott.
WHAT DREW YOU TO CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS?
I was drawn to the California ChangeLawyers because of the kind of work that we do. I am passionate about social justice and working to create change in the world we live in, and ChangeLawyers have made that their mission. Empowering the next generation of changemakers is important to me, and I am so happy to have the opportunity to have a hand in that!
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This is What ChangeLawyers Look Like
INTRODUCING
THE 2023 3L NEXTGEN SCHOLARS!
NAZEERAH ALI (she/her/hers)
BERKELEY LAW
sponsored by Consumer Attorneys of California
GERVILYN CADIMAS (she/her/hers)
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO
SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Philippine American Bar Association
SORREL CALL (she/her/hers)
WESTERN STATE COLLEGE OF LAW
sponsored by Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles
LANI EVERSON (she/her/hers)
MCGEORGE SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by California Association of Black Lawyers
CHLOË FREEMAN (she/her/hers)
UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by California Indian Law Association
DOREEN GOVARI (she/her/hers)
UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Iranian American Bar Association of Northern California
ISSA HAWATMEH (he/him/his)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE LAW, SAN FRANCISCO
sponsored by Arab American Lawyers Association of So. Cal.
HANNA KIM (she/her/hers)
BERKELEY LAW
sponsored by California ChangeLawyers
JUSTICCE LABARRIE (she/her/hers)
LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL
LOS ANGELES
Sponsored by Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles
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YI LI (she/her/hers)
STANFORD LAW SCHOOL
sponsored by Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County
LOVIA OFORI-AMPOFO (she/her/hers)
MCGEORGE SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Wiley Manuel Bar Association
JANINE PARCHMENT (he/him/his)
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Earl B Gilliam Bar Foundation
KATIUSKA PIMENTEL VARGAS (she/her/hers)
UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association
MONIQUE RAMIREZ (she/her/hers)
GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
Sponsored by EBLRLA Scholarship Fund (East Bay La Raza Lawyers)
AMANDA KATHLEEN REASONS (she/her/hers)
THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL OF LAW
Sponsored by San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association
JUSTIN REYES (he/him/his)
GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley
MAYRA ROMERO (she/her/hers)
CALIFORNIA WESTERN SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Latina Lawyers Bar Association
MARY RUIZ DE LA O (she/her/hers/they/them)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE LAW, SAN FRANCISCO
sponsored by Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom
MARIBEL SANCHEZ (she/her/hers)
GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by EBLRLA Scholarship Fund (East Bay La Raza Lawyers)
AMANDA SHARP (she/her/hers)
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Tom Homann LGBT Law Association
GALYN SUMIDA-ROSS (she/her/hers)
UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Asian American Bar Association Law Foundation
ERYN WELLS (she/her/hers)
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER sponsored bY CABL Judicial Council/Founders Fund
ABIGAIL WILLIAMS (she/her/hers)
MCGEORGE SCHOOL OF LAW
sponsored by Charles Houston Bar Association
MIRIAM YARDE (she/her/hers)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE LAW, SAN FRANCISCO
sponsored by CABL Judicial Council/Founders Fund
JADEN ZWICK OJEABURU (she/her/hers)
UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW sponsored by California Association of Black Lawyers
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3L SCHOLARS, NAZEERAH ALI AND SORREL CALL
NEXTGEN SPRING RECEPTION
On April 20th, ChangeLawyers hosted The NextGen Spring Reception in downtown Los Angeles at 777 Tower. Thank you to Klinedinst PC for hosting us! We were able to host around 70 people including our cohort of 25 3L scholars and their families and friends, representatives from co-sponsoring bar associations and ChangeLawyers staff and board members. We enjoyed delicious eats from Kitchen Mouse LA while mingling and building community. And for the highlight of the event, we invited each scholar to give short speeches about their stories of triumph and their future impact to the profession. We, along with their families and friends, are so proud of this year's cohort of 3L Scholars and we are excited to welcome them into the ChangeLawyers community.
As a reminder, ChangeLawyers and the co-sponsoring bar associations provide $5,000 scholarships to
graduating law students who are preparing to sit for next month’s Bar Exam. Let’s send good luck and well wishes to this amazing group of changemakers as they sit for the bar this summer.
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THANK YOU CO-SPONSORS!
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THANK YOU!
WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS FOR DONATING THEIR LEGAL AID GRANTS BACK AND CONTRIBUTING OVER $150,000 FOR FELLOWSHIPS.
Earlier this spring, ChangeLawyers launched a new Fund to support summer public interest fellowships. We are thrilled to report that nearly 30 legal aid organizations contributed to the Fund. In total, we raised nearly $155K that will support 15 fellows who will be placed at legal aid organizations throughout the state of California this summer.
