The Squire Patton Boggs Foundation is pleased to announce its 2021 Class of Public Policy Fellows, welcoming 28 individuals into the program.
“Each year, I continue to be amazed and inspired by our Fellows, on both an individual and collective basis, with the zeal they bring to public service and pro bono legal work. The Fellows are working with an impressive roster of public interest organizations, lawyers’ committees and government entities, many of which are focused on advocacy and justice. This class, I believe, has the potential to be true agents of change,” said Foundation President John Oberdorfer.
In April 2021, the Foundation launched a Racial Justice Fellowship Program, partnering with three organizations that, respectively, focus on three critical areas: The Charlottesville Police Department (CPD), Charlottesville, Virginia (Black community-police relations); Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Voting Rights Project (voting rights); and The Lone Star Justice Alliance, Dallas, Texas (juvenile justice in minority communities).
The Racial Justice Fellowship is the second initiative within the Foundation’s Sustained Impact Fellowship program, designed to provide pro bono legal services over a multiyear period to address a seemingly intractable problem. The Sustained Impact Fellowship – Puerto Rico, now in its third year, focuses on post-hurricane disaster relief and community rebuilding in Puerto Rico by partnering with two organizations in San Juan, Centro para Puerto Rico and Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico.
The Public Policy Fellows program includes 18 US Fellowship law schools and the Collège d΄Europe in Bruges, Belgium. Fellows commit their summers to public service and to advancing public policy by working at nonprofit institutions, government agencies and international legal organizations.
Rodney Slater, Partner and Chair of the Foundation’s Board, said, “When you look at the list of Fellowships these remarkable individuals are pursuing this summer, it is representative and reflective of the current appetite in America for reform – for establishing justice for underrepresented and underprivileged communities. I am proud of our 2021 Fellows for their commitment, drive and pursuit of their passions.”
The Foundation proudly introduces its 2021 Fellows:
Sustained Impact Fellows
- Hurricane Maria Disaster Relief Sustained Impact Fellow, Daniela Torres, University of Miami School of Law – Centro para Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR
- Hurricane Maria Disaster Relief Sustained Impact Fellow, Daniella M. Roselló, University of Virginia School of Law – Ayuda Legal Huracan Maria, San Juan, PR
- Racial Justice Sustained Impact Fellow, Nancy Amin, The University of Texas School of Law – Charlottesville Police Department, Charlottesville, VA
- Racial Justice Sustained Impact Fellow, Skyler Arbuckle, SMU Dedman – Lone Star Justice Alliance, Dallas, TX
- Racial Justice Sustained Impact Fellow, Charkera Ervin, Howard University School of Law – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law/Voting Rights Project, Washington DC
- Pulitzer Center Fellow, Zhiwei Hua, Case Western Reserve University School of Law – The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Washington DC
Public Policy Fellows
- Nicole Ledesma, American University Washington College of Law – Office of Inspector General, USAID, Washington DC
- Oluwatomisin “Tosin” Orisadipe, Case Western Reserve University School of Law – Cuyahoga County Prosecutor, Cleveland, OH
- Matthew V. Perry, Case Western Reserve University School of Law – Access Living of Metro Chicago, Chicago, IL
- David “Taylor” Bernhardt, Jr., Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law – Attorney General of Maryland, Antitrust Division, Baltimore, MD
- Mary Maloney, Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law – Ayuda, Fairfax, VA
- Radiance Campbell, Georgetown University Law Center – Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Housing Justice Project, Washington DC
- Griffin Ingraham, Georgia State University College of Law – USDA Office of the General Counsel, Atlanta, GA
- Sunita Premysler, Howard University School of Law – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law/Criminal Justice Project, Washington DC
- Graydon G. Sutton, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law – Federal Trade Commission, Dallas, TX
- Sandy Chen, The George Washington University Law School – Export-Import Bank of the United States, Washington DC
- Flannery Mack, The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law – Ohio Justice and Policy Center, Cincinnati, OH
- Nathan Quimbo, University of Arkansas School of Law – Buffalo River Foundation, Ponca, AR
- Rosa Tovar, University of California Hastings College of the Law – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, Immigrant Justice Program, San Francisco, CA
- Catherine M. Douglas, University of Cincinnati College of Law – Hamilton Co. Public Defender – Juvenile Division, Cincinnati, OH
- Kevin Bernstein, University of Colorado Law School – US Department of the Interior, Office of the Regional Solicitor, Portland, OR
- Nicoli Bowley, University of Denver Sturm College of Law – National Park Service, Geological Resources Division, Lakewood, CO
- Christa Lyons, University of Denver Sturm College of Law – Social Movement Support Lab at IRISE, Denver, CO
- Laura B. Silva, University of Miami School of Law – Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law/Criminal Justice Project, Washington DC
- Chasmine Williams, University of Texas School of Law – US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, Washington DC
- Julia J. Eger, University of Virginia School of Law – American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, Washington DC
- Sydney Stanley, University of Virginia School of Law – Legal Aid Justice Center, Richmond, VA
- Alexander Weiss, Yale Law School – Administrative Conference of the United States, Washington DC
Rooted in a history of civil rights advocacy, the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation originally was funded with lawyers’ fees from a pro bono employment discrimination case. Further information on the Foundation is available here.