These organizations showed incredible commitment to empowering the next generation of public interest lawyers because they actually donated back to ChangeLawyers what would have been their annual grant from ChangeLawyers as part of our Legal Aids Grants Program. Thank you!
According to the California Commission on Access to Justice, there is only 1 legal aid attorney for every 7500 Californians living in poverty who need legal assistance but cannot afford one. Building the
pipeline into public interest work is an important priority for California’s legal community. A report from the Legal Aid Association of California indicates that one of the primary predictors of whether a person pursues a career in the public interest is whether they hold a public interest job opportunity while still in law school.
In this augural year of the Fund, ChangeLawyers is joining forces with the State Bar of California to build up the pipeline to public interest. In addition to our new Fund, the State Bar of California is allocating $755K in funding to support another 76 fellows across 38 legal aid organizations throughout California. ChangeLawyers will also be conducting a series of trainings on imposter syndrome, financial literacy, and mindfulness for these 91 fellows that we hope will jumpstart their legal careers.
Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
Bet Tzedek Legal Services
California Advocates for Nursing
Home Reform
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Center for Gender and Refugee Studies - California
Centro Legal de la Raza
Child Care Law Center
Community Lawyers Inc.
Eviction Defense Collaborative
Family Violence Law Center
IEP Collaborative, Inc.
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Justice in Aging
La Raza Centro Legal
Legal Access Alameda
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Legal Aid of Marin
Legal Aid of Sonoma County
Legal Assistance for Seniors
Legal Assistance to the Elderly
National Health Law Program
National Immigration Law Center
Neighborhood Legal Services
OneJustice
Open Door Legal
Public Interest Law Project
Public Law Center
Senior Citizens Legal Services
Youth Law Center
DONATION TOTAL: $154,702
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LEGAL EMPOWERMENT FUND GRANTEES
This year, ChangeLawyers released a second round of funding under our new strategy, the Legal Empowerment Fund. The Fund was launched to support new, diverse leaders in the legal profession; build the capacity of smaller and newer legal organizations; and strengthen eco-system of lawyers supporting grassroots social change movements. This month, ChangeLawyers is distributing $812,500 in funding to 19 organizations throughout California. Our grantee partners are on the
frontlines of social change working on issues from criminal justice, immigration, underrepresentation of first-generation students in law clerkships and prosecutor offices, transgender rights, and more.
We are grateful to our foundation partners who generously contributed to the Fund: William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Stupski Foundation, Bigglesworth Family Foundation, Van Loben Sels/ Rembe Rock Foundation, and ABA Retirement Funds.
Orange County Justice Fund
Community Justice Alliance, Inc.
Northern Chumash Tribal Council Immigrant Defense Advocates
Esq. Apprentice
Prosecutors Alliance of California
The Appellate Project
CAPACITY BUILDING
Transgender Law Center Fellowship
California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice Fellowship
For the People Fellowship
American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education
Legal Education Access Pipeline, Inc.
San José State University Record
Clearance Project
Center for Youth Development through Law
California Indian Law Association, Inc.
UCLA Law Fellows Program
LEADERSHIP PATHWAYS
East Bay Community Law Center
Youth Law Center
USF Racial Justice Clinic
MOVEMENT LAWYERING
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BECOME A CHANGECATALYST
California ChangeLawyers
is thrilled to announce the launch of our new monthly giving program for loyal supporters like you who want to help us steadily create systemic change in our legal community.
Introducing the ChangeCatalyst, our new community of monthly supporters committed to building a
better justice system, dedicated to an equitable representation of California’s legal profession and the empowerment of the next generation of legal changemakers.
ChangeCatalyst are dedicated champions and supporters of California ChangeLawyers, who maximize the impact of their giving by providing consistent support of all our programs, all year long!
BECOME A CHANGECATALYST TODAY!
HERE'S HOW YOU GET STARTED:
1. Click this link. (https://changelawyers.org/donate-monthly/)
2. Choose an amount that works for you each month.
3. Set up your gift on the form above.
4. Check this off your to-do list!
You can adjust your gift at any time, and rest assured knowing your consistent support allows us to scale our initiatives and programs to fund more scholars and fellows, support California’s legal and justice-centered organizations, and bring access to justice to the communities who need it most. Recurring gifts of any amount make a big difference!
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BE A CHANGE MAKER! SUPPORT CHANGELAWYERS.
JOIN THE CHANGECATALYST!
If every The Change Maker reader joined ChangeCatalyst at just $5 today, we'd be on our way to raising $25,000 towards our mission of building a better justice system for all Californians. Let's get started! Start your recurring gift here.
DONATE $5
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